Chamber concerts are very popular with our orchestra musicians, allowing them to showcase new flavours and put individual instruments in the spotlight. Now, there is a wonderful rendezvous with the horn – about which the »Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst« (»Ideas on the Aesthetics of Music«) as early as 1784 stated that it was »humanly conceived as a sensitive soul for almost all societies«. Many composers were inspired by the instrument with its snail shape and distinctive sound to create music – including Mozart, whose horn pieces were all written for the virtuoso Joseph Leutgeb. He first played in the Salzburg court orchestra, but soon moved back to his hometown of Vienna. Due to his somewhat simple-minded character, however, he was often the target of Mozart’s witty remarks, who sometimes notated the pieces he wrote for him in different colours or added mocking remarks to the score. One result of this humorous friendship was the horn quintet from 1782, a work with lots of inventive humour and thematic imagination. The second composition was written by Brahms, who once disparaged the horn as a »brass viola« – yet he probably only meant this tongue-in-cheek, as it was his favourite instrument, especially in his youth. This may be why he wrote the poignant horn trio in 1865 as a mourning piece, shortly after his mother's death. It is characterised by a romantic sense of nature and hunting scenes, but also by mournful lamentations. His close friend Clara Schumann raved about the »extremely interesting work« with its opening movement, which is »very rich in engaging melodies«, its »beautiful« Adagio and its finale, which »is full of life«.

Chamber concert: Strings Horn Piano

Bamberg Concert Hall

Remarkable leaps and bounds for the chamber music playing that our orchestra members love: Borodin was actually a full-time chemist and physician, but his passion for music constantly rekindled, including from 1859 in Heidelberg – where he composed his romantic string sextet in D minor. Some time later, he returned to Russia and the work was lost. It did not turn up for almost 100 years until it was finally discovered in an antiquarian bookshop. And it may still be missing something, as it consists of just two movements – one of which seems to shimmer like Mendelssohn’s »Midsummer Night’s Dream« and the other is laced with folk songs from Borodin's homeland. Dvořák’s sextet, premiered in 1879, also bubbles along folkloristically, which has to do with its chronological proximity to his famous »Slavonic Dances« and emphasises his image as a »Bohemian musician«. Although this was only one aspect of his multifaceted personality, Dvořák loved the cheerful and colourful environment around him, where people liked to celebrate festivals. His work quickly became one of the classics of the genre – and also inspired Schönberg to write his string sextet »Verklärte Nacht« in 1899. It is based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, saying: »There is a glow around everything, you drift with me across a cold sea, but a warmth of your own flickers from you into me, from me into you.« Schönberg found a poetic voice here that reflected his aesthetic stance – and an impressive love story that defied the moral standards of the time. He created a late romantic musical world for this – and the composition is one of his most popular pieces of chamber music today.

Yumi Nishimura

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 27, 2025

Chamber concert: String sextet · Bamberger Symphoniker

Past events

Dec 10, 2024

Chamber concert: Strings Horn Piano · Bamberger Symphoniker

Future and recently performed repertoire

Viola in Horn Trio by Brahms

Bamberger Symphoniker

Viola in Horn Quintet by Mozart

Bamberger Symphoniker

Viola in String Sextet by Dvořák

Bamberger Symphoniker

Viola in String Sextet in D minor by Borodin

Bamberger Symphoniker

Viola in Intermezzo for String Trio by Kodály

Bamberger Symphoniker

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