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At the concert of the Days of Chamber Music XXth International festival held in Petrozavodsk the Karelian State Philarmonic Society presented The Russian Horn Chapel.
This music is Russian original, born in St.-Petersburg. Usually the horn sound was used in dog hunting. However, in 1751 under the instruction of director of imperial theatres prince S.Naryshkin, conductor Jan Maresh has coordinated usual hunting horns on semitonal sounding and has created a horn orchestra uniform in its timbre. Sounding of this orchestra has made strong impression upon empress Elizabeth, so that she has ordered to organize an orchestra at the court. Due to this circumstance, horn music became popular. And after a while no significant event at the court passed without it, each grandee wanted to have his own orchestra. This music made especially strong impression on foreigners, and effect of the horn orchestra sounding was began to use for more successful negotiating at the state level.
Even parades of horn orchestras called Neva Serenades passed on rivers Neva and Fontanka. The principle of playing horns has its features: each musician plays a single natural tune on his instrument at a certain time, and these these sounds comprise the music.
However, upon arrival of classical musical instruments band and symphonic orchestras have gradually superseded horns which existed in Russian musical culture for about hundred years. Attempts to improve horns have led to loss of beauty of sounding and to disappearance of this unique kind of musical instruments. The last attempt to revive horn orchestras has been made by the day of coronation of Nikolay II in 1896, but it has appeared unsuccessful. Horn orchestras have been forgotten. This music was considered irrevocably lost.
Nevertheless, there were enthusiasts who were united with the idea of revival of musical property of Russia. They have made instruments with their hands, mastered features of musical recording and specificity of playng hornss. As a result of their efforts there appeared The Russian Horn Chapel. On responses of our contemporaries, sounding of this music gives rise to a special condition which they have never experienced before. Words fail to explain it, and it is beyond habitual impression of music.
The Russian Horn Chapel has 17 musicians. The collection of horns totals 72 instruments in length from 10 centimetes to 2.5 meters. Unlike horn orchestras of XVIII - XIX centuries, where each musician played only one instrument, in some compositions musicians of the chapel play from 2 to 5 horns.
Repertoir of the orchestra comprises classical music by Russian and foreign composers, national, fanfare, and church music. For three years since it was founded the chapel took part in more than 250 performances, among which there were the most prestigious concerts and festivals in Russia and abroad. Creation of The Russian Horn Chapel can be called one of results of the Russian national culture revival .
Anna Orlova
Karelian State Philarmonic Society
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