By Gavin Reed
If you never knew that the horn can sing, come find out during the ROCO Chamber Series performance of The Song and the Wind on Sunday, November 17, 4:00 pm, at Gremillion &Co. Fine Art Annex. Joining me will be violinist Andres Gonzalez and pianist Timothy Hester performing several works showing the wonder of chamber music and the great range of the horn.
We’ll begin with several works for the horn and piano, including Alla Caccia by Abbott and Romanza by Koetsier. The Abbott piece is fun to hear and play — a great opener — while the Koestier piece is in the pastoral style. Always present when I play Romanza is the sound of my teacher, Gail Williams. Hearing her play with all the subtlety of a great soprano inspired me to be better. It is her sound that I hear in my head.
The first half also includes two Schumann transcriptions and a setting of a Shakespeare Sonnet by singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Although the pop music industry claims Wainwright, his songs defy classification. He uses very sophisticated compositional techniques, and I am very excited to perform this piece.
Completing the program is one of the greatest pieces of music featuring the horn, the Brahms Horn Trio. A deeply personal piece born from the grief of losing his mother, the Brahms Horn Trio is a masterwork that is nearly impossible not to love. It will complete the afternoon and, hopefully, convince you that the horn is an instrument of great expression!
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