Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No.2 in Es Dur

The Second Horn Concerto, dedicated again to his father, was created by Richard Strauss in the autumn of 1942 in Vienna and received its premiere performance by Gottfried von Freiberg with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Karl Böhm at the Salzburg Festival on 11 August 1943. In the following years, the work was played and recorded by renowned musicians in Austria, England and the United States and became the most performed horn concerto of the twentieth century (it was performed twice in the finals of the BBC Young Musician competition, in 1988 and in 2016). In fact, after his Alpine Symphony, completed in 1915, Strauss devoted himself almost entirely to operatic music and wrote only a handful of orchestral opuses. The Second Horn Concerto marks the beginning of a series of late-period works, including Metamorphosen, the Oboe Concerto, the Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon and the famous Vier Letzte Lieder ('Four Last Songs') – the last pages created by the 84-year-old composer in 1948. He did not assign opus numbers to these works and none of them was published in his lifetime. And following the premiere of his opera Capriccio on 28 October 1942, Strauss wrote: "My life's work has been concluded with Capriccio. Whatever notes I scribble down now have no bearing on musical history." A few days later, he left for Vienna, where he stayed for more than 6 months, expecting to be in a better position there to secure safety for his Jewish daughter-in-law, Alice, and his grandchildren through the protection provided by the Nazi governor of Vienna, Baldur von Schirach, a great admirer of Strauss and his music. The E-flat Major Horn Concerto seems to have been written very rapidly: Strauss' author's notes indicate that the draft was finished on 11 November, and the final score two weeks later on the 28th (he added a note at the end "In the beautiful house at Vienna"). Probably the idea had been lingering for some time in the composer's mind, and as he had a bright and cheerful character it seemed to be a kind of escape from the surrounding horror or, more likely, an answer, a rebuff of this reality, an expression of his philosophy that art and culture represent the highest achievement of humankind, towering high above history. The concerto is cast in the traditional three-movement structure – a vital, dynamic opening Allegro; a lyrical second movement cantilène-like vocalized tunes, and a swift final Rondo. Extremely saturated with virtuosity, the solo part is woven into a typical Straussesque richly coloured orchestral texture, with multi-layered voice treatment and liberal, complex harmony, characteristic of the composer's mature style.