I. 2. Trio!!! Program Notes

These are edited program notes from my senior recital. I formatted the recital as a dialogue between the old and the new, between tradition and innovation. The Roman numeral I indicates the former, with a focus on canonic pieces in the horn repertoire. The portion of the program under Arabic numeral 2 is a move to modern times, including a work written specifically for the recital. Finally, the third portion of the recital, Trio!!!, was intended to further showcase this play on past and present, juxtaposing a newly written chamber work for horn (a Horn Trio) with the canonical piece that inspired it.

Beethoven: Sonata for Horn and Piano, Op. 17

Beethoven’s Sonata for Horn was written in 1800 for one Jan Václav Stich. This performer, more commonly known by his pseudonym, Giovanni Punto, was among the most prominent horn soloists of his day. In contrast to the modern instrument I'm playing on today, Punto would have premiered the sonata on a natural (hand) horn. As such, chromatic notes within the piece should have an extra emphasis on them as they would have been played as stopped notes on a natural horn. There are a few other things to listen for. The second movement of the piece is only seventeen measures long, and is among the shortest movements written in the Common Practice Era. The piano’s quasi-cadenza into the third movement leads into a joyous rondo—listen for the differences between each reiteration of the main theme. To conclude, a bit of trivia: Beethoven was not well-known outside of Vienna when this piece was written. One critic remarked after its premiere: “Who is this Beethoven? His name is not known to us. Of course, Punto is very well known.”

Hopefully Beethoven is a bit better known these days…

Strauss, R.: Concerto No. 1 for Horn and Orchestra, Op. 11

Though Richard Strauss’ (first) Concerto for Horn was written when the composer was only eighteen years old, it remains probably the most performed concerto in the horn repertoire. This piece was premiered by Oscar Franz in 1882, but Strauss more than likely wrote the piece with his father (Franz Strauss, a prominent horn player of the day) in mind. In contrast to Beethoven’s Sonata, this piece would have been premiered on a valved instrument, a bit closer to what I am playing on. This concerto is through-composed with no pauses between movements, yet there are certain themes that span the work as a whole. This piece is significant to me as it has lived with me for almost as long as I’ve played the horn. Introduced to me by my first private lesson teacher, Lisa Bergman, while I was still in middle school, I would continue to visit it every few years. This will be my first performance of the cyclical concerto in its entirety.

Williams: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, V. Nocturne

John Williams. Perhaps the most celebrated composer of this day and age, Williams is famous for such movie scores as Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, and (of course) Jaws. Though best known for these works, Williams has written many other pieces not associated with the silver screen, including over a dozen instrumental concerti. His Concerto for Horn was commissioned in 1993 for Dale Clevenger, former Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and premiered by Clevenger and the CSO in 2003. In the program notes from the world premiere, Williams stated that:

When I've tried to analyze my lifelong love of the French horn, I've had to conclude that it's mainly because of the horn's capacity to stir memories of antiquity. The very sound of the French horn conjures images stored in the collective psyche. It's an instrument that invites us to 'dream backward to the ancient time.

I believe this final movement, Nocturne, best represents Williams’ aforementioned feelings. In this, as in every movement of this tone poem-concerto, Williams’ includes a paratextual epigraph from one of his favorite poems. The quote from this movement (“The crimson day withdraws”) is paraphrased from William Wordsworth’s poem "The Wishing Gate." The stanza from which this quote is borrowed goes as such:

The Sage, who feels how blind, how weak
Is man, though loth such help to 'seek',
Yet, passing, here might pause,
And thirst for insight to allay
Misgiving, while the crimson day
In quietness withdraws;

Mitchell: Thermal Bloom for horn and fixed media

I met Jason Mitchell almost exactly two years ago. Jennifer Beavers introduced the two of us at a meeting of the Texas Society for Music Theory, figuring our personalities and interests would click. What followed was a two-hour long conversation between Jason and me, suggesting she was correct. Fast forward to about a year later. Jason had reached out to me, inquiring as to whether or not I was looking for a piece for EA (electro-acoustic) horn for my recital. I said I was, and (half) jokingly asked if he’d be willing to write one for me. Much to my surprise he said he’d think about it and get back to me in a few days. A few days later I received an affirmative. The “electro” component of this work was created using samples of a recording I made of the acoustic part—what you will hear me playing. From the program notes:

Thermal Bloom was written for Stefan Greenfield-Casas.
One of a series of works that uses a pitch and proportion square, referred to as the Cascarones Square, which is based upon the Mexican folk tune “De Colores,” Thermal Blooming is an atmospheric effect that is seen in the use of high-energy lasers. As the laser passes through the atmosphere, a thermal distortion effect occurs. I was inspired by this while writing Thermal Bloom.

This is the world premiere of this piece. Jason dedicated the work to the memory of my late grandfather, Mel Casas. This performance is also dedicated to his memory.

Trio!!!

Li: White Moose Crossing, I. Mississippi Waltz

Vivian Li’s Horn Trio came into my life through a series of serendipitous events, beginning with my perusal of SoundCloud’s search engine for anything with “for horn” in the title. Immediately after stumbling across and first listening to White Moose Crossing, I searched for Vivian’s website to purchase the music. In an email correspondence, Vivian wrote that:

The piece was commissioned by my boyfriend Chris Komer. He's a great horn player and plays with the New Jersey Symphony. He loved the Brahms horn trio but he always felt that other than that piece there [aren't] really too many known pieces for that instrumentation. There's a little bit of jazz and bluegrass in the piece - the first movement uses a bluegrass tune by Bill Monroe, and all three players I had were great improvisers, so I gave them some freedom to improvise.

I was hoping to juxtapose this first movement of Vivian’s Horn Trio with that of the Finale from Johannes Brahms’ Horn Trio. Unfortunately, due to time restraints, I had to strike the Brahms from my program. The performance of this work is dedicated to another one of me grandfathers, Larry Rea. He was disappointed when I took up horn instead of trumpet (“you can’t play French horn in a big band!”), and I know he was fond of bluegrass music. Here’s a jazzy-bluegrass piece for you, Big Daddy.

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First written: March, 2015

Edited and revised: March, 2020