Volume 18 - Edmond Leloir
Logo by Martha Blanks
As readers of this column may agree, there are many joys in listening to and researching recordings of the past. It’s that much more rewarding when there are unexpected surprises, which we get to share together this month! I had sourced an album of Belgian hornist Edmond Leloir performing Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70, certainly one of our most celebrated foundations of the repertoire. What I didn’t realize until I read the reverse album jacket and listened to the record, is that the famed conductor Ernest Ansermet orchestred Schumann’s piece for horn and piano and Edmond Leloir acts as an orchestral soloist! Released in 1958 on London Records, this recording features L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ansermet.
In brief, Edmond Leloir (1912-2003) was born in Brussels, Belgium and made his performance career in Switzerland. He performed in Bern, Winterthur, and Zürich, before attaing the position of solo horn of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). He retired from the orchestra in 1977, having invested 31 years leading the horn section. Additionally, Leloir was very well known as an editor and publisher of a vast catalog of music, rediscovering numerous out-of-print or otherwise forgotten works. He was recognized as an Honorary Member of the IHS in 1983. For a much more detailed account of this life and contributions, I recommed reading his listing on the IHS website and also Jeroen Billiet’s fascinating dissertation Brave Belgians of the Belle Époque: a study in the late-romantic Ghent horn playing tradition.
To understand why Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro would be orchestrated, it’s valuable to learn about the interests and influence of Enest Ansermet. An early career math professor, he transitioned into conducting, cutting his teeth with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He founded the OSR in 1918 and then focused the orchestra on interpretions of the difficult contemporary music of that era – works by Stravinsky, Dutilleux, Honegger, Prokofiev, and Britten, among others. Anserment did have a penchant for composition, and also arranged Debussy’s piano duo Six épigraphes antiques. It’s likely that Anserment arranged Schumann’s work as a gift to Leloir, as their relationship was rooted in mutual musical respect and admiration.
Schumann’s use of contrast in Adagio & Allegro is evident. He drew inspiration from the fictitious characters Eusabius and Florestan – paeans of the Romantic ideal in both his compositions and his writing as editor of the New Periodical for Music (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik). Writer Marie C. Miller addresses this topic: “Eusabius was the lyrical, the quiet introspective. Florestan was the more flamboyant, impetuous personality. Florestan, the truer Romantic of the pair, often displayed a mercurial state of mind and quickly changing personality.”
The piece opens with a tender, melancholy horn melody supported in this context by a mixture of arco and pizzicato strings with the oboe answering in dialogue.
As the Adagio section ends, Leloir effective blends his very broad tone into the cello section countermelody. His launch into the Allegro is vigorous and full-throated, leading to a cadential apex in the strings that’s much more reminiscent of Strauss in orchestration.
The transitional section – perhaps another pleading moment from Eusabius – really leans forward in tempo. The string section provides a churning sustain of sound as a noticeable sonic departure from the usual left-hand offbeats in the piano accompaniment.
Known for it’s endurance demands related to phrase length and range, Adagio & Allegro orchestrated as a concert piece is nearly of concerto-like dimensions. Leloir’s playing overall is quite heroic to match! He seizes upon this sonic challenge and really rides above the weight of the orchestra throughout, and especially turning it up a notch through the ending.
In sum, it’s interesting to listen to this reconception of a treasured staple in our repertoire. A true piece of chamber music, Adagio & Allegro rewards the duo who can malleably merge tones, phrasing, and tempi to give a voice to something unique. Perhaps something is lost in the horn’s necessary projection here with orchestra, or for the need for all involved to follow the interpretation of a conductor rather than listening and responding to one another. In either case, it provides ample room for discussion! Thanks for reading Horn on Record!