by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hi everyone!
In honor of the 56th International Horn Symposium, I wanted to write about a composer I adore—and, coincidentally, whose music I will be performing at IHS 56—Barbara York. While perhaps known more as a proponent of low brass chamber music, her works for horn are both challenging and rewarding.
Born in Canada in 1949, York studied both cello and piano as a child, demonstrating such skill and dedication that she began her bachelor’s degree at McGill University at age 16 and graduated by the age of 20. Barbara spent early periods of her career working in musical theater, elementary music education, and, perhaps most importantly, collaborative piano. Upon accompanying a tuba player, Michael Fischer, at his recital at Pittsburg State University, York was inspired by the dulcet tones of solo tuba playing and requested to write a piece for Fischer; thus began a long and fruitful career of over forty works for tuba or euphonium.
One of my favorites among York’s works is her trio for horn (or euphonium), tuba, and piano entitled Dancing with Myself, which the composer describes as a bit of “Bohemian Barbara,” reminding herself of her youthful days in Montréal. Clearly inspired by dance styles including jazz, tango, and polka, the piece interweaves all three instruments to great effect, creating a conversation between the performers, while also being deeply introspective and personal. Barbara spoke about the piece in an interview, discussing her thoughts on the work and its reflection of a past relationship, stating, “…then I realized that he didn’t want to have a discussion with me. He wanted to instruct me. I was trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t talking back. I was just really talking to myself, which was interesting…. There was no two-way communication going on. He wasn’t having any kind of discussion. When I did the story about going home at night by myself dancing because I wasn’t dancing with myself, I also thought about the fact that when you’re young, you’re so concerned with finding who you are and your own self-image. Figuring out who you are.”
York also composed several brass quintets, a suite for horn, euphonium, and piano, and an outstanding sonata for horn which is well worth a listen. Wishing everyone a fabulous August—and thank you for reading the Horn and More Composer Spotlight!
