''Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra'' is a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

for four

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

by the American composer

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

. The piece was commissioned by the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

and the

International Horn Society The International Horn Society (IHS) is an international organization dedicated to players of the horn founded in June 1970. Its goal is to promote horn playing, education and fellowship. The society aims to bring together horn players, educators, ...

and was premiered on March 27, 2015, at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The premiere was conducted by

Jaime Martín Jaime Martín (born 1 September 1965) is a Spanish conductor and flautist. Early life Born in Santander, Spain, Martín began his music studies on the flute at age 8, and became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain at age 13. He was ...

and performed by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

with soloists

David Pyatt David John Pyatt (born 26 September 1973) is a horn player from Watford, England. In 1988, aged 14, he became the then youngest winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. In 1996 Gramophone Magazine announced David Pyatt as th ...

, John Ryan, James Thatcher, and

Richard Watkins Richard Watkins (born 1962) is a horn player. He performs as a concerto soloist and chamber music player. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1985 to 1996, a position he relinquished to devote more time to his solo career. ...

. ''Collage'' was Horner's last completed concert work before his death in June 2015.

Composition

The London Philharmonic announced in January 2014 that it would be premiering a new concerto by James Horner—the news came only a few months before the premiere of Horner's double concerto for

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, ''

Pas de Deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

''. Horner had previously worked with three of the four soloists on his film scores and had himself played the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

in his youth. In the program notes for the world premiere, Horner commented on the inception of the piece, saying:

Reception

Critical response to ''Collage'' has been mixed. Colin Anderson of ''Classical Source'' criticized the work as one of "Horner's inoffensive if more and more dull piece " saying, "His ''Collage'' started promisingly with an ear-catching refrain, giving the scenic impression of the four horn-players calling across mountaintops, descriptive music that went straight to the senses. But not for long, for Horner's reliance on repetition and trite motifs made the piece blander and blander." The music critic Alan Sanders similarly praised the orchestration while criticizing the form, saying:

Recording

A recording of ''Collage'' was made by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the original soloists shortly before Horner's death. It was released commercially through

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

on September 23, 2016.

References

{{Italic title Compositions by James Horner 2015 compositions Horn concertos Concertos for multiple instruments 21st-century classical music Music commissioned by the Houston Symphony