Horn Concertos---performers/composers

[dave b]

A two part question:
Can someone give me some names of good french horn performers? Besides Dennis Brain, I know of Barry Tuckwell and Eric Ruske only.
Also, besides Mozart's horn concertos/concerti, what other composers wrote horn concertos and who was prolific in that area? I know about Haydn and Schumann; That's about all I know. Thank you in advance.

[DavidW]

If you don't mind the natural horn, Ab Koster is pretty good.

Now as for horn concertos-- Richard Strauss and Ligeti spring to mind, both are worth listening to, especially Ligeti (it's known as the Hamburg Concerto).

[jochanaan]

I believe there are a number of Classical-period horn concertos besides Mozart's and Haydn's.

[DavidW]

I believe there are a number of Classical-period horn concertos besides Mozart's and Haydn's.

I like Neruda's horn concerto.

[SonicMan46]

A two part question:
Can someone give me some names of good french horn performers? Besides Dennis Brain, I know of Barry Tuckwell and Eric Ruske only.
Also, besides Mozart's horn concertos/concerti, what other composers wrote horn concertos and who was prolific in that area? I know about Haydn and Schumann; That's about all I know. Thank you in advance.

Hello dave b - might want to give us some more 'targeted' direction - there are plenty of orchestral horn works going back to pre-Baroque times and into the 20th century - instead of concentrating so much on the performers, what period(s) of music interest you the most, what type of horn is your preference (i.e. natural, valved, or both?), and finally what forms of music are your choice (concertos vs. chamber or both?) - might help me (and others) in giving some specific recording recommendations.   

[dave b]

I KNEW I should have stayed in the beginner's area

[Lethevich]

Seconding Strauss' perfect two. Weber wrote a very fine concertino for horn.

[Franco]

Paul Hindemith wrote a a nice collection of music for brass including his excellent Horn Concerto, and a sonata and septet that includes horn; all very good works.  The linked recording does not contain the concerto, but all of the other music for brass.  There are several good recordings with the concerto and easy to find.

[dave b]

Valved, horn concertos. My favorite instrument is the french horn, second is the cello, and my very first piece of classical music that I heard and owned a copy of was an LP by Dennis Brain, Mozart's Horn Concertos. I was looking at my four or so horn cds and wondered what else was out there.
I thought that via performer, I could branch out a little and then look up what they perform in the way of horn concertos/concerti....I look at Ruske and Tuckwell, then do a search for what composers' works they perform and that gets me to the many specific cds. That's about all I can tell you re narrowing it down a bit.
As for time period, music period, from Mozart on, is all I can say, right up to the 20th century. But I am finding out that a lot more composers than I thought, have composed horn pieces.
But anyway, that was my reasoning re asking about performers first.

[MishaK]

My favorite two horn concerto recordings at the moment:



Radovan Vlatkovic was principal horn of the Bavarian Radio Symphony and is a highly regarded teacher. His set of Mozart concertos in my mind has a lean elegance and clarity of tone not matched by most of the others (and I have six others!). It flows very naturally and the horn playing is absolutely first rate.



Dale Clevenger, still(!) principal horn of the CSO (since 1968!), shows off his immense lung resources on this wonderful recording. Clevenger is one of those few players who can play loud without pushing. His sound is controlled at all times throughout the range. A true virtuoso performance additionally worth getting for Alex Klein's stupendous performance of the Oboe concerto. For horn aficionados it also includes one short Strauss work for horn and piano with Clevenger and Barenboim. I had the privilege of attending the live concert when the Oboe and Horn concertos were recorded for this disc.

My current favorite horn player sadly has not yet recorded any concertos on disc. It is Radek Baborak, the new junior first solo horn of the Berlin Philharmonic (the BPO has two principals, Stefan Dohr is the other, more senior). He did however record an absolutely incredible disc of Bach Cello Suites played on horn on the Exton label which is superhuman in terms of perfection of intonation and control of phrasing. Sadly, that disc is nearly impossible to find. There are two other solo recordings of him, however. This Mozart concerto on DVD:



and this Britten Serenade for Tenor and Horn:



Baborak can also be heard in a superb concert performance of Schumann's Konzertstück for four horns (with Dohr playing second) on the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall website, if you have a subscription or are willing to pay for access to the single concert from the archive. Here is a youtube preview:

http://www.youtube.com/v/C793ldS-Wmw

[SonicMan46]

I KNEW I should have stayed in the beginner's area

LOL!    Well, I think that you are ready to enter the more advanced forums w/ your request! 

Just quickly perused my classical recordings database and below are a number emphasizing the Horn - but keep in mind that if you like brass/wind instruments (e.g. clarinet, trumpet, oboe, flute, bassoon) that there is just a plethora of chamber & orchestral works combining these various instruments - just let us know!

Mozart  - Horn Concertos - I own a number of versions; Koster on the 'natural horn' is fabulous, but there are plenty of modern horn performances.

Strauss - Horn Works are wonderful - I own the disc w/ David Pyatt on the instrument.

In addition to the above, other works that might be of interest include:

Carl Czerny - Horn & Fortepiano w/ Andrew Clark & Geoffrey Govier on Helios.

Joseph Haydn - Horn Works - many options; again I have Koster; Baumann is another choice (and plenty of others likely).

Antonio Rosetti - Concertos Two Horns w/ Willis & Wallendorf on CPO.

Georg Phillip Telemann - Horn Concertos; own Baumann on Philips.

Good luck in getting started in this area, and please check out the threads on other wind instruments - 

[karlhenning]

Also, the writing is hard enough probably that many a horn player would consider it a concerto:  Three Things that Begin with 'C' for clarinet & horn.

[dave b]

Re a post a little while ago, I do recall hearing of Dale Clevenger, and here is what I do...I go to arkivmusic, click on Performers, find his name, now it gives me all the composers whose works he performs, so I backtrack from the performer to the composer to figure out who has composed horn concertos. Thanks for all the advice and assistance, I really appreciate it. I keep plugging away at my quest to learn a little more about classical music. I don't feel I have to delve into all of it, just in general, would like to become more familiar with it, have been listening to it over ten years now without having attempted to learn that much about it, so it is still new to me. Fascinating, though, to explore it.

[listener]

There's a very nice one by Reinhold Glière  (still available on Philips with Hermann Baumann, Masur conducting)... and on vinyl, not reissued as far as I know, with Valerie Polekh - Glière conducting.

[hornteacher]

Okay this is an area in which I have some experience.  Some "staples" of the horn repertoire are:

Beethoven - Sonata for Horn and Piano Op 17
Beethoven - Sextet in Bb for Two Horns Op 81b
Haydn - Concertos 1 and 2
Mozart - Concertos 1-4
Mozart - Horn Quintet
Mozart - Concert Rondo for Horn K371
Saint-Saens - Morceau de Concert Op 94
Saint-Saens - Romances for Horn Op 36 and Op 67
Dukas - Villanelle for Horn and Piano
Schumann - Adagio and Allegro Op 70
F. Strauss - Horn Concerto 1  Op 8
R. Strauss - Horn Concertos 1 and 2
Hindemith - Horn Concerto
Gliere - Horn Concerto Op 91
Brahms - Horn Trio Op 40
Schumann - Konzertstück for Four Horns

[Scarpia]

I'm sure everyone here recalls the finale of Brahms first symphony, which has wonderful exposed horn writing (not a concerto, obviously). 

[MishaK]

I'm sure everyone here recalls the finale of Brahms first symphony, which has wonderful exposed horn writing (not a concerto, obviously). 

Well, if you want to go into solos within symphonies, the list will be endless (and would have to start with Mahler 5 with the 3rd movement horn obbligato).

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Valved, horn concertos. My favorite instrument is the french horn,

If you're more interested in horn than in concerto, then you should get hold of the Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti. Only 3 players, but they are both masterpieces.

[Superhorn]

  I used to be a free lance hornist myself until a physical disability forced me to give up playing some years ago.
  Peter Damm, who was for many years principal horn of the Staatskapelle, Dresden until his recent retirement, has made quite a few fine recordings of horn concertos by Mozart, Strauss, and others.
  His performances of the two Strauss concertos are part of the classic 9 CD set of the orchestral works
  on EMI . Damm was an amazingly fluent and accurate player with a distinctive vibrato, not the wobble of some French and Russian players, but a very controlled kind of vibrato which some might find inappropriate for Austro-germanic music, but which somehow doesn't sound offensive .
  My own former teacher William Purvis has recorded two of the Mozarts concerts with the Orpheus Chamber orchestra on DG; David Jolley played the other two.

[vandermolen]

Not a horn concerto but I really liked Launy Groendahl's Trombone Concerto which was on the radio today. I only know him as a conductor (assuming it is the same person).