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Favourite french horn moments in symphonic music

64K views 82 replies 67 participants last post by  Oscar South 
#1 ·
Today when I was at my piano workground I encountered horn player and was forced (but eventualy it turned to be pleasure and great experience) to listen to his playing (very clearly despite two closed doors and hallway between us). Then I had conversation with other guy about french horn music and I've realised something:

French horn, at least in my opinion, has pretty weak repertoire. It's magnificent instrument with noble and rich sound but there are very little pieces for it that are real masterpieces of the same caliber as greatest violin or piano concertos.

But horns often get their "five minutes" in non-concertante orchestral music. Tchaikovsky's 5th, Mahler 5th, some Richard Strauss, Wagner (Siegfried's signal and many other short pearls).

Can you think of some other examples?
 
#3 ·
How about the brilliant intro to Mahler's 7th.
Dvoraks 8th has some brilliant horn parts, especially in the finale.

I like the horn for its beautifully nostalgic tone in the higher range. But it is so versatile due to its big range. Seems perfect for 'echoe's
 
#5 ·
Yay, I'm a hornist who plays a lot with orchestras so I can comment with some knowledge on the subject.

There are a lot of concerti and chamber works for horn. Not as many as for violin or piano but it is the brass instrument with the most solo music written for it. Here's a short list of great pieces:

Corelli - two sonatas
Telemann - concerto
Mozart - four concerti, horn quintet, concert rondo
Haydn - two concerti
Beethoven - horn sonata
Brahms - horn trio
Schumann - concertpiece for four horns
Saint-Saens - Morceau de Concert
Dukas - Villanelle for Horn and Piano
Strauss - two concerti
Hindermith - concerto


For great horn features in concert music:
Haydn - Symphony 31
Beethoven - symphony 3 (third movement)
Beethoven - symphony 7 (1st and 4th mvt)
Shostakovich - symphony 5 (all movements)
Tchaikovsky - symphony 4 (1st mvt) and 5 (2nd mvt)
Bruckner - symphony 9 (1st mvt)
Brahms - symphony 1 (2nd and 4th mvt) symphony 4 (1st and 2nd mvt) piano concerto 2 (1st mvt)
Copland - symphony 3 (mvt 2 and 4)
Schubert - symphony 9 (1st mvt)
Mendelssohn - Nocturne from MND
Wagner - Lohingrin, all four parts of the Ring
Schumann - Symphony 1 (mvt 2)
Dvorak - symphony 7 8 and 9 (many places)

There's lots more. This is just off the top of my head.
 
#72 ·
Yes, all good, but...

Yay, I'm a hornist who plays a lot with orchestras so I can comment with some knowledge on the subject...
Old thread, i know.

All good examples, and thank you for that. As an amateur low horn player (usually 4th as i'm a tubist by training), i find that my orchestra's music director seems to schedule way too many works that only use 1&2 horns. This next concert, only 1 of the 4 works even have a 4th horn part :(

I'd love to be able to suggest works that have great 4th horn parts, or even if it's just heavy on 4th. If you know any, i'd appreciate hearing about them. I'd open this up to anyone who wants to answer.

Thanks in advance,
-Stew
 
#27 ·
Fifth symphonies (at least two of them) seem to have great horn moments. The second movement of Tchaikovsky 5 and the thid movement of Sibelius 5. Of course, I mean the famous "Swan Theme," or the "Thor's Hammer Theme," depending one which description works better for you.
 
#30 ·
Not exactly a large melody, but there is a two note motif for horn at bars 466-67 of Henze's fourth symphony where the horn thrillingly rides above the tutti orchestra, fortissimo, to seal the whole work

And, of course, a horn wittily has the last word (last note) of Stockhausen's Gruppen
 
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