Recovering post Gallay recording

I'm taking a few days off after what feels like a very very long period of work. It's been a busy couple of months what with some big concerts in Europe back in June followed by July and early August in Australia and New Zealand and then straight back into the thick of things with teaching in Malvern, performances for the International Horn Society London Conference and then the Gallay opera fantasias recording. On top of all that the kickstarter campaign!

Photos of Gallay recording session - with thanks to John Charlton of www.johncharltonphotography.co.uk

I'm extremely grateful to all the very generous people who backed the kickstarter campaign. This helped us raise a considerable sum towards the overall cost of the whole recording. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Backers choose from a number of different "rewards" - some going for the sheet music newly edited for this recording, some for CDs, whilst others just donated generously.  I was really delighted at the range of people who so kindly helped out. Backers came from all over the globe - all around Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand. Some backers were well known to me (the final donation came from a fellow horn player from youth orchestra days) whilst a good number were strangers. I was particularly touched by a number of first time kickstarter backers who wrote words of encouragement as putting on something like this is quite a challenge.

So thank you so very much to (in no particular order) Eva, Julia, Jay, Ann A., Paul, Christopher S., Johannes, Charles, Meredith, Rob, Cheyney, Chris, John W., Josiah, Sandra, John L.-N., Daren, Hilary, Chris, Niall, Phillipp, Jeremy, Graham R., Toby M., Lionel,  Heather, Robert, Rafael, Sally, David, Stefan, Gabriel, Jamie, Rachel, Christopher F., Timothy, Stuart, Graham S., Peter, Vicent, Stephen Mac, Richard V., Alexis, Katy, Richard T., Naomi, Ruud, Paul, Kathryn, Javier, Michael, Olivier, Carl, Outi, Stephen S., Marian, Maxine, Andrew, Joe, Jacqueline, Sabrina, Louise, Wen Chaun, Toby C., Lester, Alan, Doug, Ann S., Shigeru, Rolf, John D., Anon, John C., Lucy, John S., Simon, Maggie, Marc, Geertrui and Alex.

Photos of Gallay recording session - with thanks to John Charlton of www.johncharltonphotography.co.uk

The recording took place at the new Ruddock Performing Arts Centre in Birmingham. Why Birmingham? Well, the University of Birmingham has an incredibly special Érard grand piano from 1851 which we wished to use for this recording. Whilst the University was happy for us to arrange for the piano to be transported to wherever the recording was to take place, the further we moved it the higher the associated costs in moving the instrument would be, so we had to weigh up the costs of various halls versus the distance from Birmingham. Happily the Ruddock is almost opposite the University so this was a perfect solution. It's also an incredibly quiet hall - a surprisingly rare thing - which kept our producer and engineer Adrian Hunter very happy.

Photos of Gallay recording session - with thanks to John Charlton of www.johncharltonphotography.co.uk

Over the course of the three days we recorded six fantasias for horn and piano by Jacques-François Gallay.  Gallay was the leading natural horn player in mid 19th century France and is probably responsible for the French scene continuing to champion the instrument for longer than much of the rest of the musical world. He was obviously a sensational musician and highly respected by fellow musicians and critics, Berlioz being a notable example. Gallay was principal horn of the Theatre Italien and through that came into close contact with, and inspired a number of composers such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti etc. The works we recorded highlight Gallay’s assertion of the natural horn being “Another Voice”, blending a very vocal, lyrical style with the tremendously virtuosic.

Photos of Gallay recording session - with thanks to John Charlton of www.johncharltonphotography.co.uk

I was joined by some fantastic musicians for this project. Steven Devine had a great time on the Erard which was lovingly cared for by Ed Pickering. We were overjoyed that Lucy Crowe, one of the most stunning and stylish young sopranos around, joined us for three song settings by Gallay. The Bate Collection, once again, leant me their exquisite 1823 Marcel Auguste Raoux cor solo. Many others helped out  - thanks to Chris Holley and Hetti Price from the University of Birmingham Music Department for their page turning services and very special thanks to my old Brummy pal John Charlton for popping in to take photos. Finally thanks for the exacting Adrian Hunter for running the whole show.


I'm hoping to have some sneak behind the scenes footage of the actual recording to share soon but for the time being much more information on the project can be seen here:

So now that's all done and dusted - much needed relaxation. Paint nails, read book, drink wine and enjoy a well deserved rest.