Horn
Horn Quartet No. 12023four horns
Arrival2021solo horn
Duration:ca. 6 minutes
Instrumentation:solo horn
Notes:This work explores the singing character of the horn and its hunting roots, throughout the full register of the instrument. The music is always moving forward, seeking a resolution that finally comes in soft low tones.
Notes:Recorded by Dylan Hart.
Music for two horns2021
Duration:ca. 2 minutes
Notes:Written for Mark Almond and Hugo Valverde.
Solace2021solo horn
Duration:ca. 2 minutes
Notes:Solace was written for Michael Gast, principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Explore2021eight horns
Durationca. 8.5 minutes
Instrumentationeight horns
NotesExplore was written for the 8D Sound, a group of eight professional horn players.
Explore was premiered on Facebook by the Kennedy Center on August 8, 2021 and was featured at the International Horn Society Symposium , a virtual event held August 9-13, 2021.Members of the 8D Sound on the recording of Explore are: Nathaniel Silberschlag, Wei-Ping Chou, Geoffrey Pilkington, Robert Rearden, Julia Pilant, Mark Almond, Kevin Rivard, and Michelle Baker.
The piece is designed to explore many of the capabilities of the horn with an emphasis on beauty of tone and depth of sound.
The original idea for the piece came during a long hike along the coastal bluffs of Bodega Bay, California. That area has constantly shifting weather - from brilliant sun to extreme wind and fog. As I walked, I imagined the sound of a bed of fog moving up a coastal drainage. That idea became the opening music in muted horns.
From that bed of sound, I imagined solo voices exploring out, just as I was on my hike that day. The opening passage in the first horn is that idea. From this original concept the piece took on another life, but the original idea of exploration remained.
The main theme and the way that theme expands, were inspired by the opening of Das Rheingold and by passages I heard my teacher, Vincent DeRosa, play as he warmed up on his 8D.
Sarabande2020six horns
Durationca. 3 minutes
Instrumentationsix horns
NotesSarabande was written during the time of the worldwide coronoavirus pandemic, when there were 77,485 deaths in the United States.
Sarabande was composed for and premiered by violist, Alexandra Simpson , as part of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music , GigThruCovid series.
Allie premiered the work, via YouTube, on July 2, 2020. Later I created the version for six horns. Mark Almond did a beautiful job on the audio and video that you see here. I really enjoyed collaborating with Mark on this piece and Final Words (below). Both projects were products of the time of Covid-19.
I had in mind the beautiful slow movements from the Bach solo cello and violin works.
For downloadable PDFs contact the composer.
Final Words2020six horns
Durationca. 5 minutes
Instrumentationsix horns
Notes
FInal Words was premiered by the Chicago Symphony horn section, in Orchestra Hall, at the CSO brass concert on December 17, 2024.This piece was originally a song that I wrote about the last time I saw my mother. When I arranged it for six horns, I imagined the two solo horns as a dialogue between her and me. In performance, those two horns should be separated antiphonally with the remaining four horns positioned in the middle.
These are the lyrics for the original song:
She taught me,
many years ago,
last moments with
one you love
Then, I didn't know.
Only after she was gone
did I hear
those final words
Now I recognize them.
They come at quiet, quiet times.
All you hear is the loss of
what was once so preciously held.
Allegro, Adagio and Allegro2018horn and piano
Durationca. 9 minutes
Instrumentationhorn and piano
NotesInitially my thought was to write something like Adagio and Allegro, the piece for horn and piano by Robert Schumann. Schumann wrote a piece that shows off the beauty and power of the horn using a slow section followed by a flashy fast one. I stayed with that model but ended up starting instead with a fast section, which explains my title.
My music incorporates sounds I grew up with. The fast sections of my piece remind me of the horn parts to the 1st Brandenburg Concerto only here played on a heavier, modern horn. The runs throughout the piece remind me of similar passages in the Mozart horn concertos and the Mozart horn quintet. Some spots near the end remind me of the trumpet solo in Paul McCartney's, Penny Lane. The horn passages in the slow movement remind me of many of the movie soundtrack horn solos written for my teacher - Vincent DeRosa.
Allegro, Adagio and Allegro was commissioned by Kevin Rivard and is dedicated to him.
Mr. Rivard is principal horn of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet Orchestras.
Mr. Rivard premiered Allegro, Adagio and Allegro on his recital at the 50th International Horn Society Symposium at Ball State University, August 2, 2018. Tomoko Kanamura played piano.
Recording
This recording was made 9/7/18 at Skywalker Sound, Marin County.
Kevin Rivard, horn
Mongo Buriad, piano
Leslie Ann Jones, recording engineer
Judy Kirschner, assistant engineer
Andre Zweers, protools editor
Photo by Cavitt Productions
For downloadable PDFs contact the composer.
Calling20182 horns
Durationca. 3:00
Instrumentationtwo horns
NotesCalling was composed during the inaugural Mostly Modern Festival.
The work is dedicated to the hornists who read my sketch and first performed the piece at a composer presentation symposium during the festival - Nick Fife and Evan McAleer. Those hornists premiered the work on June 13, 2018 at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York.
The recording below is from the same session at Skywalker Ranch that Kevin Rivard recorded my Allegro, Adagio and Allegro. Michael Gast, principal horn in the Minnesota Orchestra, was at the session and joined Kevin on this recording.
One Voice20174 horns
Durationca. 2:30
Instrumentation4 horns
NotesOne Voice was written in memory of Kendall Betts, principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1979-2004. The music accompanied a video tribute to Mr. Betts that was played at his memorial service.
Recording
June 9, 2017, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis
Horns: Michael Gast, Herbert Winslow, Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, Michael Petruconis
Michael Osborne, Recording engineer
For downloadable PDFs contact the composer.
In The Dark Light201616 horns, alternate version for 8 horns
Durationca. 7:00 minutes
Instrumentation16 Horns. The horns are grouped in 4 quartets. The solo quartet is in front, another quartet behind them, one quartet on the left and the last out to the right. The quartets are separated far enough that the listener can distinguish between them.
An alternate arrangement is available for 8 horns.
AwardsIn The Dark Light was awarded Third Prize in the 2017 Twin Cities Horn Club / American Composers Forum International Composition Competition for Large Horn Ensemble.
NotesThis piece for 16 horns explores the concepts of light and dark, hope, despair and affirmation as embraced in Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939. The piece seeks to fulfill Auden’s wish for an affirming flame.
September 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
Recording by Emma Gregan and Alex Miller, both horn players in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
For downloadable PDFs contact the composer.