So anyways, I wanted to share with you on this blog some of the orchestral pieces that I've played that I loved so much I could play them 1000 times, as well as pieces that I really wish I could play just once. Let's get started:
Star Wars Suite by John Williams: Of course, I'll never get to play the actual Star Wars movie soundtrack score that I had always dreamed of doing, so playing something like the Star Wars Suite (which takes 5 tracks from the original trilogy and displays them in their original forms) is as close as I can ever get. I got to play this 3 years ago with the Saratoga Orchestra, and had a great time.
Mahler's 1st Symphony: I've played this twice, once on 3rd horn and once on 6th horn. It would be great to perform this on all the parts just to say that I have (and because they're all great). It's so well written for horn, and remains always one of my top favs to play.
Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov: I've played this in it's entirety just once on 1st horn, and played movements from it on 2 different occasions, again on 1st horn. This brilliant display of orchestration doesn't disappoint for the 1st horn, with many important and fun solos throughout, and an array of amazing things to play elsewhere.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony: With the popularity of this piece, I'm sure everyone has played it. I've played it just once on 1st horn, and it was one of the most memorable concerts of my life.
Beethoven's 6th Symphony: I've just played this once on 1st horn when I was in high school, and I have such fond memories of this. I've been dying to play this again!
Borodin's 2nd Symphony: When I found out I got to play 1st horn on this symphony with an orchestra I'd never played with before (Festival City Symphony of Milwaukee), I was already excited to play the most beautiful horn solo in the literature. What I didn't realize what how great of a horn part the rest of the symphony was. That was a fun concert!
La Mer by Debussy: I've played this twice, once on 4th and once on 1st. What an astounding piece for all parts!
The Nutcracker (Full Ballet): I'm really jealous of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company guys because they get to play it so often. And I don't care, I'd never get tired of it. I love this music too much. And I've only played it one time.
Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony: I've played this once on 3rd and once on 4th, and looked forwards to playing it every time. It's one of the most appreciated pieces in the repertoire, and for good reason.
Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony: It has the famous horn solo, of course, but the rest of it is very interesting. It's exhausting, so I would always need an assistant.
Schumann's 3rd Symphony "Rhenish": I played 1st on this once, while at graduate school at UW-Milwaukee. This performance was especially memorable not only because the piece is so well written for the horn, but also because the members of my section and I were starting to develop a camaraderie after having many disagreements in the past. It's a great piece to come together on!
Bright Blue Music by Michael Torke: When I found out I was gonna play this piece, I listened to it with my 1st horn part and got very excited. I remember practicing my part a ton, which was one of the harder parts I've played, and felt great about it. If you haven't heard this piece before, check it out!
Shostakovich's 5th Symphony: I've played this twice, once on 4th and once on 1st. Both parts were amazing.
So there's more pieces I could list, but right now I'll list ones that I really, really want to play.
Bruckner's 4th Symphony: Actually, I want to play all of his symphonies, but the 4th stands out because of the spectacular horn writing.
Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss: It has a couple of great horn solos in it, but otherwise contains no profound horn writing. I want to play this piece so bad because I want to be a part of the beauty of this music. It's so great...
Eine Alpensinfonie by Strauss: It's probably my favorite orchestral piece in the repertoire...but it's so challenging, too. So, do I really want to play it after all?...yes. Yes I do.
Ein Heldenleben by Strauss: The sad thing is that I almost got to play this, but had to turn it down because my family schedule wouldn't allow. I'm still very sad about it.
The Planets Suite (Complete) by Gustav Holst: I've played Mars a number of times, but not any of the others. And I love them even more than Mars.
Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony: I love this piece and how the horns are integrated. The parts are as much of a background as they are in the other symphonies.
Mahler's 3rd Symphony: His 3rd has so many profound horn moments, as they all do, really. But I dunno, the 3rd really sticks out to me.
There are many more to list, but these ones are on my mind the most. I write this with a bittersweet sort of feel because I doubt I'll ever get to play these. The way my life seems now, and with the uncertainty of how the orchestral music scene will recover from this damn quarantine, I just don't foresee much adding to my list of orchestral accomplishments. For someone who so badly wants to play in a orchestra more often, it's a very difficult thought to bear.
Take care and value music.