Strauss – Horn Concerto #1

The most important musical influence in the young Richard Strauss’s life was that of his father, Franz, the principal horn of the Munich opera orchestra and widely recognized as one of the finest performers of his era. So lofty was the elder Strauss’s reputation that Richard Wagner relied on him to play the first horn parts in the premieres of several of his operas, in spite of the fact that the horn virtuoso openly disliked Wagner and, in particular, disparaged the great composer’s writing for his instrument. Richard Strauss inherited his father’s affection for the horn as well as – at first – his preference for a conservative musical style. The Horn Concerto #1, which Strauss completed while still a teenager, is his earliest orchestral composition to have secured a lasting place in the repertoire, predating the massive tone poems and grandiose operas which would ultimately secure his place in history.

The work is cast in the traditional pattern of three movements (fast-slow-fast), but the movements follow one another without pauses, ensuring musical and psychological continuity – and discouraging the audience from interrupting with applause, which was still common practice, particularly in concertos. The movements are also linked thematically, anticipating more sophisticated techniques of thematic transformation that Strauss would make use of in his later orchestral works. For example, the opening statement by the solo horn is ignored for the rest of the first movement, but returns in a rhythmically altered form to serve as the primary theme of the finale. The overall style of the piece is perhaps closest to the music of Robert Schumann, who was still a bit too progressive for Franz Strauss’s tastes but was at least preferable to Wagner. It was not long before the composer became seduced by Wagner’s chromatic harmony and expansive, futuristic approach, but even when operating within a more conservative aesthetic, his music shows its trademark vitality, color, and drama.

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2003-04 PCO repertoire