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Horn Concerto (1998) |
For klaxon horn soloist and an orchestra of automobiles - c.15'
John Cage opened my ears and mind to the appreciation of ‘music' that constantly surrounds us. What is ‘music' is how we choose to listen. Cage one told me of a burglar alarm that went off in the middle of the night and lasted for several hours. He said it reminded him of a Brancusi and after a couple of hours went back to sleep, peacefully dreaming of sculpture. The car horn is well known as an alarm- frightening or irritating (although the bumper sticker: ‘Horn Broke, Watch for Finger' suggests at least one other alternative). A little known fact is the car horn's other personality- that of a finely tuned, sensitve orchestral instrument strategically nested in a large, self propelled steel frame with aural and visual accessories to assist it. The Concerto develops the automobile's inherent musical talents and its natural flare for gesture, polish and rapt attention. Dr. kevin Putz whose extraordinary talents have shown his unique abilities this week first as a composer, then as a pianist, now faces probably his biggest challenge when he takes up the Claxen horn as soloist in the Horn Concerto . Horn Concerto (for an orchestra of automobiles) was commissioned by the 1998 ISCM World Music Days Festival in Manchester, England. The first performance was in front of the Neo Gothic Manchester City Hall and including local taxi cabs, a city bus and garbage truck on Bass.
Notes © Stephen Montague