Andante & Jagdstück (Neuheit Horn)

Andante & Jagdstück (Neuheit Horn) Andante & Jagdstück are based on several sketches by Ludwig van Beethoven, which are housed in the British Library in London. The first movement is an elaborate quartet fragment in E-flat major. Likely intended as the beginning of the second movement of a string quartet, it is, with just a few small adaptations, very playable with four horns. Several uninstrumented sketches in 6/8 time are found in the so-called Kafka-Sketchbook. Since the main theme strongly resembles a traditional 18th-century hunting fanfare, the fragments are elaborated into a genuine ‘Jagdstück’ (Hunting piece). Both fragmentary compositions were written by Beethoven around 1795/6 and blend remarkably well together. The result is undoubtedly a patchwork, but almost 90% of these two short compositions is based on (completely unknown) original music by one of the greatest composers in music history. In the world of horn and brass ensemble music from the 18th and 19th centuries, original high-quality ensemble repertoire appears to be scarce. Additionally, students and advanced amateurs are rarely given the opportunity to perform important Romantic symphonic works by Bruckner, Mahler etc. and Wagners great operas in their original versions. Orchestral part studies with only the original parts, and above all, a lot of rest are not always inspiring. For this reason, throughout his extensive career as a horn pedagogue, Herman Jeurissen wrote a considerable number of arrangements. These include shorter compositions by the great masters, allowing for an accessible introduction to their style and writing.