As apparently from
most of his discs, Richard Burdick
has recorded all of these pieces by
overdubbing the numerous parts or
each arrangement in a studio setting.
He begins with the first movement
of his Horn Trio which is spread
over the disc, adding an extra track
between each of the other works and
forming a finale. Effectively written
for the three horn parts, Burdick’s
own music has some interesting sonorities,
using unison notes and close harmonies
to make the three parts sound like
more than their sum. The movements
might come across as a bit heavy all
together, and this might be one reason
for spacing them out – the tempi of
each section generally being fairly
slow and the mood mostly introspective,
even in the more lively final movement.
There is some impressive creativity
going on in Burdick’s music, and I
would be interested to hear more.
The other works are
all arrangements of pre-existing works
for multiple, or in this case; multi-tracked
horns. There are plenty of issues
which one can have with arrangements,
but on the whole I am fairly neutral
on the subject – I’ve been known to
write these kinds of versions of pieces
for flute orchestra, an ensemble with
its own share of anti-social instruments.
It would be nice to have all original
wonderful works for such combinations,
but those pieces just ain’t there,
or not in sufficient quantity to bring
in the crowds. There are however a
number of reasons why the arrangements
on this particular disc are often
less than satisfactory.
The Hindemith, with
its organ sonorities, works fairly
well, but the natural balance of the
horn’s range means that the bass lines
are often weakest, so the natural
harmonic movement is sometimes indistinct
when compared to the original. The
difficulties in achieving a true,
non-bumpy legato with the horn also
make for a rather more uncomfortable
ride that I would have liked. The
recording is OK, but with some funny
interference which makes you think
there is a mouse nibbling at the woofer
of your right speaker, an effect which
is even nastier with headphones. It’s
not a loud effect, but is a distraction.
I love Hindemith’s organ sonatas,
but wouldn’t necessarily seek out
the original on the strength of this
recording, which is a shame: Richard
Burdick stands 100% behind this music
and plays with a clear conviction
which comes through in the playing.
Next up is another
big favourite of mine, Mozart’s Sonata
for two pianos K448. As you can
imagine, the busy finger-work which
makes this music so exciting for piano
is a tour-de-force on the horn. I’m
afraid even with Richard Burdick’s
undoubted talents, this becomes a
Hoffnung farce. If it wasn’t apparent
Burdick took this so seriously it
would be fun to take this as a novelty
item, but I’m afraid my head was in
my hands through just about the whole
of the first movement – the whole
of the piece in fact. The Andante
would seem to be just the place
to allow for some rich expansion of
the horn sonorities, but Burdick takes
it at pace, and the tooth-grinding
agony continues with all those high
notes just about remaining stable,
but never quite stable enough for
Mozart. If you like P.D.Q. Bach you
might love this, but I’m not sure
this is what the performer had in
mind. After the crazy jinx of the
top horn parts in the final movement
I can imagine Wolfgang clapping Mr.
Burdick on the shoulder with gusto
and guffaws: "sir, you are completely
mad – let me buy you a big wine ...!"
The next super-ambitious
project is Beethoven’s entire Symphony
No.1. Beethoven’s symphonies cope
quite well with being arranged for
other instruments, and have strong
enough ideas to work well enough on,
for instance, the piano. With the
writing less extreme than with Mozart’s
originally-for-piano pianism, this
is a version which does have a certain
eccentric charm, although there are
enough passages which make the music
sound like a crowd of psychiatric
patients arguing with each other using
notes rather than words. Burdick again
chooses a brisk tempo for the Andante,
which is fine, but emphasises a sense
of the music as a kind of alpine ländler.
The Menuetto is also good,
but has a ‘click-track’ strictness
in the flow of the music, and those
little solos are still something of
a problem. The final Allegro molto
vivace is a fun romp, but all
those upward runs are never quite
light and swift enough to keep up
with the rest, so there are some moments
of grand confusion.
All in all this is
a magnificent experiment in extreme
arranging for horn. I have to admire
Richard Burdick’s huge ambition for
his instrument and his skill in arranging
all of these works, but the results
will always be something of a bizarre
curio in my collection – guaranteed
to break the ice at parties, but not
really a serious proposition for enjoyable
listening. The Mozart is terrific
music, but a very bad choice as far
as arrangement for horn goes. The
other pieces are impressive, and an
education in what is achievable
with horn. With admiration for Richard
Burdick’s hard work, I would advise
those interested to check out some
of the samples on his site. This is
the second of his ‘Favourites’, so
watch out – there may be more to come!
Dominy Clements
Richard Burdick (horns) 
