(ca. 5' 40'')

  

Published in October 2013 by AvA Musical Editions 

 

Also available at: arpeggio • Casa dos Músicos • Köbl  • June Emerson

 Available digitally at nkoda

 

 

Little suite for horn and piano divided into 3 movements of moderate difficulty written for horn beginners.

Mandatory piece for the Juvenile Category from the "Terras de La Salette" Wind Instruments International Competition 2014 and the Matosinhos' International Competition 2014

 

  

(ca. 2'55'') 

 

 

 

Earth's Dance – It is a jazzy/folk influenced piece, great for practicing stopped notes as the horn part has some but always in the middle g. There are a lot of syncopation, but the rhythm it's easy to catch, isn't it?

  

(ca. 1'21'') 

 

 

 

Drunkard's Dance - In this piece the drunkard is represented by the horn playing  something very similar to a tango. At the same time the pianist plays a kind of habanera with the left hand against a sort of a valse with the right one.

  

(ca. 1'24'') 

 

 

 

Circus - It is a funny piece that includes flutter tongue, stopped notes and some dissonant notes on the piano part. 

Reviews

Click here for Dr. James Boldin's review at jamesboldin.com

 

 

Ricardo Matosinhos has been a busy composer! His latest submission to The Horn Call is an attractive collection of suites designed for young players. Inspired by his students, these pieces offer "different tempi, styles, time signatures (including the odd ones), swing, stopped notes, flutter tongue, but in a relatively short range.. .keeping the pieces interesting and demanding, but not too difficult to play..." The first suite has the four easiest movements, titled Hello Siegfried! (hunting style with quotes!). Slow Boogie (swing in 6/8), Shanghai (pentatonic scale), and Penta Blues (a blues in 5/8). The overall range for the horn is a twelfth (f-c") and the pieces are organized with increasing difficulty in range and rhythm. The second suite has three movements "of moderate difficulty": Earth's Dance (jazzy/folk influenced piece with stopped notes and syncopation). Drunkard's Dance (tango plus more), and Circus (a "funny" piece with flutter tongue and stopped notes). For this second suite, the range is set a little higher (c-f') and the challenges are more numerous. The third suite also has three pieces, "good for intermediate level students": Fanfare (based on different arpeggios). Piano Bar (a calm swing piece, with a small improvisation for both horn and piano), and Heroic Rondo (traditional hunting style with meter changes). The range for this last set is almost two full octaves (a-g") and the expectations for the hornist are another step forward.

I found these suites quite charming and, at 5-6 minutes each, the sets of pieces are well-paced and well-crafted. I especially appreciate the progression of the individual solos, as well as the technical and musical challenges presented - nicely thought out and appropriate for the identified levels. The piano parts are quite playable and complement and support the horn and the prescribed styles very well. The publisher has also provided a free bonus - downloadable mp3 play-along support files with and without horn. While they may not like every piece equally, I believe teachers will find these to be quite useful and I hope students will find them to be as much fun to play as we did. 

–Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker, Music and Book Reviews,

“The Horn Call”, Journal of the International Horn Society, Volume XLV, No. 1, October 2014 

 

Playalong available here