Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 12 - I. Pastorale

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major for horn and orchestra, Op. 12 (2005-06) - I. Pastorale - Composer: Geert Van Hoorick - Digital performance using Sibelius 6 and Garritan Personal Orchestra - Feel free to comment. For the most recent version of the score see www.scoreexchange.com/scores/5... (where the parts are automatically updated) and imslp.org/wiki/Category:Van_Ho... (where the sheet music is for free).
This is a modern-classical horn concerto, in a late romantic style, but also with a lot of impressionist influences. For the soloist it is demanding and requires stamina. Therefore it has symphonic allure, mainly because of the heroic character and the Leitmotiv and main theme of the 1st movement, that both are recurrent in the whole piece. The 1st movement is moderately fast and in sonata form. The 2nd movement is slow and also in (a free) sonata form. The final movement is fast and in rondo form, with a very catching theme. There are cadenzas in the 1st and final movement. Reviews on the Composition Contest forum: "... Wonderful!"; "Another exceptional piece ... The themes are generally excellent. The mood is very cinematic, and I get caught up in the moment ... Excellent, excellent work. Bravo !"; "Excellent work ..."
In this case I want to make a very personal comment about this concerto. I always loved the piece musically, but I struggled to come to a definite version. In my childhood I played the horn only at a beginners level during three years. Therefore, based on some online comments from horn players, I have revised the piece several times to improve the playability of the horn part. However on June 12th, 2017 Dries Laureyssens (horn) and a pianist gave a public performance of all movements of this concerto, in an arrangement made by the soloist for horn and piano, in Antwerp, Royal Conservatoire, Belgium, at his public exam (in my attendance). Immediately after the concert, he told me that he preferred the original horn part above the later revisions and proved in his wonderful performance that he was perfectly capable to play even the most difficult passages ! Therefore in the (possibly) latest revision (of 2024) I try to keep close to my original solo part. But nevertheless there is a remarkable difference: I have added a 3rd horn in the orchestra, and assigned some passages in which the soloist was supposed to play just ‘with’ the orchestra, to the horns in the orchestra. This leaves the soloist some more longer rest periods, and that is a good thing because the concerto lasts nearly a half hour. And no problem for me if the soloist chooses to play some high passages an octave lower (e.g. the main theme of the Nocturne).

[@BelgianComposer]

Hopefully the definitive version (see for more explantion my note above) and a new digital performance, now with Garritan Personal Orchestra, of this concerto that has been publicly performed in Antwerp in 2017 in an arrangement for horn and piano. I hope you enjoy it.