Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Yehudi Wyner
Horntrio (1997)
- Associated Music Publishers Inc (World)
Commissioned by World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund, Inc.
Programme Note
Composer Note:
For many years the Brahms Horn Trio stood in solitary majesty, an apparently unique example of the genre. The majesty remains, of course, hut in recent years the Horn Trio has been joined by a number of companions, among them a Trio by Ligeti and another, entitled Twilight Music, by John Harbison. Despite these fine recent additions, the literature featuring the horn in small chamber ensembles remains sparse. In an effort to enlarge this literature, the present project by the World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund came into being.
Horntrio is in three movements. The order of the movements reflects the conventional succession of tempi: Fast-Slow-Fast. But no traditional forms are involved here: no sonata forms, no fugues, no rondos, song forms, variations and the like. The form evolves from the material itself; devices such as repetition, near-repetition, and contrast help to guide the performer and the listener through the evolving narrative.
The first movement begins with a large rhetorical flourish for horn supported by the piano, a kind of expository introduction. Contained in this short section are most of the elements-harmonic, melodic, rhythmic-that will be varied, juxtaposed, and developed to create the music of this movement. Once the introduction subsides, the main body of the movement plunges forward, very quick, full of fragments, spiky figures, and contradictory events. Toward the end of this short movement, a grave and mysterious dirge-like music interrupts with no apparent preparation and is followed by a very compact coda-conclusion.
The second movement is more conventional: slow melodic material revolves in a sensuous harmonic environment. As the music proceeds, there is a surprise development: the melodic substance transforms into a subdued, jazzy dance, and it is with this attitude that the movement ends.
The last movement is a high-spirited romp, more or less a "perpetuum mobile." There are numerous antic intrusions reminiscent of a vaudeville, and the mixture of dance rhythms, shrill melodic figures, military tattoos, along with "classical" elements, has the effect of creating an atmosphere of fun, havoc, risk, and danger. The thrust of the movement is kinetic, physical, athletic. The harmonic language of Horntrio is heavily influenced by the common-practice harmony of jazz, which in turn is descended from French music of the Impressionists. Many melodic and rhythmic figures seem to recall popular tunes of a bygone era. I can identify fragments from "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Lazybones," "Who Cares?" (Gershwin), and other tunes whose names I've never known. The infiltration of these familiar elements in my music is not the result of deliberate intent; in fact, it always comes as a surprise to me. These references emerge unsolicited as I develop and transform my working materials and then insist on their legitimacy and organic connectedness. They end up being an essential part of the expressive language of my music. The duration of Horntrio is sixteen minutes, more or less.
— Yehudi Wyner
For many years the Brahms Horn Trio stood in solitary majesty, an apparently unique example of the genre. The majesty remains, of course, hut in recent years the Horn Trio has been joined by a number of companions, among them a Trio by Ligeti and another, entitled Twilight Music, by John Harbison. Despite these fine recent additions, the literature featuring the horn in small chamber ensembles remains sparse. In an effort to enlarge this literature, the present project by the World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund came into being.
Horntrio is in three movements. The order of the movements reflects the conventional succession of tempi: Fast-Slow-Fast. But no traditional forms are involved here: no sonata forms, no fugues, no rondos, song forms, variations and the like. The form evolves from the material itself; devices such as repetition, near-repetition, and contrast help to guide the performer and the listener through the evolving narrative.
The first movement begins with a large rhetorical flourish for horn supported by the piano, a kind of expository introduction. Contained in this short section are most of the elements-harmonic, melodic, rhythmic-that will be varied, juxtaposed, and developed to create the music of this movement. Once the introduction subsides, the main body of the movement plunges forward, very quick, full of fragments, spiky figures, and contradictory events. Toward the end of this short movement, a grave and mysterious dirge-like music interrupts with no apparent preparation and is followed by a very compact coda-conclusion.
The second movement is more conventional: slow melodic material revolves in a sensuous harmonic environment. As the music proceeds, there is a surprise development: the melodic substance transforms into a subdued, jazzy dance, and it is with this attitude that the movement ends.
The last movement is a high-spirited romp, more or less a "perpetuum mobile." There are numerous antic intrusions reminiscent of a vaudeville, and the mixture of dance rhythms, shrill melodic figures, military tattoos, along with "classical" elements, has the effect of creating an atmosphere of fun, havoc, risk, and danger. The thrust of the movement is kinetic, physical, athletic. The harmonic language of Horntrio is heavily influenced by the common-practice harmony of jazz, which in turn is descended from French music of the Impressionists. Many melodic and rhythmic figures seem to recall popular tunes of a bygone era. I can identify fragments from "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Lazybones," "Who Cares?" (Gershwin), and other tunes whose names I've never known. The infiltration of these familiar elements in my music is not the result of deliberate intent; in fact, it always comes as a surprise to me. These references emerge unsolicited as I develop and transform my working materials and then insist on their legitimacy and organic connectedness. They end up being an essential part of the expressive language of my music. The duration of Horntrio is sixteen minutes, more or less.
— Yehudi Wyner