Brahms' First Symphony

I'm listening to Brahm's Horn Trio on my iPhone. And thinking about a performance of Brahm's 1st Symphony I attended.

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was playing, and my wife, Kathy, was principal Horn. She was not a student, except as a horn student of the conductor, Pat Miles. She was a UW alumna, and the best of the horn players in the orchestra.

It's fair to say that Brahms liked horn, and used it frequently.

"Brahms loved the old, romantic sound of what he called the "Waldhorn" (or "hunting horn") because he played one as a kid. So when he set out to write his Trio, he knew it would be written for what is today referred to as the "natural horn." In fact, the title on the manuscript reads, "Trio fur Pianoforte, Violine & Waldhorn." — Brahms' French Horn Of Plenty, In Concert

"To Brahms, the horn color, especially in solo passages, always had a very special meaning and he frequently used it in very important places." — Johannes Brahms and the French horn

At the end of the piece, the conductor thrust out his arm at Kathy. She eventually stood, hunched over the horn in her hands like she wanted to hide somewhere.

The rest of the orchestra, and the audience, began a thunderous applause. The audience stood, which is typical and part of Wisconsin nice. But I looked around and saw everyone standing. Maybe this was something special.

I would hear that Brahms horn solo repeated by Kathy over time, even with an alphorn.

  

Now she's raising new generations of horn players.

  

Here's a sample from the Berliner Philharmoniker; Stefan Dohr as 1st horn, Simon Rattle conducting: