by Tommi Hyytinen
Finnish horn quartet The Golden Horns—featuring players Tuomo Eerikäinen, Jukka Harju, Tommi Hyytinen, and Tero Toivonen—has released the ensemble's second album, Witches in the Air. The disc is devoted exclusively to Finnish horn quartet music. Representing more traditional Finnish horn literature is the Little Quartet for Four Horns by Erkki Melartin. The other works were all commissioned by and composed for The Golden Horns. Together, they offer a richly varied and all-around picture of 21st-century Finnish repertoire for this ensemble.
The Golden Horns' album features two versions of one of the key works in Finnish quartet literature: the Little Quartet for Four Horns composed by Erkki Melartin in March 1936 and premiered in Helsinki in May of that year. The version heard on that occasion was not, however, exactly as Melartin had written it. Holger Fransman, its commissioner, felt that Melartin’s choice of F major (sounding B flat) was too difficult for the quartet in view of the range covered by the parts and arranged the work in the easier key of G major. He also made a few other minor changes. His arrangement remained in the active repertoire, and Melartin’s original version did not receive its first performance until 2018. Now, for the first time, both versions of the Little Quartet can be heard together: the beautiful sounding G major one by Fransman and the impressive orchestral F major one by Melartin.
In terms of the instrumentation and sound of the ensemble, really new and ear-opening pieces in the album are Juho Kangas' and Juhani Nuorvala's compositions for four natural horns of different keys. Witches in the Air by Kangas and Summer! by Nuorvala are both full of rich colors, interesting harmonies, and new special playing techniques. Other composers on the disc are Eero Hämeenniemi, Matthew Whittall, and Kai Nieminen.
Please enjoy these samples from Witches in the Air:
Melartin, Little Quartet for Four Horns, opening
Whittal, Anthem II, ending
Nuorvala, Summer!, ending
