En Foret [HL:48180992]

Having won many prizes at the Paris Conservatoire during the 1920s and 1930s, Eugène Bozza went on to conduct the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique and to become Head of the Conservatoire in Valenciennes. As a major figure on the classical music frontline, Bozza's compositions were well-received by audiences, En Foret being no exception. This Bozza piece for French horn and piano masterfully combines a virtuosic horn solo with impressionistic piano accompaniment. The composer includes reminders of the horn's hunting roots with frequent uses of call and response throughout. As a music educator, Paul Griffiths has written of Bozza's compositions, saying how “his works reveal melodic fluency, elegance of structure and a consistently sensitive concern of instrumental capabilities.”