Volume 4 - 15 Solos for Horn and Piano performed by Milan Yancich
Logo by Martha Blanks
With more votes cast, Horn on Record will visit a pedagogical recording from noted orchestral performer and teacher, Milan Yancich. Yancich is joined by Edwin McArthur on piano, and together they perform the complete collection of solo works he arranged and published for Wind Music, Inc. titled 15 Solos for French Horn.
This recording, from 1978 and produced by Helden Records, provides interpretative recordings of each selection from his volume of arrangements. These songs are derived from opera arias, and repertoire for both violin and piano, as well as one original composition for horn. In the preface of the printed edition (and also on the reverse album jacket), Yancich explains:
The Mastersong solos found in this book represent some of the great composers in the world. Each bears the hallmark of genius and originality. Our goal is to stir the audience with emotion, and to do this the player must enter into the spirit of the text of the song or musical composition. He must understand the correct tempo and the constant modifications of tempo, dymanics, and special accents which are the life of the music.
Milan Yanchich (1921-2007) was born in Whiting, Indiana and studied at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University. During his early career from 1946-1952, he played with Columbus Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He then began teaching at the Eastman School of Music in 1957, while also performing with the Rochester Philharmonic.
He owned a publishing business, Wind Music Inc., and both composed pieces and wrote pedagogical methods. Many of these are still in use today, including his Practical Guide to French Horn Playing, Method for French Horn Volumes I & II, and his arrangement of Bach’s Six Suites for Cello. His book, An Orchestral Musician’s Odyssey: A View from the Rear is an account of his life and that of many notable musicans of that era including George Szell, Erich Leinsndorf, and Howard Hanson, and a matter-of-fact exposé of a musician’s life in the orchestra.
Yancich was on the IHS advisory council for two separate terms (’81-’84, ’98-’01) and was honored with the Punto Award in 1997 at the annual symposium hosted by the Eastman School of Music. Yancich also collaborated with Alexander horns to create the “Heldenhorn” Geyer-wrap model, which was recently re-introduced in 2017 as the Model 1106. As if more proof of his musical influence was needed, look no further than his children who also became professional musicans: Mark is timpanist of the Atlanta Symphony, and Paul is timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra!
Yancich’s 15 Solos was made as a companion recording for his collection of arrangments. The first ten songs are easily approachable for early performers, as the tempi, key signature, meter, range, and brevity allow for one to concentrate on sound, phrase, and expression. As Yancich emphasizes in the preface, “all successful performance results in the power to stir an audience with emotion.”
The remaining 5 solos increase in difficulty considerably, incorporating lip trills, high tessitura lines, rapid technical passagework, and many opportunities for bravura interpretations!
Now, time enjoy the music on the album!
The melancholy melody in Edvard Grieg’s Solvejg’s Song is played with pensive mystery:
Another somber tune in Jules Massenet’s Elegy pairs Yancich’s round tone with his yearning interpretation:
Yancich also plays with life and humor in his arrangement of the Cavatina from Rossini’s Barber of Seville:
To conclude the album, Yancich dazzles with his rendition of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee!
Happy New Year to all, from near and far, from Horn on Record!
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