Notes and Editorial Reviews
This release offers an intriguing collection of horn concertos from the Baroque era, a time when the horn was making its transition from a signaling or hunting instrument (corno di caccia) to an orchestral one. The disc opens with Telemann's sprightly and pleasing Concerto in D, in which the solo passages, some of them exquisite, are limited to not much more than six bars in length in order to preserve the horn player's lips. No such concern restrained Christoph Förster (1693-1745), who included some highly virtuostic solo writing in his E-flat concerto. The work also is notable for the first movement's main theme, which contains the same recurring idea as Stravinsky's Symphony in C. Next comes the anonymous Sonata da caccia in C
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major, discovered in Kromeriz, an important musical center in South Moravia. The rhetorical nature of the solo part is in keeping with the style of Corelli's concertos.
Haydn's concerto is the most extensive of this collection, and exploits the 18th-century horn's full potential. The solo part explores both extremes of the instrument's range, and even though the player is restricted to natural tones there are plenty of show-off opportunities in the trills and rapid runs. Johann Beer's (1655-1700) Concerto à 4 sounds positively staid by comparison. The soloist alternates between the hunting horn (which has the real solo part) and the coach horn, which simply plays high repeated octaves that become tiresome throughout the work's six movements. Peter Damm performs all the concertos with a beautifully confident, assured tone and stylish flair. Hartmut Haenchen and the CPE Bach Chamber Orchestra make beautiful music of the accompaniments. The recording balances the horn nicely with the orchestra in a warm acoustic. Overall, an enjoyable horn o' plenty.
--Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Horn in D major by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
Peter Damm (French Horn)
Conductor:
Hartmut Haenchen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Length: 10 Minutes 0 Secs.
2.
Concerto for Horn in E flat major by Christoph Förster
Performer:
Peter Damm (French Horn)
Conductor:
Hartmut Haenchen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Written: 18th Century; Germany
Length: 13 Minutes 55 Secs.
3.
Concerto for Horn no 1 in D major, H 7d no 3 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer:
Peter Damm (French Horn)
Conductor:
Hartmut Haenchen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1762; Eszterhazá, Hungary
Length: 18 Minutes 49 Secs.
4.
Sonata for Horn, Strings and Basso Continuo by Anonymous
Performer:
Peter Damm (French Horn)
Conductor:
Hartmut Haenchen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra
Period: Baroque
Length: 14 Minutes 20 Secs.
5.
Concerto ŕ 4 for Posthorn, Hunting Horn, Violin and Basso Continuo in B major by Joseph Beer
Performer:
Peter Damm (French Horn)
Conductor:
Hartmut Haenchen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: Bohemia
Length: 10 Minutes 17 Secs.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Spectacularly cheerful and substantive October 3, 2012
By Anthony G. (valley stream, NY) See All My Reviews
"Highly recommended for its spectacular cheer and unexpected flashes of brilliance and sparkle."
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