Music Of Our Time
Sonata for four Horns. 4 horns. Partition d'étude.

Like Robert Schumann who often favoured the horn, Sir Michael Tippett who died on 8 January 1998 makes full use of the instrument's tonal possibilities in this work. He translated the Romantic genre of horn quartet into a modern tonal language : "All movements contain characteristic calls and triad arpeggios. Sometimes the call itself is the theme, as in the fugue. Sometimes the calls are the accompaniment to a solo, such as in the nocturne".
(Tippett) The forms of the four movements, however, are traditional. The structure of the fist movement is reminiscent of the form of a strophic song. The second movement is an allegro, the slow third a nocturne in the traditional ABA form. And fially the last movement is a capricious fugue. Instrumentation : 4 horns

So, wie Robert Schumann das Horn oftmals bevorzugt behandelte, nutzt der am 8. Januar 1998 verstorbene Sir Michael Tippett in diesem Werk die Klangmöglichkeiten des Instruments voll aus. Dabei übersetzt er das romantische Genre Hornquartett in eine moderne Tonsprache : "Alle Sätze enthalten charakteristische Rufe und Dreiklangsbrechungen. Manchmal ist der Ruf selbst das Thema, etwa in der Fuge. Manchmal bilden die Rufe die Begleitung zu einem Solo, zum Beispiel im Nocturne".
(Tippett) Besetzung : 4 horns