Brass Clinic
Programming Horn Concertos
With Bands and Orchestras
D irectors who have an out-
standing horn player and
want to schedule a horn con-
certo for an upcoming performance
have a choice of more than three
dozen works with band or orchestral
accompaniments. The most widely
performed horn concertos are the four
by Mozart and the first concerto by
Richard Strauss (Op. 11).
Mozart's Concertos
Besides those concertos Mozart
wrote for the instruments he played
(piano and violin), he wrote more for
horn than for any other instrument.
He completed the four widely known
concertos and began at least two oth-
ers. The traditional numbering of the
four concertos is misleading and is
used here only as a matter of accepted
tradition, but they were actually writ-
ten in the sequence of 2, 4, 3, 1.
Mozart composed the horn concer-
tos for his godfather, Ignaz Leutgeb,
who was 20 years older than Mozart,
but that did not deter Mozart from
making Leutgeb the butt of his jokes.
The second concerto bears the dedica-
tion, "Mozart has taken pity on that
ass, ox, and fool, Ignaz Leutgeb," and
40 Tur.nr-™,,...-
by David Hoover
parts of the fourth concerto are written
in various gaudy colors of ink. The
playfully insulting commentary in the
first concerto is unsuitable for polite
company.
In Mozart's concertos the string
parts are about grade 4, with the first
violin parts being the most difficult
while the others are mostly in first
position. The third and fourth concer-
tos have full cadenzas in the first
movement, and the second and fourth
have spots for brief solo runs returning
to the rondo theme; these will take
practice for the ensemble to maneuver
the ritardandos and synchronize
entrances with the soloist. Musicality
is the biggest challenge with Mozart,
and the orchestra should listen to pro-
fessional recordings. Players should
understand that a small note in front
of an eighth note followed by two six-
teenth notes is played as even six-
teenth notes with a slight stress on the
first note.
Written Played
Mozart completed only the first
movement of the Concerto # 1 in D
Major, K. 412, written in the last year
of his life. The sprightly | movement
that is traditionally coupled with it
comes from a sketch that his student
Franz Xavier Sussmayr completed.
Mozart apparently did not even begin
to compose a slow movement, leaving
it in the unusual form of two fast move-
ments. About nine minutes in length,
it is the shortest of the concertos.
From the graceful opening theme in
the first violins to the closing tutti
chords, this is the most elegant of
Mozart's horn concerto movements, a
rare distinction. The rondo, though
suggestive of the chase, maintains the
mood.
Every solo note in the concerto's
first movement is in the best horn
octave, from A3 to A4, except for a
single eighth-note B4, and Sussmayr's
second movement stays in the same
range. Sixteenth-note passages are
more abundant than in the other con-
certos, and there are a few trills.
The orchestra uses the usual strings
with pairs of oboes and bassoons.
Because D major is one of the easiest
keys for the strings, this first horn con-
certo presents few ensemble problems.
Mozart's Horn Concerto #3 in E?
Major, K. 447, is probably the most
popular of all horn concertos among
players and listeners, and it is the most
frequently requested concerto for high
school honor group auditions and
competitions. This 14-minute work
uses a horn range of just over two
octaves (B^-CS) and is scored for
pairs of clarinets and bassoons with
strings in typical three-movement
form. Students should understand that
the first notes the soloist plays are not
solo notes; Mozart thoughtfully in-
cluded a four-measure warm-up section
in the first tutti. With piano accompa-
niment this should be omitted. The
first movement includes a cadenza.
Based on a solo movement for horn
by Michael Haydn, brother of the
famous Joseph, the dreamy Romanza
invites emphasis on tone and phrasing.
It helps to remind students that eighth
rests do not necessarily signal phrase
endings, and eighth notes separated by
rests are part of a longer phrase. The
shape of the phrase, not the highest
pitch, should determine which notes
to bring out.
Horn in E-flat
Allegro
p^i^"
r-f-M—f—[—s^-- —
Throughout the brisk third movement
the two- or three-note hunting calls
David Hoover has a D.M.A. in music
education from the University of South-
ern California. He taught brass methods
at U.S.C. and is currently the horn
instructor at California State University,
Northridge; chairman of the music
department at Mulholland Middle School
in Van Nuys, California; and horn coach
and faculty artist at the Idyllwild Arts
Festival Summer Session.

^ so subsequent notes
ier than drag. An oasis of
, the | Andante consists of lyric easiest rondo of them all, it comes as a
•rases separated by ample rest peri-
ls. To some listeners, the galloping
'"*last movement suggests running
horses. Although a good lip trill is
essential in all the Mozart concertos, a
smooth and instantaneous trill is most
important in this rollicking rondo.
With a duration of 13 minutes, this is
the shortest of the complete three-
movement concertos. It is scored for
oboes and horns, with strings,
fourth concerto,
lorn Concerto #4 in E^ Major,
traverses the same range as the
concerto but calls for more
je and agility. The full cadenza
minute length push it into a
difficulty. The taxing first
mt dances at the top of the
ch of the time. More difficult
ry of the other Mozart slow
nts, the crystalline Romanza
!ess affords some respite from
rs of the first movement,
ipport is the key to the con-
effort it takes to play the
nelodic lines so they sound
The third movement,
another jolly rondo in |, avoids the
uppermost register so freely exploited
in the first movement. Probably the
merciful favor at the close of a difficult
piece. Most editions of the fourth con-
certo insert the first orchestral horn
part into the solo part whenever the
solo horn should have rests. The
uninitiated will often try to play every
note and, soon exhausted, put the
music on the shelf.
Published editions of the Mozart
concertos range from original notation
(Urtext) versions to heavily over-
edited examples with entire passages
rewritten or even deleted. An edition
that includes only a transposed solo
part for horn in F is best avoided.
However, Urtexts can also mislead
modern student performers because
composers of the Classical period sel-
dom specified the exact articulations
they intended. A recent edition by the
eminent soloist Barry Tuckwell sur-
mounts all of these problems in one
package. In Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Concertos for Horn with piano accom-
paniment (G. Schirmer, Vol. 2004),
Tuckwell shows what was in the origi-
nal and suggests articulations and
dynamics in brackets. All four of the
standard concertos and the completed
concerto fragments are bound to-
gether, ready for performance. Partic-
ularly useful is the fact that Mozart's
own Rondo for the first concerto is
here, the nearly complete sketch fin-
ished by Tuckwell, who includes
Mozart's running commentary to his
soloist, Ignaz Leutgeb. Sussmayr's
arrangement is given in an appendix.
These concertos were originally
intended for horn with orchestra.
Scores and parts, published by Kalmus
and Breitkopf & Ha'rtel, are readily

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42 THE INSTRUMENTALIST / DECEMBER 1996

are imitations of available. The solo parts are not
horn signals included in the orchestral sets. Band
ences; playe arrangements of the first three Mozart
noisy.
On
Hor
o String Quartet concertos, generally issued in separate
movements, are available from the
Robert King catalog.
the same camp Many editions of the Mozart horn

r 10 years! concertos copy the 19th-century piano

reductions that now seem thick, heavy,
and thoroughly un-Mozartian. They
r—America's premier are also difficult to play. The piano
performing and visual arts camp. accompaniments in the Tuckwell edi-
Imagine 70 studios and theaters on 250 tion have been rewritten to conform
to the lucid texture of Mozart's piano
magnificent woodland acres in Huntington, music. Considerably easier to play
Long Island, with daily concerts and classes than the 19th-century editions, these
with artists like: Jimmy Heath, Emanuel Ax, accompaniments also make it easier to
find a pianist capable of doing the job.
The Canadian Brass, Billy Taylor, Jaime The horn part is notated at actual
Laredo and Sharon Robinson! pitch for the pianist, a great help for
For a free catalog, call 212-772-6060. rehearsals.
Accompaniment recordings can
overcome the problem of limited prac-
USDAN CENTER tice time with an ensemble or pianist.
FOR THE CREATIVE AND Music Minus One, for example, offers
PERFORMING ARTS C.D.s of Mozart's second and third
concertos with orchestra, and the last
The official piano
is the Yamaha.
two movements of the fourth with
piano. Beware of the solo parts pro-
vided with these recordings because
they are full of errors. Vivace (Coda
Music Technology) is a marvelous tool
for performance preparation. This
amazing computer-based accompani-
ment will follow the soloist with either
Celebrating our Jf£th yearf piano or simulated orchestral sound,
M U S I CV T
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and there are various options in how it
can be programmed. All five horn
557 E. 140th S t . , Cleveland, OH 44110 • 1-800-851-1150 • Fax: 216-851-1958 concertos discussed in this article are
E-mail: ludwig@cybergate.net available on Vivace cartridges.
Students should practice the Mozart
SERENADE NO. 11 IN E-FLAT--W.A. Mozart/Frederick Fennell concertos by reading the original nota-
This performance edition by Frederick Fennell is a must for advanced chamber tion, not the transposed part included
wind instrumentalists. Avail, on CD #KOCD-2712 (D) SWO-334 $95.00 in some editions because the original
version shows how Mozart crafted the
SERENADE NO. 12 IN C MINOR--W.A. Mozart/Frederick Fennell part around the tones available on the
A serious piece of music-the beautiful sonority of an ensemble of winds is natural horn. Play each movement as
difficult to imagine. Avail, on CD #KOCD-3567 (D) SWO-350 $95.00
if on the original instrument by hold-
SYMPHONY ON THEMES OF JOHN PHILIP SOUSA, Mvt. Ill-after ing down the correct valve (first for EK
"Fairest of the Fair"--lra Hearshen third for D), using only the lips and
This is the second of four movements to be published. "While attempting to right hand to change pitch. Hand posi-
explore Sousa's music on a technical and architectural level, I also examined tions for closed tones are explained in
the spiritual, emotional, and historic contexts of his music"-lra Hearshen. such standard works such as the Oscar
Available on CD #KOCD-3567 (M) SWO-362 in process Franz Complete Method for Horn (Carl
Fischer, p. 35) or Philip Parkas' The Art
THREE CHORALE PRELUDES, OP. 122-Brahms/arr. Boyd/ed. Fennell of French Horn Placing (Summy-
Taken from three of the Eleven Preludes for Organ by Brahms, this setting for Birchard, p. 14).
winds brings a sonority as if to create a living organ.
Available on CD #BOCD-7507 (M) SWO-375 $65.00 It comes as a revelation when play-
ers discover that many passages were
written for the veiled sound of half-
stopped notes (called echo horn), and
this indicates the dark tone to strive
for when preparing the same phrases
for performance on a modern instru-
ment. Hand muting is still desirable for
some passages, even when played on a
modern horn.
The soloist should prepare for a per-
formance by playing the complete
concerto several times with the
ensemble. Some directors focus on
individual movements to the exclu-
sion of full run-throughs, but the per-
formance should be just another
chance to play what the student has
done many times. A final word about
preparation is to listen to recordings,
including those done on period instru-
ments.
Cadenzas in Mozart
Only Mozart's third and fourth con-
certos of the five pieces in this article
have a place for a full-fledged cadenza
near the end of the first movement. In
the 18th century cadenzas were re-
garded as ornamented cadences, and
the proper length for a cadenza from a
wind player was only one or two
phrases. Short was good, which is wel-
come news for student players who will
discover it is relatively easy to devise
and play their own cadenzas. Only the
notes that were part of the horn tech-
nique in Mozart's day should be used,
which means a cadenza should be play-
able on the natural horn (using the
hand in the bell) even though students
will be performing on a modem horn.
With these two points in mind, stu-
dents can use this three-part formula
to make a cadenza for the first move-
ment of Mozart's third concerto. Start
with an easily recognizable melodic
fragment and transform this into a scale
or arpeggio passage, or both, in the
tonic key.
Lead this into a trill on the second
degree of the scale that resolves into
the return of the accompaniment.
Most editions include a cadenza,
which may be used as is or as a starting
point for developing a new one.
Strauss' Concertos
Richard Strauss composed two horn
concertos, the first in the mid-1880s
and the second nearly 60 years later in
the early 1940s. The second concerto
is feasible only for professional groups,
and the orchestral parts are available
only on rental. Strauss' First Horn
Concerto, Opus 11, a grade 5 piece, is
the fifth major horn concerto.
/ rtiergiai «
The opening call sets a bravura style
that characterizes both outer move-
ments and part of the middle one as
well. There is also much singing in this
music. Stamina requirements are
greater in Strauss than in Mozart, but
this concerto has no cadenza and no
trills. For players with a robust tone
and solid technique, it is an excellent
choice. The wide range has the same
ceiling as Mozart's second and fourth
concertos (En) and a floor slightly
lower (G2). At 16 minutes, it ties
Mozart's fourth for length.
Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clar-
inets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and
timpani along with the usual strings,
the orchestra is larger than Mozart's
and the accompaniment more diffi-
cult. Technical requirements are some-
what greater, but syncopated accompa-
niments and interlocking eighth-note
passages create even trickier ensemble
problems. The coda should sound as if
played with reckless abandon although
there are many pitfalls in timing
entrances after rests.
Hardly any differences exist among
the editions of Strauss' first concerto,
but I recommend the Canadian Brass
version edited by David Ohanian (Hal
Leonard) because it includes a cassette
tape. One side has the piano accompa-
niment for practice and the other side
features a model performance by
Ohanian playing to the same accom-
paniment.
Strauss composed the piano accom-
paniment first and then orchestrated
the work. Because the piano part came
from the composer's pen, the editions
are nearly identical. Although the
accompaniment is not easy, it is pianis-
tic and has none of those awkward fig-
urations common in reductions. Com-
pared with the Tuckwell edition of the
Mozart concertos, however, it is still
more difficult.
The Mozart and Strauss horn con-
certos are not obscure works and
should pose no problem in availability,
but be sure to use the composer's full
name when ordering music. 1 once
ordered several copies of the Concerto
in D by Mozart and received a stack of
the first listing in the catalog - by
Wolfgang's father, Leopold. Richard
Strauss' father, Franz, also wrote two
horn concertos. LJ
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