From Dennis Brain’s Library
Stephen Stirling (horn)
Tony Halstead, Kathron Sturrock (piano)
Christian Halstead (violin)
rec. 13-16 September 2021, The Colyer-Fergusson Hall, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
MPR 112 [78:21]
This recording features the British horn soloist and chamber musician Stephen Stirling in a programme of English, French and German music for horn and piano, with the welcome addition of the violin of Christian Halstead for the attractive Arioso and Scherzo for Horn Violin and Piano by Arnold Cook D63 (1957). This piece gives Stirling the opportunity to present his credentials as a convincing interpreter of this fine but hitherto unpublished example of British 20th century chamber music. The music in this production benefits from fine accompaniment by Tony Halstead and Kathron Sturrock. Tony Halstead is himself a legend among horn-players and a leading figure in the period instrument movement as well as a noted conductor and pianist.
The reason for the slightly oblique title of this recording is that all the repertoire represented is from the library of the late Dennis Brain, the horn virtuoso, whose tragic death in a car crash in 1957 is still mourned by horn players worldwide. Brain was an inspired artist who showed the way for horn players to aspire to be soloists in the 20th century, as did Sir James Galway and Jean-Pierre Rampal for flautists and Maurice Andre for trumpet players. His library of music, much of which was written for his use or approval, as often happens was sold to a private collector until discovered by Messrs Stirling and Halstead. The whole production is enhanced by a fine sound recording produced by former Hallé Orchestra principal horn turned record producer Michael Purton of the MPR label. Three horn virtuosi in one room! The mind boggles.
This recording will be well received by the community of sometimes obsessive individuals who play the horn but it actually deserves a much wider audience due to the quality of playing from Stirling and his two accompanists, Halstead and Kathron Sturrock, his deputy for health reasons. Sturrock is a past pupil of Alfred Brendel and was for some time the accompanist of the soprano, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. Her playing in the Büsser Cantecor Op.77 is incandescent in tone and sensitivity, matching the reflective but virile performance by Stephen Stirling. Sturrock also plays for the two encore pieces often played by Dennis Brain, which are arrangements, and the now well-known Arnold Cooke Rondo in B flat, which has the familiar resonances of the horn’s hunting ancestry within an engaging 20th century context. Cooke’s Rondo in Stirling’s rendition stands up well to similar pieces on recordings such as Allan Abbots Alla Caccia (1962) as played by Michael Thompson on the CD series Virtuosi on EMI Classics CDC 7 54420 2.
Two highlights of this recording are Alan Bush’s Autumn Poem Op 45 and his Trent’s Broad Reaches Op 36, the former written for a memorial concert for the Australian pianist, Noel Mewton-Wood, in which Stirling displays a formidable depth of emotion and high-register legato mastery supported with intelligent clarity by Tony Halstead. The duo also shows an appealing understanding in the second Bush piece to almost transcendental effect in mesmerising phrase endings and a stunning ending which dies away to a whisper. These two pieces are a fine contrast to the opening work on the CD by the German composer and conductor Alexander Ecklebe, who composed his Sonata for Horn and Piano following a visit by Dennis Brain to Berlin, no doubt in awe of his virtuosity and confident that he would do his music justice. The work shows the influence of German light music and song while remaining characteristically horn-friendly. The playing is delightful and wholly responsive to the moods of the piece and especially light of touch and exuberant in the final Allegro.
The longest piece and for me the outstanding performance is the Sonata for Horn and Piano Op.24 by Peter Racine Fricker. Maybe it is the qualities of much of the music of the time before, during and immediately after the second World War - of tension, anxiety and hope, which the piece shares with the sonatas of Hindemith that I find are both striking and poignant. Here both players ride the tides of moods and emotions of the three movements with a subtlety and a flexibility which are totally subservient to the music. This is what is required. Here Stephen Stirling demonstrates his consummate skill of almost morphing into the sound of another instrument and using dynamics and tonal change to heighten the effects of the piece which is why he is a sought-after chamber musician playing at the highest level. This is the skill of a true duo rather than two musicians just being a solo line and accompaniment, which is so often the case. Total understanding of the genre is needed and presented here in abundance.
There is another genre of nineteenth and twentieth century wind and brass music revered and feared in equal measures by performers and especially by students at the music conservatories, which used them to test the skill of their best students, notably the Paris Conservatoire. For the horn players, this meant being able to demonstrate first-class high and low ranges of notes, a superior, fluid technique not only as a valve horn player but using the more ancient skill of producing notes by using the left hand in the bell, as well as the ability to play trills just using the lips and other hand--stopping skills that give muted effects. For these reasons, as test pieces the music had to have some sort of formula in order to be judged. The Paul Vidal is a typical example of this type of work and finishes much like Dukas’ Villanelle played by Michael Thompson on the CD series Virtuosi on EMI Classics CDC 7 54420 2 mentioned above – a lip trill followed by a final flourish, played excitingly by Stirling, who copes well with the extremes of range in this demanding piece.
Yes, the French recital piece has a prescriptive format designed to test, and, like all contest music, could be said to have a questionable artistic value, but this is not to say that individual composers did not find a way to express their individuality within this tight remit. Charles Tournemire’s Fantaisie for Horn and Piano charts the course well and is played with style and commitment by Stirling. Meanwhile, in his Solo pour Cor, Raoul Pugno ticks all the technical boxes whilst giving his composition a sense of tuneful freedom of expression sometimes lacking in this style of piece. This piece is played with a lilting lightness and all the various technical issues for the horn put well in place.
There is an extensive, well written twenty-page booklet with informative text that accompanies the CD with programme notes and full biographies included. It
is a treat not for only for horn enthusiasts but anyone who enjoys listening to excellent performers like Stephen Stirling, a fine chamber musician at the top of his game inspired by the memory of a master.
John Durrant
Contents
Alexander ECKLIEBE (1904-1983)
Sonata for Horn and Piano (1950) [4:49]
Alan BUSH (1900-1995)
Autumn Poem Op.45 (1953) [4:20]
Alan BUSH (1900-1995)
Trent’s Broad Reaches Op.36 (1951) [4:59]
Arnold COOKE (1906-2005)
Rondo in Bb (1955) [3:08]
Arnold COOKE (1906-2005)
Arioso and Scherzo for Horn, Violin and Piano D63 (1955) [8:50]
Peter Racine FRICKER (1920-1990)
Sonata for Horn (1955) [15.33]
Henri BUSSER (1872-1973)
Cantecor for Horn and Piano Op.77 (1926) [5:47]
Paul VIDAL (1863-1931)
Pièce de concert (1924) [5:45]
Charles TOURNEMIRE (1870-1939) [4:33]
Raoul PUGNO (1852-1914) [6:17]
Solo pour cor
Jean-Baptiste SENAILLÉ Le cygne (The Swan) [2:39]
