Dennis Brain (horn)
Richard Adeney (flute)
Ian Beers (horn)
Aubrey Brain (horn)
Leonard Brain (oboe)
Jack Brymer (clarinet)
Edmund Chapman (horn)
Joan Cross (soprano)
Alfred Cursue (horn)
Michael Dobson (oboe)
Walter Gieseking (piano)
Colin Horsley (piano)
Cecil James (bassoon)
Natalie James (oboe)
Sena Jurinac (soprano)
Val Kennedy (bassoon)
George Malcolm (piano)
Denis Matthews (piano)
Gerald Moore (piano)
Gareth Morris (flute)
Manoug Parikian (violin)
Gervase de Peyer (clarinet)
Neils Sanders (horn)
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)
Edward Selwyn (oboe)
Stanley Smith (oboe)
Sidney Sutcliffe (oboe)
Basil Tchaikov (clarinet)
Frederick Thurston (clarinet)
Bernard Walton (clarinet)
Stephen Waters (clarinet)
Ray White (horn)
Edward Wilson (bassoon)
Lener Quartet
Dennis Brain Ensemble
Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble
London Baroque Ensemble
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra
Halle Orchestra
Morley College Symphony Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductors

Thomas Beecham
Fritz Busch
Guido Cantelli
Lawrance Collingwood
Alceo Galliera
Karl Haas
Paul Hindemith
Herbert von Karajan
Paul Kletzki
Rafael Kubelik
Norman Del Mar
Malcolm Sargent
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Walter Susskind
Laurance Turner
Jack Westrup

Works

Arnell, Richard

Serenade for 10 winds and double bass, op.57

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

Sonatas (6) for 7 wind instruments, Wq184

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Mass in B minor, BWV232

» Quoniam tu solus sanctus

Beethoven, Ludwig van

Horn Sonata in F major, op.17
Modlinger Tanze (11), WoO17

» no.1 Waltz in E flat major

» no.2 Menuet in B flat major

» no.3 Waltz in B flat major

» no.10 Waltz in D major

» no.11 Waltz in D major

Berkeley, Lennox

Horn Trio, op.44

d'Indy, Vincent

Chanson et danses, op.50

Delius, Frederick

A Mass of Life

» Prelude to Part 2

Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von

Partita in D major

Dukas, Paul

Villanelle

Dvorak, Antonin

Serenade for Winds in D minor, op.44

Gounod, Charles

Petite Symphonie pour vents

Handel, George Frideric

Air in F major, HWV410
Air in F major, HWV411
Overture in D major, HWV424 (arr. for 2 clarinets and horn)

Haydn, Franz Joseph

Divertimento in C major 'Feldparthie'
Nocturnes (8), Hob.II:25-32

» no.3 in C Major, Hob.II:32

Symphony no.31 in D major, Hob.I:31 'Horn Signal'

» I Allegro

Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano, op.3

Kay, Norman

Miniature Quartet for Winds

Mendelssohn, Felix

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Incidental Music, op.61

» VII Nocturne: Con moto tranquillo

Mozart, Leopold

Concerto for hosepipe and strings

» III Allegro

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Cosi fan tutte, K588

» Per pieta, ben mio, perdona

Schumann, Robert

Adagio and Allegro, op.70

Strauss, Richard

Horn Concerto no.1 in E flat major, op.11
Horn Concerto no.2 in E flat major, TRV283
Sonatina no.2 in E flat major for 16 wind instruments, AV143 'Frohliche Werkstatt'
Suite in B flat major, op.4

Wagner, Richard

Siegfried

» Siegfried's horn call

Artists

Conductors

About

“In his warm and serene person all the essential qualities of the great interpretative artist were blended in perfect harmony.”

Dennis Brain’s life was cut short in 1957 when he was just 36, but he had already assured his reputation as the greatest horn-player of the 20th century. He remains an exemplar for his successors today. “Technical problems did not exist for him,” continued the eulogy written by Walter Legge, EMI’s legendary producer and founder of the Philharmonia Orchestra. “Over his instrument’s whole range he had a mastery of intonation, of legato, of staccato, of dynamic range and, above all, of expressiveness.”

This 11-CD collection presents all his Warner recordings as concerto soloist and chamber and ensemble player – including music composed with him in mind – and his most notable contributions to symphonic, choral and operatic works. He performs in several CD premieres – music by Handel, Strauss, Richard Arnell and Norman Forber Kay – and a 1953 recording now released for the first time: Vincent d’Indy’s wind septet Chanson et danses.

17 May 2021 marks the centenary of Dennis Brain’s, the greatest horn-player of the 20th century. Member of a famous horn-player dynasty and son of Aubrey Brain, he was discovered at the age 16 of by the legendary EMI producer Walter Legge. When the latter founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945, he immediately hired Dennis Brain as principal horn.

In a moving obituary published in Gramophone – fully included in the booklet – Walter Legge said: “Over his instrument’s whole range he had a mastery of intonation, of legato, of staccato, of dynamic range and, above all, of expressiveness that no other horn player has matched. But neither the listing of his qualities nor their sum explains the essential quality of his magic. That all these attributes should be embodied in one young man was miracle enough. But there was a still greater magic — the personality of his tone.

“Even among experts opinions differ on the respective and comparative merits of half a dozen conductors, singers, violinists and pianists, but since the days when he first became internationally known there was no voice to dispute that Dennis Brain had achieved unequalled pre-eminence in his art.”

His mastery convinced the best conductors of his time: Beecham, Sawallisch, Stokowski, Sargent, Karajan… and inspired many composers who dedicated works to him: Britten, Arnold, Hindemith, Jacob, Berkeley, Poulenc…

“His only interests in life, apart from music, were his family and motor-cars,” also wrote Legge. The latter unfortunately cost him his life: he tragically died in a car crash on 1 September 1957.

The present collection gathers all his recordings for EMI as soloist, principal member in chamber music and in chamber orchestras – from 1938 to 1957. Remarkable participations in opera and symphonic music have also been added.