''Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra'' is a concerto for four horns 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: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

by the American composer

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was i ...

. 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, ...

and the

International Horn Society The International Horn Society (IHS) is an international organization dedicated to players of the horn founded in June 1970 with a goal to promote horn playing, education and fellowship. A community of over 3500 members from 55 countries around ...

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. 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 Grade I l ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The premiere was conducted by

Jaime Martín Jaime Martín (born 1 September 1965) is a Spanish conductor and flautist. Biography 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 one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Sym ...

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 t ...

, John Ryan,

James Thatcher James Thatcher may refer to: * James Thatcher (musician), American hornist * James Thatcher (MP), English politician * James W. Thatcher, American computer scientist See also * James Thacher James Thacher (February 14, 1754 – May 26, 1844) ...

, and

Richard Watkins Richard Watkins (born 1962) is a French horn, 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 s ...

. ''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 A double concerto (Italian: ''Doppio concerto''; German: ''Doppelkonzert'') is a concerto featuring two performers—as opposed to the usual single performer, in the solo role. The two performers' instruments may be of the same type, as in Bach's ...

for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, ''

Pas de Deux In ballet, a pas de deux ( 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 ...

''. 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 ...

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. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

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