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In thinking about horn repertoire, and teaching it completely online for the end of this semester, my mind turned to the question of what would I most want to highlight from my Rescued CD. The answer was an easy one; the four works there by B. Ed. Müller.
As a hornist he served as second hornist of the Gewandhaus orchestra from 1876-1920. He published a number of interesting materials, including somewhat exotic things for the time, such as works for horn and organ. I found the works I recorded on ISMLP. Honestly, I had heard of Müller, but only for his etudes which I have never really made use of.
First, an interesting side note: you can hear Müller playing on an early recording. I have linked this before, but hidden in a tangentially related article (here), take a quick listen to the celebrated horn quartet of the Gewandhaus Orchestra!
Audio quality and horn playing has come a long ways!
I opened my CD with his Nocturno, Op. 73. The work dates to 1910 and I feel has an unexpected dark and brooding quality in relation to what you might expect if you only know his etudes.
The Melancholie, Op. 68, and Am Abend, Op. 71, date to 1906 and 1910 respectively. I love the mood of Melancholie, and Am Abend (“in the evening”) is almost a miniature tone poem exploring several moods.
The final work of his I recorded is the Wiegenlied, Op. 69, No. 1. This work is a lullaby, a very peaceful little work, which he dedicated to his colleague in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, principal horn Arno Rudolph. He is performing on the recording that opens this article; I like to think this work was a musical gift to him on the birth of a child, but I do not of course know this for sure.
For more from this album, the complete Rescued playlist is here. And if you want to find the music for free, all the ISMLP links are here.
