Product Description
26 minutes in 3 movements. Adapted from Being In Life, Concerto for Horn/Alphorn, string orchestra featuring the concert master as soloist, and Tibetan singing bowls. Supported by a generous grant from the Paul Fromm Music Foundation. Composed for hornist, Ann Ellsworth.
In the first movement hornist plays Alphorn or natural horn, in the second hornist plays French horn, and in the third they begin with French horn and switch to Alphorn in the middle. The Alphorn part was adapted for natural horn in F# with the help of hornist Marco Venturi.
To make this piece more easily performable the Tibetan singing bowls are optional. In a few places, the piano plays material if there are no bowls and omits material if there are bowls. This is all clearly marked in the score. In addition, the Alphorn and natural horn parts are both in the same horn part, clearly marked where they differ, especially the two different cadenzas. Tibetan bowls are specifically pitched gong like bowls with a very long decay and a beautiful sound. They add a dimension of microtonal reverberation that compliments the sound world of the Alphorn and give an exotic aura to the piece. However, the emotion, content and structure of the piece project powerfully without them. And piano with pedal adds a lot of reverberation on its own. Bowls may be rented from Argenta Music, or other sources of Tibetan singing bowls. Complete instructions for playing the bowls are included. Any percussionist or musician can play them.