- Horn Concertos and Horn Quintet.
Hunting for animals used to be common several hundreds of years ago. People did it for food and also for entertainment. The wealthy had stables of horses and pens filled with dogs, and the horns sounded to assemble folks for the start of the hunt. Inevitably some key horn sounds were created to communicate simple messages to the listener.
Later on, composers created music, as the original horn instrument matured to the instrument it is today.
In the following five works, Mozart captures the sound of the instrument that was mostly associated with hunting; but Mozart also brings the instrument indoors: We can hear the lyrical episodes, and especially the slow movements show the very soul of this instrument.
We hear:
Mozart:
- Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4 (complete), performed by The Hanover Band, Anthony Halstead conducting.
- Horn Quintet in E flat, K407, performed with the Eroica Quartet.
Performed by Mr. Pip Eastop, using the valveless natural horn.
Mozart’s Horn Concertos are perhaps the most popular works ever written for the instrument. This new album is a collection of all the works Mozart wrote for his lifelong friend, the horn player Joseph Leutgeb (1732–1811), one of the foremost horn players of his day.
Mozart (1756-1791) composed his four horn concertos between 1783 and 1791.
On this CD, the concertos are organized according to their order of composition, starting with No. 2, which Mozart wrote first (1783).
Next we hear Concerto No. 4 from 1786, always a delightful piece, which Eastop and the orchestra perform beautifully, especially in the Romance movement. The closing Allegro is performed at a crisp and lively tempo.
The music continues through the final two concerti, Nos. 3 and the unfinished No. 1, with playing of utmost sensitivity and spontaneity from Eastop and the Hanover Band.
The program ends with Mozart’s Horn Quintet in E flat major, K407, and Mr. Eastop accompanied by the members of the Eroica Quartet.
Here is the Mozart Quintet in E-flat major for Horn, violin, 2 violas and cello KV 407, with Radovan Vlatkovic playing a modern horn with valves; the third movement:
And here is a valveless horn, where Pip Eastop plays the Mozart K. 495, the 3rd movement cadenza only:
Tags: Mozart, Horn Quintet, Horn concerti, Pip Eastop, Hannover Band