Fantasie for Horns II
Hildegard Westerkamp
Programme notes
Fantasie for Horns II was composed in two stages
The sound sources of the tape part are Canadian trainhorns, foghorns from both the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts of Canada, factory and boathorns from Vancouver and surroundings. Additional sound sources are an alphorn and a creek. Most of the material was taken from the World Soundscape Project’s environmental tape collection at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Listening to the various horns in the collection was fascinating because of the way their sounds were shaped and modulated by the surrounding landscape. Some horns would echo only once, others many times, their sounds slowly fading into the distance. A trainhorn’s echo was half a tone lower as the train approached, but the same pitch as it passed. Each horn acquires its unique sound from the landscape it inhabits. This strong interaction between these sounds and their environment gave the inspiration to work with this material. Horn sounds are interesting for another reason — they rise above any ambience, even that of large cities. They are soundmarks that give a place its character and give us, often subliminally, a ‘sense of place.’
The tape part of the piece was realized in 1978 at the Sonic Research Studio of Simon Fraser University (SFU) (Vancouver, BC) and Fantasie for Horns II was premiered by James MacDonald in October, 1979 at the Music Gallery in Toronto.
Premiere
- October 1979, James MacDonald, horn • Concert, The Music Gallery, Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
About this sound recording
This version (1996) was performed by Brian G’froerer who used two horns
- Composer(s): Hildegard Westerkamp
- Year of composition: 1979
- Duration: 12:50
- Instrumentation: horn and 4-channel fixed medium
- Publisher(s): Yul média
- ISRC: CAD509612270
