Arnold, Fantasy for Horn

Continuing from last week’s theme of music for quarantine, we turn to a work for solo horn by Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921-2006).

Arnold composed the score for numerous films from 1947 to 1969. He won an Academy Award in 1957 for the film score to Bridge on the River Kwai. He produced many works over his long career, among them nine symphonies, two operas, five ballets, and concertos for guitar, clarinet, and even one for harmonica. Add to that numerous occasional works, dances, and overtures.

His personal life was something of a mess, contributing to our oft-repeated argument that composers’ biographies rarely provide the best perspective on the music they create.

Instead, let’s focus on the instrument. The horn has a reputation for being a very difficult instrument to play. But when (as a former horn player) I’m asked about this, I respond that it really doesn’t matter. Composers write according to the limits of each individual instrument. An orchestral composer inevitably writes for instruments he doesn’t play and has to spend a fair amount of time learning what each instrument is capable of doing. All instruments have limitations of range and responsiveness to input. The player has limitations as well: pianists have only ten fingers and wind players only so much lung capacity.

The physical realities of the instrument and the performer contribute to what becomes idiomatic for each instrument. Composers may frequently push the limits, and players respond by learning new techniques to meet the challenge, but a composer can’t write something impossible to play and expect to hear it performed.

So in a real sense every instrument is equally difficult to play. A piano presents far fewer limitations than a horn, but a pianist is called on to do much more. Think of sports: It’s much easier to throw a baseball than a discus, but so what?

That said, the horn is a treacherous instrument. It plays higher in the overtone series than other brass instruments, which essentially means the player has to rely more on his lip than on the valves. It also has a wide range of three octaves. Arnold’s work uses virtually all of that range while also presenting the various sound colors and idiomatic styles of instrument.

Arnold’s Fantasy would be relatively simple to play on the piano, but it explores the limits of the horn and requires an accomplished player to perform it.