Alphorn

This is the 1990 EMI Angel release 'Richard Strauss - Hornkonzerte' played by English Chamber Orchestra led by Jeffrey Tate and featuring soloists Radovan Vlatkovic (horn) and Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano).

Composers develop their own voice and personality; singers develop their own vocal character and colour. This beautiful and unusual recital disc by Bill Barnewitz, principal horn of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, explores the voice of a special instrument and of a particular musician. Bill offers chamber works which feature the horn either as a solo personality or integrated into an ensemble. There are songs in which the horn is included, in its own right, as a partner to the voice. Bill also performs two of his own transcriptions in which the horn replaces the singer, taking on both the original voice part and the text. Throughout, Bill, like an operatic interpreter, assumes a variety of roles and uses the full expressive resources of his instrument to bring a variety of personalities to life.

Richard Strauss is considered to be both the last ‘Classical’ composer and a champion of modernity. His wide-ranging output stands as a monument to one of the most successful and influential composers of the 20th century. His spirited and compact First Horn Concerto was the product of his teenage years, while the Second Horn Concerto came six decades later, echoing the expressively lyrical and dynamic character of its youthful predecessor. Both of these concertos share the chamber orchestra character of the Four Last Songs in its arrangement by Eberhard Kloke. The Andante in C major and Alphorn in E flat major, originally composed with piano accompaniment, are heard here in arrangements for chamber orchestra by Lars Opfermann.

Richard Strauss is considered to be both the last ‘Classical’ composer and a champion of modernity. His wide-ranging output stands as a monument to one of the most successful and influential composers of the 20th century. His spirited and compact First Horn Concerto was the product of his teenage years, while the Second Horn Concerto came six decades later, echoing the expressively lyrical and dynamic character of its youthful predecessor. Both of these concertos share the chamber orchestra character of the Four Last Songs in its arrangement by Eberhard Kloke. The Andante in C major and Alphorn in E flat major, originally composed with piano accompaniment, are heard here in arrangements for chamber orchestra by Lars Opfermann.