S2.E15. Sarasate Zigeunerweisen, Schubert Impromptu 2 - and an unusual work by Schumann, his Konzertstuck for FOUR horns and orchestra!

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Welcome back to Perfect Pitch with Nick Healy Hutchinson and his fresh approach to the world of classical music. Whether you're an expert or a beginner, old or young, Perfect Pitch has something for everyone.

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Pablo de Sarasarte, born in Pamploma in 1844, is not a name you'll hear too often these days. But in his time, he was one of the great violin virtuosos, who was much in demand, not just in his native country of Spain, but all over the world. In the same way that Tchaikovsky, Chopper, and Liszt were all good enough to have piano competitions named after them, there's a violin competition in his name in Pamploma. He took a lot of pride in his talent and famously refused to play the bronze violin concerto because he was damned if he was going to stand with his fiddle and silence for a full three minutes, while another solo instrument, the Oppo, got the opening melody in the second movement. But he was no disliked when it came to composing either, even if his output was minimal. And yet the two or three pieces for which he is now best known really had an impact on Camisa in his rondo caperciosa written for and dedicated to him, as well as Max Brook in his Scottish Fantasy. The pizza for which he is most well known is a ticklative item, which details a single movement work for violin and orchestra with four distinct sections. The first three of which range from stately to gentle and melancholy culminating in the finale to test of the best. And here is unquestionably one of them. Only Schubert could manage to make running up and down a keyboard so absolutely charming. Until the beginning of the 19th century, it didn't have any vowels on it at all. Those of the stops similar to the ones you would see on a trumpet to assist in finding the right pitch. And even when they were introduced, they were pretty basic. So the results in the concert hall were varied at better, with notes being frequently missed altogether. The advances made since then enable a far warmer sound. And I can't imagine that this highly unusual piece written for the instrument by Robert Schumann would have sounded anything other than a bit of a mess. In 1849, he wrote a work for four horns and orchestra, a format which I'm fairly certain no one has attempted since. It's effectively a concerto for four horns and orchestra, with three clear movements rolled into one. The only downside of just listening is that you don't get the rather wonderful visual effect of four horns lining up the centre stage. Which is not often played. So here's a rare opportunity to listen to it in the full. But there's actually plenty of evidence to the contrary. And I rest my case with music like this.

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