Obituaries

[pbrower2a]

Hermann Rudolph Konrad Baumann[1] (1 August 1934 – 29 December 2023) was a German horn player who was a pioneer of the natural horn in the revival of both Baroque and Classical period music. He was a principal hornist of leading orchestras, and made an international career as a soloist. He made recordings such as Mozart's Horn Concertos on a natural horn with Nikolaus Harnoncourt* and the first recording of Ligeti's 1982 Horn Trio, which he had premiered. Baumann was professor of horn at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen from 1969 for around 30 years.
Biography[edit]
Baumann in 1980
Baumann started his musical career as a singer and jazz drummer. He switched to horn at the age of 17.[1][2] He studied with Fritz Huth at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg and then played principal horn in orchestras for 12 years,[2] including the Dortmunder Philharmoniker and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra,[1] where he served from 1961 to 1967.[3]
His career as a soloist started in 1964 when he won first prize in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.[2] He was a pioneer of the revival of performance on the natural horn, both the Baroque or the Classical period.[2] In 1999, the Historic Brass Society honored him with the Christopher Monk Award for his lifelong contribution to music on historic instruments.[1][2]
Baumann commissioned new compositions from Jean-Luc Darbellay, Bernhard Krol [de] and Hans-Georg Pflüger [de].[1] He played the world premiere of Ligeti's Horn Trio[1][4] to the composer's approval. He composed works himself, such as Elegia for Handhorn solo.[1]
Baumann taught at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen from 1969[3] for 30 years[1][2] and at horn conventions around the world.[1] His tone was described as expressive and singing, with good and secure intonation.[1][3] The quality of human singing was partly achieved by a specific vibrato, adequate in lyrical passages.[5] He advised his students to sing a theme first before playing it on the horn.[4]

More at Wikipedia

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Baumann_(musician)][/url]*I thoroughly love that recording -- pbrower2a