The Music of William Horne
Three short movements for clarinet, celeste, and cello in an atonal style. The outer movements are dreamlike, while the central movement is a strange, grotesque dance. I wrote this piece while in graduate school at Yale University. The nearby performance was recorded by Steve Cohen, clarinet; Allen Nisbet, cello; and William Horne, celeste.
My Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano was influenced by my friend Logan Skelton’s long and fruitful engagement with the music of George Gershwin. Eventually, Gershwin’s sounds got into my ear and found their way into the opening theme of the first movement, the song-like second movement, and the moody yet busy finale. A fine performance by saxophonist Walter Puyear and pianist Yoonghun Cho is found nearby.
A three-movement sextet filled with verve and melodic charm. Huntley Dent writes of this work in Fanfare that “[Horne] writes so gracefully for every instrument that musicians must love to perform these pieces, and listeners are grateful to be embraced by them.” In a separate review, Colin Clarke declares: “I defy you to walk away and not whistle one of the melodies from this finale.” (Fanfare)
You can hear a fine performance of this work by flutist Merryl Neille, oboist Andreas Oeste; clarinetist Joshua Anderson; hornist Mary Garza; and bassoonist Cody Dean, with pianist Mi-Eun Kim.