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Publication Date

2-5-2008

Year of Release

2008

Note(s)

Stephen Lawson, horn

assisted by

Yesim Dikener, piano

Mitch Spurlock, tenor

Program Notes

Leopold Mozart is principally known as the father of Wolfgang Mozart. As the father of a prodigy, he toured young Wolfgang and his sister, Nannerl to most of the courts of Europe performing piano recitals. This unflattering portrayal of a possibly exploitive father misses the point that he was also their teacher and mentor and must have been a fine musician in his own generation. Barry Tuckwell describes, "The provenance of this work [Concerto in D] is uncertain. The only reference to it is in the Thematic Catalogue of the composer (Denkmal der Tonkunst, Vol. 9, 2) in Bayern, preserved in Mathingen, dated 1755.

Concerto in D by Leopold Mozart owes its construction to Baroque practices, using binary forms in each movement and an extremely high tessitura for the horn player, known as "clarino". Horn construction was changing from the hunting horns of waldhorn, trompe-de-chasse or cor-de-chasse to the "inventionshorn". The hunting horns were built at a fixed pitch. If you wanted a horn in a different key, one had to build a new instrument. Music for these instruments was popular due to nobles and patrons who loved the hunt. By allowing the horn into the orchestra, they combined their love of music and hunting. It was also seen as man's effort at controlling nature as the horn player is relegated to those notes that the horn can produce.

During 1750-1755, the inventions horn with a tuning slide and crooks and couplers system was perfected. Anton Hempel (1705-1771) developed and codified a system of using one's hand in the bell to produce additional pitches in a mid-range. As the time of castrati singers· passed, so too did the clarino style of playing brass instruments.

Wolfgang Mozart composed many of his works for horn for Ignaz Leutgeb (1745-1811), including four concertos, the Quintet for horn and strings and Concert Rondo, K. 3 71. Though much is noted about Mozart's flippant attitude towards Leutgeb's efforts, he was known to be a fine horn player in Salzburg. Leutgeb owned a cheese shop and helped Wolfgang financially and was repaid with new music. ·

Concert Rondo, K. 371 was performed for about 200 years missing a 60 measure section. As music paper was in large sheets, or four "pages" per sheet. When one sheet of paper fell out, 4 pages of music were "lost". In the 1980's, such a sheet ·of paper was found. One could tell that it was in E flat, with a solo part and scraps of an orchestra accompaniment. By matching watermarks, ink and a footprint across the back, it Wf!S realized as belonging to this Concert Rondo. Scholars had long noticed that this rondo did not have the expected form. However, in deference to Mozart's genius it was not questioned too harshly. Now restored, one can hear the form and structure in its entirety.

During the era of hand-horn performance practice, the horn was extremely popular. After the piano and violin, the horn ranked third among all instruments for solo repertoire. It was part of the training of a composer to write for horn, as the horn could not produce all tones equally as a piano or stringed instrument.

Valves were invented around 1815. However, Parisian orchestras and the Paris Conservatory still used hand-horn technique until 1910. During this nearly 100 year span, various types of valves were developed including pistons, rotors and the Viennese "pumpen-valve". Several theories have been expounded on the slow transition to universal valve acceptance.

Auf Dem Strom by Franz Schubert was written in 1828 for the only public performance of Schubert's music that Schubert ever gave, March 26, 1828. Schubert was on the piano, with Ludwig Tietze, tenor and Joseph Rudolph Lewy, horn. Lewy was among the first generation of valve horn players, though it is recorded that he used the waldhorn for this performance. The majority of this work fits within the standard practice of hand-horn playing of this generation, except for a few very low passages. These may have been performed using valves, as they sound ridiculous when attempted on the hand. Instrument terms and performance practice were quite blurred during this era. Many valve born players treated the instrument as an omnitonic instrument, in that they used valves as a crook changing device and played using band-horn technique.

Little is known about C. D. Lorenz. Probably a horn player, Lorenz composed quite a few pieces for born and piano. , This fantasy is based on melodies from I Puritani (The Puritans) by Bellini. Fantasie, Op 13 demonstrates a style of valve horn playing similar to trumpet compositions by H. L. Clarke and Arbans. The prolific scale passages, lower range and tessitura point to a different understanding of virtuoso possibilities.

Happy Blues by Zsolt Nagy brings us to the modern era, as it was written in 2000. It is intended as a fun work and allows the performer many opportunities to demonstrate modern techniques. Use of the hand and performing of chords date to the time of Mozart, and yet are exploited to new levels. After a brief introduction, there are several choruses of 12 bar blues and a coda.

Note

Smith Recital Hall

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Stephen Lawson, horn, assisted by, Yesim Dikener, piano, Mitch Spurlock, tenor

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