The contemporary music tradition has a complicated relationship with the horn…
…or is it the other way around? The horn has a sound unlike any other instrument because it relies so heavily on reflective surfaces and acoustic environment. As a horn player, I have a biased perspective of why the horn’s sound is so great, but I will admit that this non-directional element can present problems for the modern composer. Unlike other brasses and woodwinds, the horn must go backward before traveling forwards, putting the poor hornist at the mercy of whatever materials and surfaces (or lack thereof) are behind them. Combine this with a shared negative view of all things contemporary by many horn players, and it leads to a general lack of meaningful commissions. In my opinion (stemming from hours of research) this has led to many composers writing sparsely for the instrument, using its enveloping quality to act solely as a sonic glue in ensemble works.
Composer Jörg Widmann
I first learned about the piece Air a few years ago and it’s been on my playlist for quite some time. Jörg Widmann’s works are well known in the music world; he was the third most performed contemporary composer in 2018. He writes in a wide variety of compositional styles, ranging from musical commentary on earlier artistic eras to absurd avant-garde theatrics (his viola concerto calls for the soloist to scream in the middle of the concerto!). His piece Air dances between two characters, one involving the slow development of haunting melodies, the other incorporating jagged lines and quick dynamic and timbral changes. The title references both the Baroque and Classical airs, which were lyrical instrumental works, and also the literal air that must be blown into the instrument.
I’ll be honest, I struggled with the piece in my initial workings. The resonance needed to maintain musical line through the long pauses just wasn’t possible in any small venue. However, as I listened to lots of different interpretations, I noticed that many of them had a soft residual ringing after the horn plays, which I soon recognized as a piano with the sustain pedal depressed. After I tried it out on my own, I found that the added resonance of the piano created the precise ambiance that I was looking for. Thankfully, First Congregational Church of Houston provided a beautiful venue (with a piano!) that suited the piece’s largely prayer-like atmosphere. I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I enjoyed unpacking what it has to say!
-Maxwell Paulus
