More on the Natural Horn

Yesterday in our third rehearsal on the Brahms Horn Trio (natural horn, violin, and piano) my son Jacob made the most extraordinary observation:  the horn's falset notes have a timbre quite like that of the violin, while its "real" pitches, in this case the overtones of E-flat, resonate more like the piano's black keys, of which there are many in the piece.

This shockingly relevant observation informs and enriches every single note of the piece for each of the players.

It would never occur to either the violinist, Gregor Kitzis, or myself, or probably anyone else playing the piece with a modern horn, that such detail would be possible or desirable or meaningful.

For all of the above, thank you very much, Johannes Brahms!