Xiaoming Han won the first prize of the International Horn Competition organized by the International Horn Society in 1984.
Composer Biography
Richard Wagner, the famous composer, once said of Franz Joseph Strauss: 'He is an unbearable fellow, but when he plays one cannot be angry with him'.
Composer Biography
Franz Joseph Strauss, father of Richard Strauss, was one of the best hornists of his time, serving as first horn at the Munich court opera for four decades.
Performer Biography
At age 30, Xiaoming Han became the youngest and only Asian professor for horn and chamber music in Germany, holding a full-time position at the University of Music Saarland from 1993 to 2011.
Composition History
Several of Richard Strauss's chamber works for horn and piano, including an Introduction, Theme and Variations and an Andante, were dedicated to his father, Franz Joseph Strauss.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Franz Joseph Strauss, referred to as 'Joachim with a horn' by conductor Hans von Bülow, had a strong commitment to tradition, reflected in his compositions for the horn.
Performer Biography
Xiaoming Han, the horn player on this album, began studying horn at age 10 with his father, Prof. Sin-Guang Han, a famous Chinese horn player and prizewinner at the Geneva International Horn Competition in 1960.
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