Volume 19 - Howard T Howard
Logo by Martha Blanks
For this installment, we are listening to two obscure and very pianistic chamber quintets by Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Louis Spohr. Our hornist, Howard T. Howard, is joined by a selection of New York City freelancers on a recording from 1972 on the Turnabout label.
Howard T. Howard (1936-2021) was a Principal Horn of the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera from 1962-2007. He was born in Beatrice, Nebraska and took up the horn at age fourteen after relocating to Billings, Montana. He then attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1958 with a degree in music education before enlisting in the US Air Force. He had a short tenure as Principal Horn of the Toledo Symphony, and then moved to New York to pursue a music career. While substitute teaching elementary school, he won a position with the MET Orchestra and was appointed principal horn in 1962. He shared co-principal duties with Clarenden Van Norman until 1985, and then Julie Landsman from 1985 through his retirement.
Julie Landsman credits Howard as her first teacher, instructing her through her middle and high-school years. When she joined him in the MET Orchestra, she recalls his favorite repertoire being the Mozart operas, Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and Strauss’ Rosenkavalier. He was known for his sensitivity in blending tone and phrase, and his love for the orchestra and his enjoyment of performing through his final 46th season in the section. He was also active in the Newport Classical Chamber Series, frequently sailing his restored Herreshoff S-Class yacht to Rhode Island, and also around the Long Island sound.
Friedrich Kalkbrenner’s Grand Quintet, Op. 81 for piano, clarinet, horn, cello, and bass was composed in 1827. Kalkbrenner, German by nationality, settled in Paris where he gained fame as a pianist of exceptional virtuosity, worked at the Pleyel piano company, and also oversaw a music school. He was the most sought-after and highly paid concert pianist between 1824-1833, but was eclipsed by both Chopin and Liszt whose music and performance style reflected the burgeoning Romantic era.
The second movement, Andante quasi adagio, shows Howard taking the melodic role. He spins forth a Mozartian line supported by the clarinet and strings, and then has a short dialogue with the piano:
In the following Rondo, resplendent with dazzling pianistic lines, the horn answers the piano theme. Howard easily moves from the solo voice to a supporting harmonic and rhythmic chamber partner:
Louis Spohr also composed his Quintet, Op. 52 for piano, flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon in the same window as Kalkbrenner, the early 1820’s. Spohr was a dominating figure in European concert stages as a violinist, composer, and conductor. Also written to feature the piano, Spohr’s Quintet does certainly employ the winds more prominently.
In the opening moments of the Allegro first movement, Howard shapes a beautiful line with soloistic portamento connection, then melds seamlessly with the clarinet and bassoon:
The contrasting theme in the second movement has a flowing, cantabile shape. Howard’s smooth and pulsing articulation and sauve solo conjures the operas of Verdi and Puccini, a style he would have perfected with his career in the MET:
Both of the these works by Kalkbrenner and Spohr seem to have fallen out of favor for chamber music programming. Perhaps this is due to their pianistic demands, or simply that they linger in the shadow of the most prominent works for piano and winds by Mozart and Beethoven. Thankfully we have this recording, the only chamber music recording credited to Howard T. Howard, to inspire those looking for different chamber music options. Thanks for reading Horn on Record!