There are not so many recordings of the Beethoven op.17 with Brain - I know just two recordings (with Hansen & with Matthews); the other two releases were from live broadcasts but with the same two pianists (Hansen & Matthews). The Brahms has been recorded February 1957. As Dennis Brain died at age 35 & as he recorded the Brahms Trio the same year, he had not much time left to do another recording of the same piece. One has to look through his very, very busy schedule to understand. And, you cannot go to a recording company, saying: "Here I am, I want to record this & that." Even Dennis Brain had to wait for offers. The recording companies have their own demand, their own preferences, and there is not only the horn. There are more instruments to record than the horn, and the voices. There is also the other point: selling the recordings. The market then was quite different to the market today.
Regarding the Sonata op.17, well, one has to discover, that there are too many spots in the piece, where real fine romantic is appropriate. But if you say, you had not to hold back, you have not understood the character of the music of op.17. There is a lot, where you must hold back: page 2, whole Adagio, even in the third movement. As said before, it is not a horn sonata, but a piano sonata with additional horn. Indeed, you are right, it is not one of Beethoven greatest works, but we are fortunate to have a piece by Beethoven, which involves the horn quite prominent. And the Brahms ? One of his best chamber pieces, off course, but here also - there is a lot of holding back the horn, remaining the second behind the prominent violin. This piece has been misunderstood from the beginning, from even preliminary performances in music lovers homes in Vienna, Josef Schantl playing the horn part & Brahms himself at the piano, eventually destroying the atmosphere of the piece (he was drunk probably !). The best review you can get as a horn player, when doing this piece, is it, if the reviewer will give you credit as for a string player. Then you were doing right, right to the piece. I got such reviews for the Brahms & am very proud of it. My partner on the piano was again Wolfgang Sawallisch several times (I did it with many others also); our concertmaster using his Guanerius. ===================================================== -----Original Message----- On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 9:44 PM Him playing the big Baldwin was like playing with a symphony orchestra. I never had to hold back. We performed the Beethoven Horn Sonata, .... I didn't find anyone in the audience too excited over the piece. To be honest, if it weren't Beethoven, I would probably never play it. The point is, it certainly is a safe piece to throw together at the last minute, and from all these postings, I'm coming to the conclusion that hasn't changed since the first performance. The piece that Trevor absolutely insisted we perform was the Brahms Trio. He considered that piano part to be some of Brahms best, and most demanding, piano works. My understanding is the trio is the first thing he wrote after the death of his beloved mother, and that premise was the basis for our interpretation. The audience responded spectacularly to the performance, and we had to repeat the last two movements as an encore. Quite a difference from the Beethoven. I often wonder why there are so many recordings of Brain doing the Beethoven, but only one, that I know of, of the Brahms? _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
