Strauss, F :: Nocturno op. 7

Musicians Publications presents Franz Strauss Nocturno , op. 7 arranged for woodwind quintet by Bill Holcombe Jr.

The famous 19th-century conductor, Hans von Bulow, once said about Franz Strauss: The fellow is intolerable, but when he blows his horn you can t be angry with him. Strauss position in music history is well-assured: not only was he Richard Strauss father and primary musical influence, but he was the premier horn player of his generation and Richard Wagner s solo hornist. Despite the musically-inventive times in which he lived and worked, the elder Strauss was a musical conservative. Strauss thought he belonged more to the era of Haydn and Mozart than the expansiveness of Wagner or the heightened emotions of Mahler. Nevertheless, he was famous for playing fabulously well, regardless of how he felt about the composer or composition. In the Nocturne', Strauss shows us his ideal musical world. There is a gorgeous, singable melody, a refined piano accompaniment, clear three-part ternary form and satisfying cadences. Horn players since then have agreed with him, possibly even thanking Papa Strauss for giving us our very own masterpiece in the Romantic German lieder tradition. -Margaret McGillivray, 2012

This arrangement of the famous horn solo keeps the tradition of having the french horn as the star while the woodwind instruments fill out the piano accompaniment, adding their own unique timbres for a performance of Nocturno unlike any you ll ever hear. This quintet is advanced in difficulty.