Elizabeth Vercoe

Solo Horn

Corollaries for Solo Horn was commissioned in 2007 for hornist Francis Massinon for premiere on a Dimensions Concert in November of that year at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee.

The composer writes: "This solo horn piece is essentially a one-minute theme with four variations which I have called, in this case, corollaries. The dictionary defines a corollary as something that follows as a natural consequence and that is my intention here: for the corollaries to follow the theme naturally but not slavishly. That the word corollary also plays on a name for the horn is simply a bonus or perhaps another corollary.

Certain characteristics of the theme find their way into most of the variations, particularly the semitone oscillations near the beginning, the rising octaves a little later, and the climactic high notes before a tapering off at the end. The first variation or corollary is perhaps the most challenging and is in quick triplets, following the theme rather closely. The second is very slow and stately, giving only a very free outline of the original material. Corollary 3 is a playful variation in which the focus is on trills. The fourth and final corollary is a crab or cancrizans variation, reversing the thematic material so that the end turns out to be the beginning."