CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION

Brahms’ Horn Trio is, in many ways, a special piece of music. For horn players, it represents one of the all too few pieces in our repertoire that is not "good horn music," but simply good music. It is, furthermore, the most important, substantial piece of chamber music written for horn in all of the nineteenth century.

The instrumentation of the piece is also special. The combination of horn, violin and piano, was almost unheard of before Brahms wrote for it, and evidence of his success can be seen in the many horn trios written since. These later trios, however, differ from Brahms’ in an extremely important way. Brahms, writing at a time when the valve horn was broadly accepted throughout Germany and Austria, specified that his trio was for the Waldhorn, or natural horn, and not for the valve horn.

This decision has generally been seen as a minor affair, an issue of preference that restrained Brahms’ choices in writing for the instrument. This unfortunate interpretation is way off target. In choosing the natural horn over the valve horn, Brahms directed the very content of the piece. As we shall see, the natural horn helped determine musical materials on all levels, from themes to local colors to the audibility of large formal structures. The piece, in its very essence and not just in its instrumentation, is a piece for natural horn.

In reality, however, most performances of the trio occur on valve horn. It is a testament to the strength of the music that these performances can be stunning successes. What is most important, as always, are the abilities and understanding of the artists, and not what instruments they are playing.

"Understanding" is the key word. While an ignorant musician can give a great performance based on his/her intuitive feelings, that same musician can only improve the more (s)he knows about the music on a cognitive level. When we analyze and study a score, we provide ourselves with choices. This makes performing a more engaged, aware activity, providing the music with a life that directly affects an audience. Even if the performer simply confirms, and does not change, his/her choices, the process of thinking about the music is essential to an informed, alive performance.

In the Horn Trio, there are all sorts of things to learn and understand. There are issues of basic analysis, from formal structures to key areas to thematic relationships. There is historical information, the knowledge of which relates directly to the emotional content of the music. And there are issues of natural horn technique, which can directly affect and improve a performance on a modern instrument.

This paper will examine all these issues and more. The analysis is designed, primarily, for performers, and points frequently to specific performance suggestions. These suggestions are based, as much as possible, on a study of the music and its historical context, and not merely on my own arbitrary preferences. There will surely be places where you disagree with my interpretation of the musical text. This can only be for the good, however, if I have made you think about the issues at hand.

This paper is, to my knowledge, the first work accessible to the public that attempts anything beyond the most superficial analysis of Brahms’ Horn Trio. I am absolutely certain that there remains much in the piece to be discovered, and hopefully another musician or musicologist will provide greater insight into this wonderful piece of art. Whether you are that person, or, like me, a musician who wants to understand more about a great piece of music, I hope that this is a good starting place.

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