Concerto for Horn and Orchestra

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra was begun in 1981 and finished in 1984. It was written for Charles McDonald, then third horn with the Minnesota Orchestra; Charles premiered it with piano reduction on a recital at the University of Minnesota in 1985. The orchestra premiere took place in San Francisco in 1993 with Krista Smith, horn, and The Women’s Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta, music director.

The Concerto is a programmatic work in three movements: “La Chasse,” “Nocturne,” and La Course d’Auto.” The last movement also incorporates jazz rhythms and voicings, and, in a gesture to the dedicatee, quotes from a Dixieland tune, “Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie,” just before the cadenza.