“Twelve Corni Duos” by James Nicholas

Originally composed for horn, these twelve duos in Mozartean style lie very well for the cello in this transcription by the composer James Nicholas. A former cello student of Janos Starker but also an accomplished horn player, composer, PhD in musicology, and (now retired) professional fireman, James offers us the following backstory to these duos:

“Back in 1994, Rick Seraphinoff had planned to write a historical novel featuring two hornists and their adventures touring Europe during the latter half of the 18th century. At the time, he asked me if I would write a set of 12 “Mozart” duos to be included in it; I obliged with some high-class comedy. That book, Corno da Capo, did not see the light of day until 2021, and without the duos, but they have been published separately. Rick told me at the time that he couldn’t get through some of them, particularly No. 1 and No. 7, without laughing. They are just …..2 corni!”

It would have seemed appropriate to include these duos in our “Mozart” section because they are so ….. “Mozartean”; however the composer was not happy with this idea, so they are categorised in the cellofun repertoire library as “musical comedy” (pastiche). Very well-written, and with judicious choices of keys, they do not present any great technical difficulties and are an ideal “introduction to Mozart” for cellists.

Cello Score

Here is a computer-generated audio of these cello duos:

And here is an audio of the original horn version (in different keys to the cello versions):