Music for Horn and Strings

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Music for Horn and Strings

I really have to have my arm twisted to give up a couple of days of trout fishing to play chamber music with strings, but this summer I've been asked to play the Mozart quintet in Colorado. I was asked if there were any other pieces for strings and horn which we could stick on the program. Any ideas?

Another wonderful piece is the Bernhard Heiden Quintet for Horn and Strings. It had been out of print for awhile, perhaps it is available once again.

Bernhard Heiden wrote a quintet that is good. Dauprat also wrote 3 quintets but I don't know how they are, and Froydis Wekre has a recording in which she plays the 2nd Cherubini Sonata with string quartet so that may work. All of these pieces use the traditional string quartet with horn and not 2 violas as in the Mozart- hope that works.

I believe there is a Boccherini Quintet for Hn & Str. 4tet. (I have the music, but am away from it as I write this.) As I recall, there isn't much to the horn part, but this observation is based on a long-ago perusal of the part. I've never played it.
If you can add another horn player, your options become more flexible, from many divertimenti by Mozart & Haydn to the Beethoven Sextet.
Finally, on the Hezekiah 3:16 principle, "He that tooteth not his own horn heareth not the toot thereof," I should add that I have written a Quartet for hn, vln, vla, vlc. I think it is quite good (of course, I would), but I admit it is quite challenging, esp. for the horn and the fiddle and for the ensemble as a whole. I wrote it for natural horn, and that is how I've always performed it, but pragmatism and curiosity have led me to expect and even desire that someone should perform it on a valved instrument. I have an excellent tape of it, if you are interested. The piece is about 18 mins. long.

There are quintets for horn and strings by George Butterworth and B. Heiden that are both nice pieces. Good luck!

There are several chamber pieces with strings that are wonderful. Johannes Amon has two quartets (vl., va., vc., hn) that are very nice. Classic in style and feature lyrical writing for the horn. These are published by Ka We.
If you have another hornist available, the Beethoven Sextet is fun. Bocherrini wrote a Sextet, Op. 42 (2vlns., vla, 2 vc., hn)-Belwin Haydn's Divertimento a tre (hn. vc. vln.) is a demanding piece (range) but is well worth the effort (Doblinger)
One of my favorite chamber works is the Dohnanyi Sextet (Pf., vl., va., vc., cl., hn.) at times it has many of the stylist characteristics of Brahms. It is a WONDERFUL piece-published by Lengnick
Other possiblities may include:

Doppler: Noxturne, Op. 19 (International) Fl., vl., hn., pf.
Farkas: Three Dance Paraphrases (Editio Budapest) Fl., vl., hn
Graun: Trio in D (McCoy) hn., vl., cont.
Telemann: Concerto in D for 3 hns. and strgs. (Ka We) This piece comes with the solo violin part, a continuo part, the solo horn part, and the optional 2 remaining horns I have done this several times and it works extremely well as a trio sonata (hn., vl., cont.) It's a screamer, but the audiences love it!

You might check these out! I hope this helps, and best wishes on a successful performance.

In addition to items already mentioned by other hornlisters, you could try Arioso and Scherzo by Arnold Cooke which was written for Dennis Brain in 1955. It's scored for the same combination as the Mozart Quintet (ie hn, vln, 2 vlas, cello.
It's published by:

Basically Brass
Highland Music Publishing
Elgin
Moray
IV30 3XE
Scotland

and edited by Ifor James.

...aw, come on, some of my best friends are string players. So I inflict some or all of the following on them:

Wenzel Stich - Quartet for vln,vla,vc & horn (a lesser composer, but great hornist)
Jos.Haydn - Divertimento a tre per il corno di caccia for vln,vc & horn (high Eb)
Franz Straus - Nocturo (arr.) for 2vln,va,vc & horn (one movement, schmaltz)

...or find another horn and play:

Beethoven sextet for 2vln,va,vc & 2horns (great fun!)
Hayden Divertimento (originally for) 2vln,va,vc and 2horns (string players know this as a Quartet, the horn parts aren't too big)
Mozart Divertimento 2vln,va,vc and 2horns (take a break, this is all first fiddle)
Mozart Musical Joke 2vln,va,vc and 2horns
Teleman 2vln,vla,vc and 2 horns

In my opinion, the Mozart quintet is the best of the lot.

Another good strings/horn piece is the Sperger Cassation No. 3 for horn, viola and double bass. It's an interesting combination! It is quite high and technical so a descant might be a good idea . . . A good recording of it is available on "Rarities for Bass Strings, Vol. I" made in 1989 on the Signum record label (SIG X22-00). I don't remember the artists.

Of course you have to have alot of friends, but it's always worthwhile to get together the

Schubert Oktet (hn,cl,bn,2vln,vla,vc,bass)

or the grand daddy of same, the

Beethoven Septet (hn,cl,bn,vln,vla,vc,bass)

Both are long works. If you want short and amusing then the PDQ Bach parody Schleptet has merit.

Other works with horn and bass:

Spohr Octet (cl,2hn,vn,2va,vc,cb); not quite on the heights like the Schubert, but very tuneful; horn and violin parts quite demanding.
Howard Ferguson Octet (same instruments as Schubert and the best of the successors with this combo, IMO): written in 1933 in a late romantic style which Grove Concise Dictionary likens to Walton. HF is still alive AFAIK, though no longer composing.
Spohr Nonet (fl,ob,cl,bn,hn,vn,va,vc,cb); not as good as the Octet, but easier to get together. The main problems are:
1. Balance, especially one string against several wind;
2. Difficult passages in woodwind and upper string parts, lightly accompanied so all your problems are clearly audible. My wife says of the flute part, "Whenever it goes black, everyone else stops".

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