# Favourite french horn moments in symphonic music



## Aramis

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?


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## Art Rock

Shostakovich' second violin concerto has some beautiful horn lines in the Adagio.


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## emiellucifuge

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


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## Aksel

I second Tchaikovsky's 5th. But also, the descending seconds in the Romeo and Juliet Overture. They get me everytime.


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## Olias

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.


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## SuperTonic

Art Rock said:


> Shostakovich' second violin concerto has some beautiful horn lines in the Adagio.


His first cello concerto is almost a double concerto for horn and cello. There are many prominent horn solos in all of the movements (except obviously the 3rd which is a cadenza).


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## Jean Christophe Paré

While not excessively hard, the beginning of the first movement of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony is both sweet and glorious.


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## Chris

The part for the french horns in Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

...and this of course:


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## PicklePepperPiper

Absolutely love the horn fanfare that opens Tchaik 4.
-PPP


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## Delicious Manager

emiellucifuge said:


> How about the brilliant intro to Mahler's 7th.


That's not a horn - that's a tenor tuba!

Watch at 1:26


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## Delicious Manager

For sheer majesty of a full horn section, it's hard to beat the opening of Mahler's Third Symphony.


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## Weston

The delicate opening to Holst's Venus. This instrument is clearly not all about hunting. I love the distant sound of the horn in this mode.

(Rather, I have assumed all my life this is a "French" horn. Correct me if I am wrong.)


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## Manxfeeder

I second Chris' mention of Britten's Serenade. I'm not into Britten's music [at least yet], but that one has me hooked.

One of my favorite moments of Mahler's 1st symphony is at the end, where the horns all stand up and blare out the opening motif, like here at 6:43.


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## opus55

Delicious Manager said:


> For sheer majesty of a full horn section, it's hard to beat the opening of Mahler's Third Symphony.


Majestic is the word, indeed.


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## alexandrew

Mahler Symphony No.4 first movement - near the start of the development - best horn solo ever!!!


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## GraemeG

It's when the horns hunt in packs that it raises the hairs on my neck. The great chorale passages in _I_ of Bruckner 4, for instance. Schumann 3. Great stuff.
cheers,
GG


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## Nix

Dvorak Cello Concerto. The solo right before the cello comes in.


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## drth15

Handel's Water Music. Listen to van Beinem's recording from the 50's.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

Always loved the french horn. Regretted choosing the trumpet over it in my youth.


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## Huilunsoittaja

Solos in anything Russian .


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## Olias

Nix said:


> Dvorak Cello Concerto. The solo right before the cello comes in.


YES! Its theme 2 in the Sonata Form structure. Beautiful melody, and I love how it comes back in the full orchestra to start the recapitulation with theme 2 instead of theme 1.


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## TWhite

There's also some wonderful horn passages in the Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony, especially the 2nd movement scherzo and the finale. 

Tom


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## Comus

All these mentions of Mahler go to show how brilliant his orchestrations are.


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## Sanctus Petrus

heavenly throughout the whole song but especially after3 '15'' and at the high appogiatura at 4'35-36''


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## afterpostjack

Delicious Manager said:


> For sheer majesty of a full horn section, it's hard to beat the opening of Mahler's Third Symphony.


Yeah, the first thing I thought about when reading "horn solo" was the opening of Mahler's third, which is brilliant.


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## kv466

Please correct me if it's not a FH but I love the quick little horn break in Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 3rd mvt..also, in Grieg's Piano Concerto 2nd mvt. just before the cello lick and right before the keyboard plays the first exquisite notes


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## Tapkaara

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.


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## SuperTonic

I heard the Rite of Spring live a few weeks ago. It was the first time I had heard it live. The horns were awesome. At several points all 8 horn players lifted their horns up over their music stands for to project maximum volume. It gives me goosebumps now just thinking about it.


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## clavichorder

There's the Emmanuel Chabrier-Larghetto for Horn orchestra. A very nice piece. Should be played more often.


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## Jeremy Marchant

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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## Stasou

The horn solo in the beginning of Strauss Till Eulenspeigel and in the beginning of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2.


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## Vazgen

emiellucifuge said:


> How about the brilliant intro to Mahler's 7th.


 The intro to the second movement has always chilled me.


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## clavichorder

Stasou said:


> The horn solo in the beginning of Strauss Till Eulenspeigel


That is also one of my favorites.


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## maestro267

I suspect this has been mentioned, but Messiaen's 90-minute piece _Des canyons aux etoiles..._ calls for a solo French horn. There are several solos in the piece, but the sixth movement (Appel interstellaire) is exclusively for the horn, and shows off some quite impressive extended horn-playing techniques.


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## Sanctus Petrus

R Vaughan WilliamsTuba Concerto in F minor
Finale: Rondo alla tedesca

French horns at 1'20"


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## Xaltotun

I don't think there's any instrument that matches the french horn in beauty of sound. Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner, Strauss... all are full of memorable horn moments. And the beginning of Schubert's 9th is one of the very best (while the ultimate crown may go to Mahler 3rd).


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## Il_Penseroso

Ravel : Piano Concerto in G, first movement, after piano and harp cadenzas.


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## waldvogel

Schumann's Konzertstuck for four horns and orchestra. Is it my imagination, or has this piece become much more popular in the past few years?


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## waldvogel

A few years ago our local orchestra played Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings. I had never heard the piece, and have only heard it once on radio since then, but it was one of those rare and wonderful performances where I got to hear a really good piece of music for the first time.


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## itywltmt

waldvogel said:


> Schumann's Konzertstuck for four horns and orchestra. Is it my imagination, or has this piece become much more popular in the past few years?


This is the piece that came to mind immediately. I own a recording by the Calgary Philharmonic (I lived in Calgary for 14 years - at the foot of the Rockies in Cattle Country) and Mario Bernardi - they recorded a complete Schumann symphony cycle in the late 80's and the Konzertstuck was "filler" material with the Rheinish. Goosebumps!!

Close second - the horn section featured in the Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohengrin. I'm at work right now (enjoying my morning coffee while browsing the forums) so I can't get to Youtube, but I know you can find a video of the NBC Symphony, Toscanini conducting (who else) playing this. More goosebumps!! Maybe another TC'er can find the link...


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## Tapkaara

I cannot believe I forgot this the first time around: the sunrise section in Sibelius's Night Ride and Sunrise. The horns here have such a feeling of warmth and calm.The most noble sunrise in all of music.


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## Aramis

Love the "royal" horns part starting around 1:20:


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## itywltmt

itywltmt said:


> This is the piece that came to mind immediately. I own a recording by the Calgary Philharmonic (I lived in Calgary for 14 years - at the foot of the Rockies in Cattle Country) and Mario Bernardi - they recorded a complete Schumann symphony cycle in the late 80's and the Konzertstuck was "filler" material with the Rheinish. Goosebumps!!
> 
> Close second - the horn section featured in the Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohengrin. I'm at work right now (enjoying my morning coffee while browsing the forums) so I can't get to Youtube, but I know you can find a video of the NBC Symphony, Toscanini conducting (who else) playing this. More goosebumps!! Maybe another TC'er can find the link...


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## Couchie

Prelude to Das Rhinegold:



I plan to put a stereo system in my bedroom and then play this very loudly for my alarm clock. Every morning I shall be reborn into the world.


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## Laudemont

Two memorable horn episodes in symphonic literature:
(1) In the first movement of Beethoven's 3rd (Eroica) Symphony, the horns come with the main theme just before the recapitulation, and it sounds like a mistake -- as if they are "jumping the gun." It must be embarrassing to play that passage, but that's what Beethoven wrote (perhaps his little joke).
(2) In Edward Elgar's 3rd Symphony (as completed by Anthony Paine) there is a place in the first movement where the entire horn section comes in full blast with one of the themes. I always anticipate that moment when I play the piece (I have four CDs of it).


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## violadude

The first horn solo in Daphnis et Chloe about a minute into the piece.


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## Il_Penseroso

violadude said:


> The first horn solo in Daphnis et Chloe about a minute into the piece.


Oh yes ... beautiful horn solos in Daphnis et Chloé ... :tiphat:


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## Llyranor

I'm still really bad at identifying brass instruments.

One of my favorite symphonic moments is during the climactic part of the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (starting at around 0:30 in this video)





As it slowly picks up, at around 1:46 the brass somehow gives the orchestra the extra oomph it needs to finish the climax. It's a subtle effect (not just bombastic, as some other good brass moments can be), but I find it really powerful.

Are those horns or something else?
---------------------------
Also, in Saint-Saens' finale of his 3rd Symphony, this is my favorite part (6:14 to 6:26), just as all the pent-up energy is being released after building up.





Fantastic powerful brass supported by beautiful strings. Again, are those horns? Maybe not - they sound lower-pitched?
--------------
Thanks in advance for helping me identifying (aurally) the types of brass!


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## Sid James

People have talked about things other than symphonies (eg. concertos, ballets) so I hope it's okay for me to talk about a work from "left-field" as they say. *Berg's* _*Chamber Concerto*_ for violin, piano and 13 wind instruments has a prominent part for the french horn. At the very beginning, the piano plays a musical motto based on Schoenberg's name, the violin plays that of Webern's name, & the horn plays Berg's name. The work was dedicated to Schoenberg on his 50th birthday & meant as a celebration of his & his two former students' friendships. It's not "easy listening," but overall it is comparatively light compared to say the more darker _Violin Concerto _& (like that) is replete with Berg's trademark dance rhythms, eg. the waltz. The french horn is pivotal in this work, it kind of lends a sense of fun to it, perhaps speaking to Berg's sense of humour. In a way, this is the closest thing of a musical portrait of these three guys you'll ever get. Here's the first movement with that opening I talked about (the horn's initial contribution is very quiet, but later this instrument's contributions get more audible, eg. it floats above the "textures" of the other instruments - esp. in the first & final movts.) -


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## Kraftwerk

A lot of good answers here, but I noticed my personal favorite isn't on here!

I play the horn in Sweden, and when playing with an orchestra, one of the professional hornists here came to the orchestra and said "You need to play this". She played this solo piece by Reinhold Glière for Horn and orchestra, and to this day it is my favorite of all horn concertos. Here is a link to the finale played by Radek Baborak. He makes it sound rather easy. If you play the horn, try it. 

Enjoy, the most underappreciated concert for the Horn and orchestra.


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## superhorn

As a former horn player, I can tell you that the opening horn solo of the first movement of the Bruckner
4th is extremely tricky even though to my regret, I never got a chance to play any of the Bruckner
symphonies .
The opening concert B flat is very diifficult to play without cracking , especially because it us
supposed to be played softly rather than loud . I've heard it flubbed more than once live .
I used to practice this solo all the time, however . In concert, it's like walking on eggs ; you risk
egg on your face every time you play it. 
That concert b flat on the horn lies very close on the harmonic series to adjacent notes , so if you're
off in lip pressure by a tiny bit , you flub the entrance . This is what makes the horn such a difficult
instrument . The higher the note, the less margin for error you have and the greater risk of flubbing
a note .
A couple of years ago , I heard a CD of a live Bruckner 4th with Hans Knappertsbusch & the Berlin 
Philharmonic recorded in concertshortly before the end of WW 2, and sure enough , the prinicpal horn misses
the opening note !
Playing the horn is not for the faint of heart, especially if you're the principal horn of an orchestra !


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## JCarmel

Bruckner's 4th Symphony.


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## Mahlerian

superhorn said:


> As a former horn player, I can tell you that the opening horn solo of the first movement of the Bruckner
> 4th is extremely tricky even though to my regret, I never got a chance to play any of the Bruckner
> symphonies .
> The opening concert B flat is very diifficult to play without cracking , especially because it us
> supposed to be played softly rather than loud . I've heard it flubbed more than once live .
> I used to practice this solo all the time, however . In concert, it's like walking on eggs ; you risk
> egg on your face every time you play it.
> That concert b flat on the horn lies very close on the harmonic series to adjacent notes , so if you're
> off in lip pressure by a tiny bit , you flub the entrance . This is what makes the horn such a difficult
> instrument . The higher the note, the less margin for error you have and the greater risk of flubbing
> a note .
> A couple of years ago , I heard a CD of a live Bruckner 4th with Hans Knappertsbusch & the Berlin
> Philharmonic recorded in concertshortly before the end of WW 2, and sure enough , the prinicpal horn misses
> the opening note !
> Playing the horn is not for the faint of heart, especially if you're the principal horn of an orchestra !


There was a horrible performance with Vanska and the LSO a few years back, and the horn was constantly "scooping" between the notes of the opening, which sounded completely wrong for the part.

When I attended a performance of this work last year, the opening solo was played (just about) flawlessly, but there was a noticeable flub at the end of the adagio. Is this particularly difficult to play well also?


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## hpowders

Siegfried's Rhine Journey by Wagner.


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## dgee

Mahlerian said:


> There was a horrible performance with Vanska and the LSO a few years back, and the horn was constantly "scooping" between the notes of the opening, which sounded completely wrong for the part.
> 
> When I attended a performance of this work last year, the opening solo was played (just about) flawlessly, but there was a noticeable flub at the end of the adagio. Is this particularly difficult to play well also?
> View attachment 40773


It's no more difficult than a lot of other little solos - playing the horn is hard and clams happen! As an aside here are some mebers of the BPO horn section playing and chatting about Bruckner






Which I watched as I'll be wielding a Wagner tuba in some Bruckner next month (for the first time in about 15 years - should be fun!)

Among all the soaring tunes and fanfares and delicate solos, a few moments stand out for me:

Dawn in Gotterdammerung - all 8 interweaving a big smooth tune
Rite of Spring - the big bodgy interjections in Dance of the Young Girls and the crunchy march in Dance of the Two Rival Tribes
Schoenberg Chamber Symphony 1 - all the way is great but the end!!!
Finale of Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses - whooping
Brahms 3 - the big, juicy, rich solo (then duet) in the first movement - and the vaulting about in Tragic Overture (this could never be too loud but unfortunately it is often feeble)
Beethoven 5 Scherzo
Britten sea interludes - Sunday morning
Julian Anderson's Imagin'd Corners - 5 horns antiphonally

And heaps of others that I've forgotten about right now


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## Alfacharger

Herrmann's Death Hunt music to his score "On Dangerous Ground". Begins about 6:30 on this video.






The second movement of Hummel's B minor piano concerto. Scored for piano and horns only.


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## MoonlightSonata

Beethoven's Fifth, the horn call in the first movement. It's small, yes, but I love it.


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## Richannes Wrahms

There's a whole channel on YouTube dedicated to horn solos. This is an evocative little solo at the beginning of the third movement of Borodin's Symphony No.2 :


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## david johnson

mighty fine horn playin'


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## Rhombic

Borodin's Second Symphony, 3rd movement. Begins with a short clarinet solo and continues with a magnificent French horn solo.


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## omega

A whole solo horn movement in _From the Canyons to the Stars_ by Messiaen.
I don't think it's the best french horn moment, but for sure the most surprizing




(29'11")


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## Panjandra

One composer who has exploited the horn's innate qualities of noble utterance is Weber. Surely no one can fail to be moved by the introduction to the Freischutz overture, nor fail to appreciate the influence exerted over Wagner among others.






From 1:10


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## Rhombic

It appears to me that most, if not all, of Myaskovsky's symphonies contain very expressive and interesting horn passages (both solos and for the four horns). In fact, as a horn player, I consider Myaskovsky to be one of the best 20th Century orchestrators. Indeed, at least the horns' part (also as accompaniment) is deliciously written.

6th symphony, 1st movement (one of the main themes)
7th symphony, 2nd movement
9th symphony, 2nd movement
etc.


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## hpowders

The slow movement from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.

Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Götterdämmerung with its famous horn call.

The prelude to Das Rheingold by Wagner.


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## padraic

Mahler 3!

Too short? I mean the opening of Gustav Mahler's fantastic Third Symphony!


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## melloly

Some of my favorites are:
American Overture-- Joseph Wilcox Jenkins
Symphonic Dances-- Leonard Bernstein (specifically the second movement, Somewhere)
La Fiesta Mexicana 1. Prelude and Aztec Dance-- Owen H. Reed
The Glass Bead Game-- James A. Beckel
Princess Leia's Theme-- John Williams (gotta love Star Wars!)


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## Pugg

melloly said:


> Some of my favorites are:
> American Overture-- Joseph Wilcox Jenkins
> Symphonic Dances-- Leonard Bernstein (specifically the second movement, Somewhere)
> La Fiesta Mexicana 1. Prelude and Aztec Dance-- Owen H. Reed
> The Glass Bead Game-- James A. Beckel
> Princess Leia's Theme-- John Williams (gotta love Star Wars!)


Great first post, welcome to the forum


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## helenora

one of most favorite Tchaikovsky 2nd movement 5th symphony


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## Animal the Drummer

Haven't been through the whole thread. but for me the horn tune in the last movt.of Brahms' Symph.no.1 is hard to beat.


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## Gordontrek

Shostakovich Symphony 5, second movement
Ravel, Pavane for a Dead Princess- not a huge moment, but the horn melody at the beginning undoes me. 
Stravinsky- Rite of Spring- Games of the Rival Cities
Tchaikovsky Symphony 4, opening of 1st movement
Strauss- Till Eulenspiegel- has some great horn moments. Opening horn solo, and the big fanfare at rehearsal 31 in the score
Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnol, 2nd movement


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## Pat Fairlea

How about that glorious brass writing in Sibelius' s Night Ride and Sunrise, where the pre-dawn greyness gives way to the sun? Plenty of horn action there.


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## horn of the 4th kind

*Yes, all good, but...*



Olias said:


> 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


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## Allegro Con Brio

Bruckner's 4th probably has the most ingenious writing for horns in a symphony that I've heard. The thrilling opening exordium evolving from that bare perfect fifth call into a huge orchestral climax. The glorious chorale at the start of the development section. The barnstorming hunting gallops in the scherzo. Superb! I would also add a passage early on in Strauss's Alpine Symphony that is scored for 12 (!) offstage horns. A cool effect but I highly doubt it's really practical for an orchestra to get together that many hornists for a 30-45 second passage of an hour-long work (and where they won't even be seen by the audience!). And of course, the magical "Alphorn" theme in the finale of Brahms 1 is one of my favorite moments in all symphonic literature. Oh, and the scherzo of Mahler's 5th. Really a lot of great moments when you think about it!


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## Olias

horn of the 4th kind said:


> 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


Shostakovich 5 - 1st movement has all of that bass clef horn writing. Great for "low" horn players like me.

Also the third movement of Beethoven's 9th has a solo in the 4th horn part.


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## ThaNotoriousNIC

French horn player here. I was at first going to recommend various sections from Wagner's operas (Lohengrin, Tannhauser, The Ring Cycle), but I saw that the title of this thread concerns symphonic music. Here are a couple that I recommend listening to:

1. Symphony No. 31 in D Major (Horn Signal), Haydn: When it comes to horn music and Haydn, this is the first piece that comes to my mind. Particularly good French horn parts in the first and fourth movements.






2. Water Music No. 1: Minuet for French Horn, Handel: For an example of a great French horn part in Baroque music, I often listen to this section from Handel's first set of Water Music. Not necessarily a very complex of difficult French horn part, but I find it to be very majestic and stately, as the French horn's distinct timbre often conveys.






3. L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 Mvmt IV: Carillon, Bizet: Played this piece before in my high school orchestra and the fourth movement is all about the horn section. The horn section mimics church bells ringing through the town (hence the movement being called Carillon). Again, nothing that intricate like the Handel selection, but the French horn section really gets to shine.






4. The Planets: Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity: I would not be surprised at all if someone has mentioned this piece in terms of favorite French horn movements. This part of The Planets is chock full of them (1:35-1:52,2:54-3:55 accompanied by the cellos and then the rest of the orchestra are my favorites). I've had the luck of playing this piece a couple of times and it is probably the most fun I have playing the French horn. Mars also has some really good French horn parts too.






Other moments I would mention are as follows:

1. Capriccio Espagnol Mvmt 2, Korsakov: I relay the sentiment of Gordontrack with this one. Really good.
2. Symphony No. 5 Mvmt 3, Beethoven
3. Symphony No. 9 Mvmt 4, Dvorak
4. Blue Danube, Strauss II
5. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 Mvmts 1, 3, 4: Bach


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## Animal the Drummer

The opening of the Brahms B flat concerto. Brief as it is, the French horn's contribution to that provides such a magical send-off.


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## Heck148

horn of the 4th kind said:


> 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,ening
> -Stew


Huge 4th horn solo 
Beethoven Sym #9/III - audition lick
Also-
Liszt- Les Preludes (the 4tet section)
Brahms - Sym #4/II - opening with Horn 3


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## Heck148

Beethoven #7 - great horn parts!! Go for it, guys!!
Haydn - Sym #51 - really high, stratospheric - concert Bbs....this is half step higher than Schumann "Konzerstuck" and Strauss "Symphonia Domestica".


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## Beeps

Howard Hanson Symphony #2 "Romantic" has some nice horn writing. I played for a number of years in a community orchestra where the conductor was a professional horn player. The horn section were all his students and they always nailed these parts.

Also, Bruckner #4 First movement, Brahms #1 2nd movement are my favorites.


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## Heck148

Beeps said:


> Howard Hanson Symphony #2 "Romantic" has some nice horn writing.


Yes, Hanson wrote some fine brass and wind parts, lots of good horn stuff...
I played Hanson #2 when at school, with the composer conducting....he wanted those horn parts loud and string!!


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## Piers Hudson

Not strictly symphonic, but Mozart uses horns to great effect in his 'Notturno in D major for four orchestras':






Horns and strings are a great combination.

For another example of this, have a listen to Gordon Jacob's 'Concerto for Horn and Strings'; at times, the horn fits like a hand-in-glove:


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## pianoville

It's a very short moment, but the horn call that appears twice in the 5th movement of Mahler's 2nd symphony is really atmospheric. It almost feels like it's coming from another dimesnion!


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## Oscar South

I love well written Horn parts so I've been exploring this thread for new music to listen to! The introductory melody of Schubert #9 always gets me personally -- the unusual phrase structure is incredibly moving.

I've been working with the orchestration of that introductory section of Schubert recently in an 'algorithmic orchestral performance' project that's in development at the moment. Here's a clip recorded with my phone:




(This video is a very early stage in the development process -- the first moments that the tech was ready enough to produce sound, so the bars of Schubert are really just a sound test here. Plenty of time left before I'll be able to to be out performing!)

Played by a Horn player or generated algorithmically .. that horn line almost brings me to tears every time I hear it, and when the strings and winds cascade in ..


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