Horn and Piano: A Cor Basse Recital

Featuring

Teunis van der Zwart
Alexander Melnikov
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ferdinand Ries
Giovanni Punto
Franz Danzi

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Performer Biography

Teunis van der Zwart, the horn player on this album, is an internationally renowned specialist on the natural horn.

Interpretation

The album's horn player, Teunis van der Zwart, used his PhD research into the sound and technique of Giovanni Punto (a travelling horn virtuoso) to inform his performance, including the use of a cor basse mouthpiece, ornamentation, and multiphonics.

Performer Biography

Teunis van der Zwart was the principal horn player for fifteen years with the Freiburger Barockorchester and for two decades with The Orchestra of the 18th Century.

Performer Biography

Alexander Melnikov, the fortepiano player, had an early encounter with Sviatoslav Richter, which was one of the most formative musical moments of his life.

Interpretation

The horn player, Teunis van der Zwart, used a cor basse (low horn) mouthpiece with a wider inner rim diameter for these recordings, which makes the horn's sound more velvety and less penetrating.

Compositional Technique

A technique called 'multiphonics' allows horn players to produce double or triple tones by playing one note and singing another 'through' it, creating a combined sound.

Historical Context

The period between 1770 and 1810, which coincided with the career of Giovanni Punto (a travelling horn virtuoso), was known as 'the period of musical embellishment,' where improvised ornamentation was fundamental to the aesthetic experience.