Program

Poulenc: Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone 
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante
III. Rondeau
​
Rossini: Duetto per violoncello e contrabasso

Brahms: Horn Trio in Eb Major , Op.40
I. Andante
II. Scherzo (Allegro)
III. Adagio mesto
IV. Allegro con brio

Date: May 9, 2024.
​Time: 7:30pm
Location: Grace United Methodist Church   
Address: 6199 Waterman Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112
Admission: Free

Concert Artists

Amanda Stewart / Trombone 

Brendan Fitzgerald / Bass

Young-Whun Kim / Piano

Erin Schreiber / Violin

Steven Franklin / Trumpet

Victoria Knudtson / Horn

James Czyzewski / Cello

Thomas Jöstlein  / Horn

---

Poulenc: Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone
Francis Poulenc was a French composer and pianist who lived from 1899 until 1963. His mother was a talented pianist and Poulenc started piano lessons at the age of five. However, his father was a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and it was assumed that his son would follow in his footsteps. Although Poulenc had a great love of music and developed into an accomplished pianist, his father did not allow him to attend a music conservatory. When the time came for Poulenc to attend a university, he was sent to an academic college, Lycée Condorcet. In spite of the rigorous curriculum at Lycée Condorcet, Poulenc managed to further his piano studies and because of friendships with composers Eric Satie and Georges Auric he also continued to compose.

In 1917, Poulenc had his debut as a composer with his piece Rapsodie nègre, written for baritone and chamber group. Stravinsky was in attendance at the premiere and was so impressed by the piece that he connected Poulenc with a publisher. This was a key moment in launching Poulenc’s career as a successful composer. From 1918 until 1921 Poulenc served in the French army during World War 1. During these years Poulenc kept composing, but there was never a guarantee that instruments or musicians
would be available to perform his pieces. He grew accustomed to composing for whatever and whoever was available.

Poulenc wrote Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone in 1922. The work was one of four early chamber works, all of which were sonatas, that Poulenc wrote by the time he was 22. They are representative of the variety of musical styles that influenced the young Poulenc. One will hear elements of the French rococo style as well as elements of popular jazz music.

The Sonata for horn, trumpet, and trombone was premiered in January 1923, in Paris. France. At the time of its premiere, the work was well received, but Poulenc later made revisions to the work in 1945.

Rossini: Duetto per violoncello e contrabasso
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868) was born in Pesaro, Italy to musical parents. His father was a trumpeter and horn player and his mother was a talented singer, although untrained, who sang professionally for about a decade. The young Rossini began composing at age 12 and began studies at the newly opened conservatory in Bologna. For two years he took lessons on cello, piano, voice, and composition. By the time Rossini was 18, he had completed his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio. Shortly thereafter, Rossini moved to Venice to work on composing more operas and to study with the composer Giovanni Morandi. Between 1810 and 1823, Rossini composed 34 operas. His most popular operas were his comic operas. His first full length opera was a failure, although that was a rare occurrence for Rossini. His success and reputation grew quickly throughout his career, as did his wealth. Surprisingly, he stopped composing and producing operas at age 37, and composed little again until late in his life. There is much speculation as to why Rossini retired at such a young age, but many suspect that he was suffering ill health by his late 30’s. He had lived through a case of from gonorrhea years earlier, but it left him with physical side effects for the rest of his life. He also suffered from poor mental health and depression.

For the last decade of his life Rossini began to compose again. He and his wife began a series of evening gatherings called salons that became famous worldwide. For these events Rossini wrote more than 150 works including songs, piano pieces, and chamber works. An invitation to Rossini’s salon was quite the status symbol among cultured Parisians of the time, and musicians such as Gounod, Liszt, Rubinstein, Verdi, Sarasate, and Joachim were among the guests.

Rossini died of cancer in 1868 at the age of 76. Rossini’s Duetto for cello and bass was commissioned in 1824 by a cellist, Sir David Salomons, who wanted a duet to play with his friend Domenico Dragonetti, a famous bass virtuoso of the time. Rossini completed the piece before leaving London, where he had been living in 1824, and moving back to Paris.

​Brahms: Horn Trio in Eb Major, Op. 40
Johannes Brahms who lived from 1833 until 1897 is one of the most famous composers to come out of the Romantic period. Encouraged by his father who was a musician himself, Brahms started lessons on piano, violin, and cello all before the age of ten. Surprisingly, his father wasn’t as supportive when it came to young Brahms’ efforts as a composer and encouraged his son to seek a career as a performer instead! Perhaps his father’s influence kept Brahms from taking credit for his early compositions. Although Brahms was composing and publishing works as a teenager, he wrote under the pseudonym G.W. Marks. Brahms was introduced to Robert Schumann in 1853. Schumann recognized Brahms’ musical talent and was integral in the development of Brahms’ career as a composer. It was due to Schumann’s high praise that Brahms finally published his earliest works, including piano sonatas and vocal songs, using his real name.

Brahms composed his Horn Trio in 1865. The piece honored the death of Brahms’ mother who had passed away earlier that year. He would not compose another chamber work for eight years. The trio was written for natural horn instead of the valve horn, possibly because of the connection Brahms had to learning the natural horn as a child. He also played piano and cello during his childhood, and one could assume that his childhood connection to these instruments was why he chose to write the trio in memory of his mother. Brahms would later transpose the horn part for cello and viola.