Par TIPPETT MICHAEL SIR. Like Robert Schumann who often favoured the horn, Sir Michael Tippett who died on 8 January 1998 makes full use of the instrument‘s tonal possibilities in this work. He translated the Romantic genre of horn quartet into a modern tonal language: “All movements contain characteristic calls and triad arpeggios. Sometimes the call itself is the theme, as in the fugue. Sometimes the calls are the accompaniment to a solo, such as in the nocturne.” (Tippett) The forms of the four movements, however, are traditional. The structure of the ?rst movement is reminiscent of the form of a strophic song. The second movement is an allegro, the slow third a nocturne in the traditional ABA form. And ?nally the last movement is a capricious fugue./ Répertoire / 4 Cors

'Something quite curious, I believe? - it was thus that Robert Schumann described the Concert Piece for four Horns and large orchestra in a letter, and he did indeed break new ground with this work as far as the scoring and treatment of the instruments was concerned. When it was composed in 1849, the French horn was still fairly new, enabling players to play previously unheard-of runs and free modulations, a fact which Schumann made the most of, particularly with his scoring for four horns. Even today the Concert Piece is the romantic work for horn par excellence and a benchmark for all soloists. / 4 Cors Et Piano