HORN-LOKK by Sigurd Berge

INSTRUMENTATION: Unaccompanied Horn
PUBLISHER: 1973 Norsk Musikforlag A/S, Oslo. N.M.O. 8779
COST: ~$25.00
LENGTH: 91 Measures. Approximately 6 minutes
CAN BE FOUND ON IMSLP: No
YOUTUBE:
SPOTIFY: Dariusz Mikulski, missa muta
iTUNES: Frøydis Ree Wekre, Songs of the Wolf
GRADE/DIFFICULTY (1 easy, 6 very difficult): 4.5
EXTENDED TECHNIQUES: Hand Stopping (+) and Trills
RANGE (horn pitch):

Sigurd Berge (1929 – 2002) was a Norwegian born composer earning his degree at the Music Conservatory in Oslo and also studying modern electronic music in Copenhagen and Utrecht. Berge was president of the Norsk Komponistforening (Society of Norwegian Composers) from 1985 to 1988. The piece is dedicated to internationally renown horn soloist, Frøydis Ree Wekre who premiered the work at the 1973 International Horn Society Symposium in Pomona, CA. As the title suggests, this unaccompanied piece is filled with moments of distant calls suggesting chilling beauty found throughout the hills and fjords of Norway.

The piece opens with echoic moments of waiting and wanting eventually moving into a chromatic-like response into the low end of the horn finally displaying the three note motif played throughout the piece. The middle section begins with a haunting melody which is the deconstructed with emotion, developed with time, and brought back at the end of the work finishing very much like it began with the caveat of playing in the basement of the horn. This work is ripe with ideas and modern, jazz-like motifs ready to be discovered and developed by the performer. It is a wonderful addition to any recital program.