Beethoven / Schubert / Schumann / Mozart: Music for French Horn

Featuring

Albert Linder
Ingemar Bergfelt
Märta Schéle
Henry Stenström
Göran Holmstrand
Václav Rábl

Ib Lanzky-Otto
Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto
Ludwig van Beethoven
Franz Schubert
Johannes Andreas Amon
Robert Schumann
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carl August Nielsen

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Composition History

Carl Nielsen's 'Canto serioso' was originally written as a test piece for a low horn player auditioning for the Royal Danish Orchestra, to assess their technical and musical abilities.

Instruments

Some scholars believe that if Joseph Rudolf Lewy played the horn part in Schubert's 'Auf dem Strome' at its 1828 premiere, it would mean he had invented the valve horn, as the piece cannot be played on a natural horn.

Composition History

Robert Schumann wrote the Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, for Pianoforte and Horn in February 1849 in just a few days, and it is considered the first substantial piece for valve horn.

Notable Performances

Beethoven's Sonata in F major for piano and horn, Op. 17, was so popular at its premiere that the performers, Beethoven and the famous Bohemian hornist Jan Václav Stich (Punto), were persuaded to play it a second time.

Composition History

Beethoven's Sonata in F major for piano and horn, Op. 17, was composed in great haste, reportedly in a single day, for a concert on April 18, 1800.

Composer Biography

Johann Andreas Amon, a contemporary of Mozart, was a pupil of the famous horn player Jan Václav Stich (Punto) and became one of the best hornists of his period.

Compositional Technique

Schubert's 'Auf dem Strome' is unique among his songs as it features a second obbligato instrument, the horn, assisting the piano, replacing the clarinet typically found in similar works like 'Der Hirt auf dem Felsen'.