Horn Concerto (Glière)
Reinhold Glière's Concerto for Horn and Orchestra in B-flat major, Op. 91, was completed in 1951. It was premiered on May 10, 1951 by Russian hornist Valery Polekh in Leningrad (later renamed St. Petersburg) with the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Background
Polekh met Glière at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1950, during a break in a rehearsal of Glière's ballet The Bronze Horseman. During this brief encounter, Polekh suggested that Gliere write a concerto for the horn. Gliere promised he would work on a concerto in his free time. Polekh later met with Glière and demonstrated the capabilities of the horn to him; a year later, Glière finished writing the concerto.
The Horn Concerto is perhaps the best known of Glière's acclaimed works. Concertos for horn are rare; well-written concerti rarer still. The addition of valves in the early 19th century allowed composers a greater flexibility in their compositions, and the horn became a full range solo instrument. Many composers, valuing its large range and unique tone, incorporated it more prominently in their compositions. Glière went one step further; he captured its full power by composing a concerto for horn and orchestra, the longest commonly played.
Structure
Despite being composed in the 1950s, the concerto is written in a neoclassical style with strong Romantic influences; three movements comprise the concerto:
- I. Allegro
- II. Andante
- III. Moderato - Allegro vivace
The standard cadenza played with the concerto was written by Valery Polekh, the first to perform the concerto. Polekh's cadenza is very much in the style of the concerto, and its virtuosic demands far exceed the majority of the piece. Because of this, many horn players prefer to modify this standard cadenza, while still more write their own; some horn players, however, play the exact cadenza written by Polekh.
Discography
One of the major works in the horn repertoire, the concerto has been recorded a number of times.
Given its duration (roughly 22 minutes) it is quite common to find this Horn Concerto on the same CD with other horn concerti, or Glière's ballet The Bronze Horseman.
The foremost example is probably Eric Ruske's 2005 recording performed with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Stern. Ruske plays Polekh's cadenza with slight variations.
Another recording of particular note is Marie Luise Neunecker's recording with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert. Neunecker performs Polekh's cadenza.
In the Hermann Baumann recording with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur, Baumann does not play Polekh's cadenza, but wrote his own.
A lesser known recording, though highly reviewed, is Eliz Erkalp's recording with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Marc Soustrot conducting.
Setting aside recording quality reflective of what was the norm for Russia in the early 1950s, the definitive recording is the one made by Valery Polekh, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre conducted by none other than Reinhold Glière. No modern recording even comes close to the rendition of the Polekh cadenza as played by Polekh himself. The recording is all the more significant because it demonstrates the horn sound Glière was composing for. Most noteworthy is the vibrato used by Polekh, atypical for modern horn players, but which startlingly enhances the effect of the concerto despite the sound quality of the recording. Released by Classic Editions (CE6) in the 1950s and made from the master tapes through an arrangement with Leeds Music Corporation, the recording is no longer commercially available,[1] but a web search for Classic Editions CE6 should locate a rip from the vinyl available for download.