Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Scherzo in C minor, WoO 2 from ‘F-A-E Sonata’ (1853, arr. Simon Smith) [5:38]
Sonata in G minor, Op. 38 (1862-65, arr. Grimwood from Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor) [26:09]
Trio in E flat major for horn, violin and piano, Op. 40 (1865) [27:19]
Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn)
Daniel Grimwood (piano)
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (violin)
rec. Pamoja Hall, Sevenoaks School, Kent, UK, 2019
BIS BIS-2478 SACD [60:04]
My first exposure to hornist Alec Frank-Gemmill was on a BBC Music cover disc in 2017 where he performed spectacularly with violinist Elena Urioste in Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin, Horn, and Orchestra. I also praised his work with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on a Linn disc of Beethoven wind music I reviewed. Since then I have been following Frank-Gemmill’s career. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2014 to 2016 and was principal horn with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for ten years beginning in 2009. He assumed the same position with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2019. His recording of pre-Mozart horn concertos in 2018 was widely lauded in the press. His repertoire is very broad and here he turns to Brahms.
As is well known, Brahms composed only one chamber work with solo horn, the marvelous Horn Trio, concluding this disc. The other works are transcriptions of sonatas for violin and cello, respectively. For those Frank-Gemmill uses a modern valved horn, a Paxman triple horn made in London circa 1970. For the trio, however, he borrowed the horn that Aubrey Brain played with Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin on their legendary 1933 recording. Brahms himself favoured the natural horn, or Waldhorn, for his trio. The instrument Brain employed is a Raoux-Labbaye natural horn from Paris c. 1871-76 with a piston-valve section by William Brown. After the instrument was imported to London, the detachable valve-block was added. Pianist Daniel Grimwood plays a Steinway Model D and violinist Benjamin Marquise Gilmore performs on a 1921 Turin violin, the Annibale Fagnola. The artists excel in their respective roles in these works.
While the arrangements here are fully successful, the primary attraction of this programme must be the Horn Trio. The Scherzo in C minor, of course, is Brahms’s contribution to the so-called “F-A-E” Sonata for violin and piano composed for a birthday of Joseph Joachim, the other two movements being by Schumann and Albert Dietrich. Only the Brahms Scherzo, one of his earliest works, has entered the basic repertoire. With its galloping 6/8 theme it resembles to some degree the last movement of the Horn Trio. Its evocation of the hunt makes the horn transcription by Simon Smith a logical arrangement, and it holds no terrors for Frank-Gemmill as a “high horn” player.
The first of Brahms’s two cello sonatas offers a greater challenge to hornists because, as Frank-Gemmill discusses in his excellent notes in the accompanying booklet, the key of E minor “makes the overall tessitura rather low” for the horn. Thus, pianist Daniel Grimwood transposed the key up a minor third to G minor which makes it possible for the horn to play. With a few other changes, namely the horn doesn’t play pizzicato and double-stops, Grimwood was able to adapt the work to the horn much as Brahms adapted his clarinet sonatas to the viola. I am glad I heard this transcription, even if I will not likely listen to it as often as I do the original, cello version. The horn can dominate the piano in places more than the cello would and it sounds more dramatic and bolder than the cello. Even with the raised key the horn does not shortchange the dark mood of the first movement. Frank-Gemmill and Grimwood capture the lilt of the Allegretto quasi Menuetto second movement well, keeping it light. The fugal finale is quite an accomplishment of virtuosity where both Frank-Gemmill and Grimwood really rise to the occasion and are unfailingly musical. Though I have nothing but praise for their performances of the “F-A-E” Scherzo and this sonata, I wonder if the balance might have been even improved upon had Frank-Gemmill used the natural horn with its mellower tone as he does for the Horn Trio.
There are so many fine recordings of Brahms’s Horn Trio, several of which I have in my library, that choice can be difficult. There is no doubt in my mind that this new one with Frank-Gemmill, Grimwood, and Gilmore is up there with the best. Indeed, it is now my version of choice for various reasons. Not least of all is the natural horn Frank-Gemmill employs with its lighter, mellower tone, but his technical skill is also transfixing.
I compared Frank-Gemmill, Gilmore, Grimwood with Dennis Brain, Max Salpeter, Cyril Preedy (BBC Music); Günter Högner, Erich Binder, Andras Schiff (Decca); William Purvis, Daniel Phillips, Richard Goode (Bridge); and Lowell Greer, Stephanie Chase, Steven Lubin (Classical Express). I used to admire Tuckwell, Perlman, and Ashkenazy, but am not as taken with their superficially virtuosic performance. All of the others above offer real pleasure in this work, though I now find Högner and company a bit stolid even with Schiff’s impressive pianism. Purvis’s account has a very good balance among his partners and is quite enjoyable, even if some of their tempos are slower than the other accounts. Time seems to stand still in their pacing of the third movement, marked Adagio mesto (8:32 vs. 6:29 for Frank-Gemmill). It could be argued that the latter is too quick here, being faster than any of the others, but nothing in this new account seems hasty. It just flows well. Greer produces a sound closer to that of Frank-Gemmill because he also uses a natural horn. His pianist, Steven Lubin, unlike Grimwood for Frank-Gemmill, does not play a modern piano but rather a ca. 1854 Bösendorfer. Their performance is well-balanced and makes a good case for historically informed practice, even if at times the horn is unsteady. As a whole, however, the performance that Frank Gemmill and partners challenge more than any other is Dennis Brain’s for sheer excitement and conviction. Brain’s is showing its age and is in mono, but still worth returning to.
The balance in this new account tends to favour the horn, but not to the detriment of the piano or violin. The musicians approach the first movement in a somewhat classical manner and keep things light, though played with feeling. The movement builds well and the middle section is fast, even hair-raising. The second movement’s first theme as treated is fresh and airy. Then the second subject is lovingly played with Frank-Gemmill relaxing slightly and displaying his beautiful tone so naturally. They slow down nicely for the trio and, with excellent coordination, render it most sympathetically. It just melts! The slow movement has real character with more tempo variation than in some of the other accounts. The performers bring out the drama later in the movement with a powerful climax that is not turgid. Then they let loose in the finale, though without quite the speed of Brain or Tuckwell. It is kept rhythmically incisive and truly is Allegro con brio. The beauty of Frank-Gemmill’s tone is retained and the high run to the conclusion is exhilarating. This is the kind of rendition that makes one want to return to it immediately and hear it again. A magnificent performance!
BIS also should be congratulated on the totality of their product. They have given the listener exceptional performances in state-of-the-art sound. Their environmental consciousness is evident with the bi-fold album housing the disc and booklet in separate sleeves with no plastic in sight. Likewise for practical storage considerations, the album requires less space on the shelf than the traditional jewel case. Frank-Gemmill provides informative notes about the works and their transcriptions and about the instruments he uses. In short, this is an exceptional release.
Leslie Wright
