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One discussion horn teachers have over and over with students is that of trying to select works for recitals. Years ago in a lesson with Verne Reynolds he suggested that I perform one of what he called the “big three” concertos, and ultimately I studied two of them with him as a student at Eastman and the third as a DMA student at IU.
I was thinking about them again tonight as a student performed one of them on her recital and I realized that the other two are coming up later in the semester here at ASU.
So, what are these three big concertos? According to Reynolds the big three were the Gliere, Strauss 2, and the Gordon Jacob. Tonight it was Gordon Jacob, performed very nicely on a Senior recital. In a couple weeks we have Gliere on a MM recital and in a few more weeks Strauss 2 on a DMA recital.
All of these are certainly standard concertos that the advanced horn student should know.
UPDATE 2021: As time passes, I would add that of these three, Strauss 2 is probably the best one for advanced college auditions. I also like the Gliere a lot, but be aware it is somewhat polarizing, some teachers hate the work, thinking it overly long at the least. The Jacob, as near as I can tell, has fallen somewhat out of favor, and it is a rarity when someone brings it to their graduate audition.
