Biography:
The Leipzig Horn Quartet has existed since 1951, making it the oldest active horn quartet in the world. The various musicians were - and still are today - horn players of the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Symphony Orchestra. From the very beginning, the members of the ensemble have made it their task to find, perform and record the repertoire for this extraordinary cast. In 1983 the city of Leipzig honored the Leipzig horn quartet with the renowned art prize. One work runs like a red thread through the history of the quartet: Das Concert piece for four horns and large orchestra op. 86 by Robert Schuman. At the time it was decisive for the founding of the Leipzig Horn Quartet, but it has been performed over 30 times in its current line-up of Max Hilpert, Tino Bölk, Johannes Winkler and Michael Gühne. The musicians also see themselves as pioneers of contemporary music. Important works have been dedicated to the ensemble time and time again - especially recently, when the members of the quartet premiered compositions by Jean-Luc Darbellay, Steffen Schleiermacher, Robert Delanoff, Max Beckschäfer, Michel Roth and Jürgen Dietze. In August 2014 the premiere of Peter Ruzickas took place SPIRAL Concerto for Horn Quartet and Orchestra in Weimar with the MDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.
In the course of more than 60 years, the musicians have given countless concerts in Germany and made numerous radio and disc recordings. CDs have been released by Capriccio, Querstand and Claves with the great horn quartets of the 20th century and works from the Romantic era. Guest performances have taken the Leipzig horn quartet across Europe, to Asia and to South America. Conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Mario Venzago, Alun Francis, Toshiyuki Kamioka, Hans Urbanek, John Roderick MacDonald and Peter Ruzicka accompanied the Leipzig Horn Quartet with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Meininger Hofkapelle, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, among others. Critics and connoisseurs of the genre attest the members of the ensemble a high degree of homogeneity and sound culture, paired with technical brilliance and great musical vitality.
Albums:
