Capriccio, Op.54

2 French horns, 12-15 strings (4.4.3.2.2 or 4.4.3.3.1 or 4.3.2.2.1)

Philharmonia Orchestra with funds from the Arts Council of Great Britain

…offered a wealth of opportunities for horn virtuosity… no less rich in detail was its writing for divided strings, whose continual changes of focus captivated the listeners’ attention. The piece as a whole invoked Brain’s spontaneity and bubbling enthusiasm in a kind of Straussian serenade-like idiom which the still lamented hero of the horn would have relished.