Burning (2012) for natural harmonic horn, natural harmonic percussion and electronics by racheldevorah

Burning for natural harmonic horn, natural harmonic percussion, and electronics, is a work that reimagines the original musical incarnation of the French horn in a contemporary soundscape. It is an exploration of the natural intonation of the harmonic series as played on a crook horn—the pure sound of the instrument unencumbered by temperament. The modern, chromatic French horn allows players to use valves to switch between harmonic series in an instant in order to conform to diatonic harmony. Burning reverts back to the original horn and exploits the natural phenomena of the harmonic series as played on the horn unchanged with valves. The horn embouchure can only produce a limited number of notes, so a natural harmonic percussion instrument, designed and built by the composer specifically to match the harmonic series of the horn, extends the range of the horn and highlights the tuning differences. Also, an electronic instrument, created with SuperCollider by the composer, is employed to further enhance and accompany the acoustic phenomena and the interactions between the two instruments. Rachel Devorah Trapp plays natural harmonic horn and Robert Lopez plays natural harmonic percussion.