The Symphony no.3 in E flat major op.97, also called the "Rhenish" (after the German river, a nickname not actually given by Schumann himself), is one of the most powerful romantic symphonies. Written to appeal to the broad public, it incorporates folk-like tunes, and became a success immediately
The symphony is in unusually many movement:
I Lebhaft (E flat major)
II Scherzo: Sehr mäßig (C major)
III Nicht schnell (A flat major)
IV Feierlich (E flat minor)
V Lebhaft (E flat major)
The present arrangement is of movement no.4, very well known to orchestral hornists (and alto trombonists) for its opening chorale, which rises from an f1 to bb2 in a slow tempo, all in one breath and pp. This is also the main difficulty in the transcription, with parts 1-3 playing the original horn parts, and horn 4 playing the cello section. The theme moves to the second section (horn 5-8) when it comes back, and then is given to various parts in the development section.
After the climax, towards the end Jones chooses a lower tessitura than in the orchestra, with all parts (except for those with the theme) below db2. This reinforces the contrast between the preceding ff and final pp. As a transcription it is straight forward, and works very well with a horn ensemble due to the chorale-like nature of the movement.
The performance time is given as 5 minutes, and this is probably a good time to aspire to. It is faster than most orchestral renditions, but in a horn ensemble sound, breath, phrasing, and stamina all have to be taken into consideration. Also, a slightly faster speed helps with tuning, which is quite difficult in this work.