Horn 1: eb1 - bb2
Horn 2: ab - g2
Horn 3: g - g2
Horn 4: eb - eb2
Creator's Comments
Dos danzas was commissioned by The Florida State University School of Music in honor of William Capps, FSU Professor of Horn, 1971-2004, for performance at the 2004 Southeast Horn Workshop (Florida State University, Tallahassee). The piece is dedicated to William Capps, Professor of Horn at FSU since 1971 who retires in the spring of 2004, with great respect ad thanks for his tremendous contributions to the musical world.
Performance Notes
The first dance is in cut time, even though the time signature reads 4/4. The tempo is minim (half note) equals 84, and most of the piece is based on fast syncopation, which earns it the difficult (rather than medium) difficulty rating. The piano in this movement is used as the bass (left hand) and accompaniment (broken chords in the right hand), so all four horn can play melodic lines. The rhythm is often the same in all four parts, with only some additional movement in one of the parts - for some reason it is always the third.
If played together, the 2nd dance is played attacca, and indeed they are connected by the similar tempo (this time however in 3, setting up the 6/8), an imitation of the bass figure of the 1st dance in the left piano hand, and the syncopation in the four horns, once they enter in bar 5. The 2nd dance finishes in a similar fashion to the first, with held notes in the horns and a rising arpeggio (in 3) in the piano, that previously could be found in horn 3.
Two rhythmically demanding but fun to play pieces, this work could also be accessible to the advances intermediate quartet. The piano part is not all too complicated, so it is ideal to get together for amateurs, students and professionals alike.