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Stephen StirlingNatural horn playing from across the AtlanticCornucopia, November 2000 |
Stephen Stirling played his first natural horn chamber recital recently, but he plans to play more. Those who missed his performances in Cambridge and Concord in October are likely to have other opportunities in the future.
Steve is part of Sarasa, a group of about thirty chamber musicians who play chamber concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to regular concerts, the group has an outreach mission, playing in venues such as nursing homes. Steve's sister Jennifer plays viola in the group and lives in the Boston area, which is another reason Steve is likely to include Boston in his busy schedule.
Steve and Jennifer's father is a pianist who accompanied Ifor James and wrote for him. He encouraged his children to play music. Steve gave up on violin and piano, then agreed to try horn. No horn was available at school, so he played trumpet for a year. Ifor James was his main teacher through college. After college, Steve played in the Halle Orchestra, then in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Steve describes himself as a "London free-lancer." He is a member of the City of London Sinfonia and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, appears occasionally as guest principal in other orchestras such as COE, LSO, BBC SO, and teaches at Trinity. However, his main focus is chamber music, "a nice niche," he says. "I like being close to the audience." He's not so interested in solo horn recitals, mostly because he's not convinced that the horn and piano repertoire is interesting enough for the audience. He loves playing in orchestras. "Playing only occasionally means that it is always fresh and exciting," he says. "Many professionals become cynical, which is a disaster for the profession, but there are good conductors, real musicians, if you look for them."
"My best horn lessons came from non-horn players," he continues, citing violinist and conductor Alexander Schneider and conductor Nicholas Hannanchor. "I see the horn as a means for musical expression rather than horn technique. And I'm a believer in 'informed' playing rather than in period instruments." He mentions that what might have been intended to be exciting, even shocking, in past centuries may be boring to modern audiences, and that we have to adapt our playing take that into account. "The emotional impact of a performance is important."
Steve has contributed two articles to the Horn magazine, a publication of the British Horn Society, and more are on the way. He explains that he wants to "provoke ideas, to go beyond standard ideas into more creative thinking. These are not tried and true teaching methods." The first two articles are unique approaches to thinking about sound, toward developing affection and confidence in your sound.
"Horn playing has taken a staggering leap forward technically in the last 20 years," says Steve, "but it has not necessarily improved in musical mastery. Often refined shades are sacrificed to security. Now that players can play without making errors, it is time to take some risks, be more imaginative, make the horn an expressive instrument like the violin or cello." For Steve, the wide variety of chamber and orchestral music that he plays keeps him excited and thinking of new ways to make real music on the horn.
Steve's Mozart Horn Concertos CD is #3 on the Classic FM charts in England, and he has recorded York Bowen's Quintet for Horn and String Quartet with the Endymion Ensemble for the Dutton Laboratories label. You can find out more about Steve and his recordings at Stephen Stirling's Home Page. The Sarasa Chamber Music home page is at www.sarasa-music.com