Horntrios von Brahms, Ligeti, Koechlin Münchner Horntrio

• Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Trio für Waldhorn, Violine und Klavier:
• 1 Es-Dur, op. 40 - Andante 07:55
• 2 Es-Dur, op. 40 - Scherzo: Allegro, Molto meno Allegro 08:04
• 3 Es-Dur, op. 40 - Adagio mesto 08:46
• 4 Es-Dur, op. 40 - Finale: Allegro con brio 06:27
• György Ligeti (1923-2006):Trio für Violine, Horn und Klavier:
• 5 Andante con tenerezza 05:38
• 6 Vivacissimo molto ritmico 05:01
• 7 Alla marcia 03:18
• 8 Lamento. Adagio 07:28
• Charles Koechlin (1867-1950): Quatre petites pièces pour piano, violon et cor:
• 9 Andante 03:01
• 10 Très modéré 02:12
• 11 Allegretto quasi andantino 02:34
• 12 Scherzando 01:05
• Total Runtime 01:01:29

Info for Horntrios von Brahms, Ligeti, Koechlin

Brahms’ Horn Trio (Op. 40) composed in 1865 belongs to the most important and pivotal chamber music works of his entire output and has been recorded by the Munich Horn Trio exactly as he wanted to hear it: using historical instruments dating from the time of its composition!

Julian Riem plays on a perfectly restored Bechstein piano made in 1862, Johannes Dengler uses a reconstruction of an 1803 Halari natural horn and Markus Wolf has at his disposal a Stradivarius made in 1722.

The distinctive feature of the natural horn is its own particular tone quality which differs on each note of the scale. It was with this quality of sound in mind that Brahms wrote this piece, and for the rest of his life he tried to prevent any performance of it featuring a modern valve horn.

After only a few bars of music it becomes quite apparent how well the original sound quality of the “old” instruments harmonizes with the composition - especially the various idiosyncratic tonal nuances of the horn.

Thanks to György Ligeti’s own horn trio, composed in 1982, Brahms’ composition is not the only work of this genre. Ligeti’s piece was composed for the city of Hamburg’s celebrations of Brahms’ 150th birthday and bears the title Hommage à Brahms. The “Quatre petites pièces pour piano, violon et cor” by Koechlin, although only short, is a nonetheless extremely delicate and in the best sense of the expression romantic-impressionistic piece of music.

What makes this recording so extraordinary is the association of the natural horn as an old instrument and the valve horn as a modern one. The mastery of both instruments by one and the same musician is a rare occurrence indeed.

Johannes Dengler, natural horn & double horn
Markus Wolf, violin
Julian Riem, piano

Johannes Dengler
principal hornist of the Bavarian State Orchestra Born in Traunstein (Upper Bavaria) in 1973, studied the French horn under Josef Crump, Karl Kolbinger, and Johannes Ritzkowsky. He has been principal horn player of the Bavarian State Orchestra since 1993. In 1999 he was awarded the Culture Prize of the city of Traunstein, and in 2004 he was awarded the honorary Bavarian title of “Kammervirtuoso”.

Markus Wolf
first concertmaster of the Bavarian State Orchestra Born in Vienna in 1962, Markus Wolf became first concertmaster of the Vienna Sym- phony Orchestra in 1987 and has been first concertmaster at the Bavarian State Opera since 1989. In 1981 he founded the “Vienna Beethoven Trio” with whom he made eleven CD recordings. From 1997 to 2002 he was guest concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra. Since 2005 he has held his own violin class at the Mu- sikhochschule in Munich, and in 2000 was awarded the honorary title of “Bayerischer Kammervirtuose.”

Julian Riem
Born in Munich in 1973, studied under Michael Schäfer (Munich), Michel Béroff (Paris), and under Rudolf Buchbinder (Basel). Julian Riem has won international piano competitions in Modena, Madrid and Florence. He performs regularly in Europe, Japan and the USA as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles and as an accompanist of Lie- der. He holds a teaching appointment at the Musikhochschule in Munich and at the Leopold Mozart Centre in Augsburg.

Booklet for Horntrios von Brahms, Ligeti, Koechlin