Zwilich's Horn Concerto

Synopsis

For many professional musicians, summertime is spent away from home at one or more summer music camps and festivals. And if the camp or festival just happens to in a gorgeous mountain or lakeside setting, well, so much the better.

Since 1987, world-class musicians and ensembles have made the climb to scenic Vail, Colorado, at this time of year for the Bravo! Music Festival. And on today’s date in 1993, it was at the Bravo! Festival that this new Concerto for Horn and Strings by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich received its premiere.

The concerto was a triple commission from the Rochester Philharmonic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New York-based French horn virtuoso David Jolley, who was the soloist for the Vail premiere. Zwilich writes:

“While I think of the solo horn as a heroic figure, I enjoyed the interplay and dialogue between horn and strings and allowed the character and nature of the horn to influence the strings and visa-versa… For me, the combination of solo horn and string orchestra is rich and evocative, as is the unique nature of the horn: its warmth and color, its dramatic legato as well as it pungent staccato, the sheer breadth of its sound.”