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CHILDREN’S SPECIAL: TEN PIECES FEATURE

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HERE’S A QUESTION: how many cheese sellers do you know? None? How about French horn-playing cheese sellers? No? Mozart knew one, and wrote his wonderful Fourth Horn Concerto for him. Joseph Leutgeb was the fellow’s name and, before he opened his cheese and sausage shop in 1777, he was also a brilliant horn player with the Salzburg court orchestra. But his instrument was quite unlike the French horns that you will normally see in orchestras today. For a start, it didn’t have any buttons to change the notes, or ‘valves’ as they’re known, so all the sounds had to be made just by tightening and loosening the lips and by putting the left hand into the end of the horn, called ‘the bell’. You think that sounds difficult? It was. This cheerful piece sounds just like the call of a horn that huntsmen use to gather together the

horses before they ride into the countryside. It wasn’t made from brass at first, though, but from a hollowed-out animal’s horn. Tally-ho!

Every month, we introduce one of the BBC’s ‘Ten Pieces’, each specially chosen to bring the wonders and joys of classical music to children of primary school age

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Five marvellous Mozart facts! MOZART

HORN CONCERTO No. 4Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756He was eight when he wrote his first symphony!He wrote down Miserere, a piece by Allegri, after hearing it just once!He died aged 35, half-way through writing his famous RequiemSome scientists have said that listening to his music can make you clever!

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CHILDREN’S SPECIAL: TEN PIECES FEATURE

Bach (right) Brandenburg Concerto No. 1This piece was written in 1721, 65 years before Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4. It’s written is what’s called the ‘Baroque’ style, which means it is very cleverly composed. But don’t worry, this piece doesn’t sound complicated! It’s actually great fun.

Glazunov ReverieSit back and relax! There are no hunting horns here. Instead the Russian composer Glazunov shows that the French

horn has a softer side, in a lovely three-minute piece for horn and orchestra. The tune is very memorable, so you might find you can’t help yourself humming it later.

Schumann KonzertstückWhy just have one horn? The German composer Robert Schumann wrote a piece for four

horns and orchestra that sounds like a competition between the players! In fact it’s so hard that it’s not played very often in concerts… But as well as being horribly difficult, it’s also very beautiful.

How much did you like this music?

I hated it! Not a lot… It was OK I liked it I loved it!

Now explore other great music!

Things to do!1. The main tune in this piece keeps coming round again and again. How many times can you spot it?.................................................2. Mozart called this work a ‘Concerto’. See if you can find out what a concerto is............................................................................................3. How many brass instruments can you name? If you can think of more than four, you’re doing really well!...............................4. At 1:20 the music changes from a ‘major’ to a ‘minor’ key. How does the mood of the music change?............................................5. How does this music make you feel? ...................................................................................................................................................................................

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