Press Releases

Alec Frank-Gemmill, one of the most renowned horn players of his generation, was introduced to BIS by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in 2014, the year he received his BBT Fellowship. From the outset he declared his ambition to record Mozart’s unsurpassed horn concertos, but taking his time over a ten-year journey towards this achievement has provided him with the valuable opportunity to delve deep into the horn repertoire, as well as develop creative relationships with artists, engineers and producers associated with the award-winning Swedish recording company.

Three meticulously researched and broad-ranging albums precede this Mozart album, all of them on BIS, all supported by BBT and all critically acclaimed. A Noble and Melancholy Instrument explores the history and versatility of the instrument using four different period horns coupled with keyboards from the same eras; Before Mozart presents late baroque horn concertos; and Brahms Chamber Music offers a new perspective on transcriptions of the composer’s works not originally written for horn which give context to the famous horn trio also featured on the album. This accumulation of discovery, performance and recording is the background to this personal landmark recording, the Mozart Horn Concertos, in which Alec has also written the cadenzas and lead-ins and even collaborated with composer Stephen Roberts on various arrangements, transcriptions and reconstructions, including a goundbreaking completion of Concerto No 1.

Mozart wrote the four concertos over a period of ten years from 1781 for horn virtuoso Joseph Leutgeb, with whom he shared a convivial friendship. The earlier works display dazzling virtuosity and quick-fire repartee between soloist and orchestra, but over the course of their collaboration the works become less exacting and show greater blending with the orchestral sounds, reflecting Mozart’s sensitivity to Leutgeb’s declining stamina and technical security as he approached 60, but without diminishing his command of subtle, expressive timbres and versatility.

Alec is no stranger to performing on a range of period horns, including the natural valveless horn that Mozart wrote for, but he has opted for the greater freedom of a modern instrument for this recording, although he has incorporated a few of the effects that Mozart intended for the old horn.

What is known as Concerto No 1 in D major was in fact the last one intended for Leutgeb, but Mozart died before finishing it and no indication of a slow movement was ever discovered among his papers. Alec and Roberts worked together on a transcription to fill this gap with the slow movement of Mozart’s Violin Concerto K 211 which completes the concerto and is an apt tribute to the virtuosity of the younger Leutgeb.

In addition to the four ‘official’ concertos Roberts has taken two fragments from Mozart’s early attempts at a horn concerto, written concurrently in 1781 (not intended for Leutgeb), and assembled them as an exquisite bonus entitled ‘Concerto No 0′.

BIS Records SACD release on 8 November 2024 (BIS-2635)

MOZART Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91)

Concerto No 1 in D major for horn and orchestra
I Allegro, K 412 (1791)
II Adagio, K211 (1775) arr. & orch. by Alec Frank-Gemmill & Stephen Roberts 2023
III Rondo. Allegro, K 514 (1791) completed by Stephen Roberts 1994

Concerto No 2 in E flat major for horn and orchestra, K 417 (1783)
I Allegro
II Andante
III Rondo. Allegro – Più allegro

Concerto No 3 in E flat major for horn and orchestra, K 477 (1787)
I Allegro
II Romance. Larghetto
III Allegro

Concerto No. 4 in E flat major for horn and orchestra, K 495 (1786)
I Allegro maestoso
II Romance. Andante cantabile
III Rondo. Allegro vivace

Concerto ‘No. 0’ in E flat major for horn and orchestra (1781)
I [Allegro], K 370b reconstructed by Stephen Roberts 2008
II Rondeau. Allegro, K 371 completed by Stephen Roberts 2008

Alec Frank-Gemmill horn · Swedish Chamber Orchestra · Nicholas McGegan conductor

Recorded 22-26 May 2023 at Örebro Concert Hall, Sweden
Cadenzas and lead-ins by Alec Frank-Gemmill
Instrumentarium: Alexander 90 Single B flat Horn – gold brass

Also recorded on BIS with support from BBT:

A Noble and Melancholy Instrument BIS-2228 (2017) with pianist Alasdair Beatson

The changes of sound and technology are fascinating, but the programme and the playing are what really make this such an excellent recital.

BBC Radio 3 Record Review, May 2017

Before Mozart : Early Horn Concertos BIS-2315 (2018) with Swedish Chamber Orchestra/McGegan

virtuosity is consistently placed at the service of expression… An exceptional disc that confirms and consolidates hisreputation as one of today’s finest horn players, it makes for compelling and essential listening.

Gramophone, June 2018

Brahms Chamber Music BIS-2478 (2020) with Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (violin) & Daniel Grimwood (piano)

Fascinating to hear new colours in a familiar work, with Brahms’s First Cello Sonata transcribed for French horn. It also makes a fine prelude to a terrific performance of the Horn Trio.

BBC Music Magazine, February 2021

ALEC FRANK-GEMMILL horn player and conductor www.alecfrankgemmill.com

• Repertoire: Baroque to contemporary.
• Studies: Began playing horn aged 10 (tenor horn at 6) and period instruments at 19. Studied in Cambridge, London and Berlin. Teachers have included Hugh Seenan, Radovan Vlatković and Marie-Luise Neunecker.
• Principal Horn with Scottish Chamber Orchestra 2009-19 and with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra 2019 to present day.
• Guest principal horn, soloist and director with leading orchestras such Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony and BBC orchestras, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Sinfonietta Köln.
• Chamber music collaborators include pianist Alasdair Beatson and violinists Alexander Janiczek, Philippe Graffin and Pekka Kuusisto, as well as period instrument group Ensemble Marsyas.
• Festivals: Soloist in numerous festivals including East Neuk, Spitalfields, Ryedale, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and St. Magnus. A regular at Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove.
• Founder and director of Odin Ensemble, a Gothenburg-based group that performs on early 20th century instruments.
• Conducting: Mentored by conductors including Mark Heron, John Wilson, Sian Edwards and Paavo Järvi and conducts orchestras throughout the UK.
• Awards: Recipient of the Sten A. Olsson Scholarship for Culture from the Stena Foundation 2023, Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship 2014 and a member of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme 2014-16.
• Teaching: Professor of Horn at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• Films: ‘Insight’ films on a range of period horns made with the suppport of BBT in connection with his BIS debut recording, A Noble and Melancholy Instrument: www.bbtrust.com