Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1
RICHARD STRAUSS
Born: June 11, 1864 | Munich, Germany
Died: September 8, 1949 | Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
HORN CONCERTO NO. 1 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 11
Composed: 1883
Performance Time: 16 minutes
Richard Strauss picked his parents well. Growing up in a musical— and financially secure— household was paramount to his eventual success as a composer. His father, Franz, one of the greatest horn players of the day, was principal horn of the Bavarian Court Orchestra and the Munich Opera. His mother, Josephine (née Pschorr), was heiress to the Hacker-Pschorr Brewery– a five-hundred-year-old brewery that, by Munich law, is one of only six breweries legally allowed to serve beer within city limits during Oktoberfest. With his father’s steady stream of musical engagements, little Richard was exposed to Europe’s greatest musical talent from a very early age. And with his mother’s steady stream of cash, he, unlike most 19th-century German boys, was unencumbered by an obligation to supplement the family income upon reaching adolescence. Thus, instead of engaging in mandatory drudgery as a teenager, Strauss was able to pursue a career in music.
Strauss wrote his Horn Concerto in E flat, the first of his two horn concertos, while studying philosophy at the University of Munich. Richard initially dedicated the concerto to his father and then later rededicated it to Bruno Hoyer, another great horn player, who premiered an arrangement of the work for horn and piano. The change in dedication was actually Franz’s request. It was important to Franz Strauss that his son’s musical identity mature independently. In fact, the elder Strauss never performed his son’s work in public. Forging his own path, the younger Strauss left university after just one year, and with his parents’ blessing (and his father’s numerous musical contacts), he ventured out on his own, touring the musical capitals of Europe and introducing himself to the world. One work that the 18-year-old Strauss brought with him on these trips was his recently completed horn concerto. Two years later, the esteemed conductor Hans von Bülow conducted the orchestral premier of the concerto, with Gustav Leinhos as soloist. This work, widely viewed as one of Strauss’s first important compositions, contributed significantly to his successful debut on the European circuit.
The work is cast in three linked movements and brilliantly showcases the musicality of the horn. The themes are catchy, memorable, and distinctive, with a fanfare-like foundation that suits the horn exceptionally well. After an opening flourish and an orchestral exposition, the soloist offers us a broad melody of grace and dignity. A rhythmically adjusted version of the same tune returns in the middle of the slow movement, played fortissimo on the horn against a stuttering woodwind accompaniment. The opening flourish is not forgotten either, as it is transformed into a lively finale by the end of the work. Strauss’s ingenuity is embedded in this musical tapestry. Thematic connections within and between movements provide a sense of unity that binds the short work together in a wholly satisfying manner. The composition is typical of Strauss’s music at time: it is Romantic in style, with influences of Mendelssohn. Although Strauss’s music eventually releases its late Classical imprint and adopts the broad, sweeping style of late Romanticism, this concerto offers us hints of what is to come, foreshadowing the great “horn moments” in Strauss’s epic tone poems such Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben, and Don Quixote.
Lakeview Orchestra will perform Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 with soloist Matthew Bernstein on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, IL.