Richard King
Principal Horn, Cleveland Orchestra

(A disclaimer: More years ago than I care to recall, I was an aspiring French horn player. This gives me an added respect for the capability of Richard King, who has been one of my biggest musical ‘heroes’ since the first time I heard him play, in 1988. I’m prejudiced in his favor, I know. Imagine yourself as a basketball fanatic being allowed to interview LeBron!)

Richard King is an amiable young man who is one of the best in the world at what he does for a living. That’s both awesome and an awesome responsibility, but it doesn’t seem to cause him any distress. In fact, it seems rather obvious that he glories in it. All of it. He has the best of all possible worlds, right here in Cleveland. And to think that just twenty years ago, when he first came here in 1988 to audition for the Cleveland Orchestra, he didn’t even realize that Cleveland was on a lake! Oh, well. He knows better now! We know him a lot better now, too, because not only did he get the job as Associate Principal horn then, but subsequently, he was promoted to the post of Principal French Horn in 1997.

It’s always interesting to hear how musicians came to their particular instrument. Rich’s story is entirely unique, stemming from a summer vacation when he was seven. His step-mother was French, and the family traveled there for two weeks that summer. He loved everything French, so when, two years later, he was leaving elementary school on Long Island to go to middle school, and was asked what orchestral instrument he’d like to study, he promptly replied “French horn!” He doesn’t recall if he’d ever heard one or even seen one—no, it was purely the name that captured his attention. An entire panel of experts couldn’t have done better at matching him to an instrument on which he could and would excel.

The French horn is noted for its beautiful, mellow sound, as well as for being notoriously difficult to play. Although made of brass, or frequently German silver, it is generally classed with the woodwinds. Sometimes. At other times, it’s definitely a brass instrument, and is the only instrument to be found in either a woodwind or brass ensemble. It blends wonderfully well with either. For some reason (possibly the difficulty in playing the beastly thing accurately and in tune) there are not many concertos written for the horn.

Tomorrow evening, and again on Friday morning and Saturday evening, Richard King will perform what is quite possibly the most difficult of all the concertos for his instrument—the second of two written by Richard Strauss. Himself the son of a famous horn player in Münich in the late 1800s, the not-quite 20-year-old younger Strauss wrote his first concerto for his father. The older man struggled with it, but finally mastered the piece.

Sixty years later, in 1941, the by now elderly composer wrote his second concerto. During the intervening years, Strauss had progressed in his composition techniques, actually changing the way music was written and orchestrated, and greatly increasing the size of the orchestra that would play it. His music is easily accessible to the listener, while being vastly difficult to play. (And, at times, getting the required number of musicians into the performing space is another good trick.)

(Actually, during a six week period between OperaCleveland’s April 20th opening of Salome through The Cleveland Orchestra’s final Der Rosenkavalier on June 9, area musical afficianados can hear a great number of Strauss works: Don Quixote, Til Eilenspiegel, and others in various venues.) It’s very nearly nirvana for the Straussians among us.

But about tomorrow night. Although the conductor, Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will be making his Severance Hall debut, he has conducted at Blossom. But Mr. Järvi also attended The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, as did Rich King. There was a bit of overlap in their years there, even if they didn’t become exactly well-acquainted. In addition to Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, the aforementioned Strauss Horn Concerto No. 2 will be performed by the Orchestra for the first time as well. The program opens with Night Ride and Sunrise, Op. 55 of Sibelius.

Being naturally curious, I asked Rich the age-old question: “who’s the boss when there’s a concerto soloist? The conductor or the soloist?” He responded promptly with a reasonable and diplomatic philosophy. “If I’m going to play something 100 times during my career, they don’t all have to be the same. I think that probably every point of view has some valididity, and I’m certainly willing to listen to an opinion that differs from mine. That’s the great thing about this orchestra—we’re very democratic, especially the horn section.” He laughed and added, “Now, chamber music is different. It’s always open to debate. Hopefully it gets settled before the battle starts.”

From growing up on Long Island, Rich went to the Juilliard School (pre-college division) for one year, before being accepted at Curtis. There, his main teacher was Myron Bloom, former principal horn in the Cleveland Orchestra during the George Szell years. A bond formed between the two horn players, bringing an extra degree of poignancy to the fact that Rich King occupies the George Szell Memorial Chair. The significance is not lost on the younger man. “It’s an honor,” he says, sincerely. “I just met the family that endowed the chair. They wanted to give to the orchestra, but not in their own name, necessarily, and having been very appreciative of what George Szell did for us, they decided to make their contribution in his name. It’s definitely something to live up to.”

In addition to his orchestral playing, Rich is a member of the Center City Brass Quintet, along with Steven Witser of Cleveland, Geoffrey Hardcastle of Buffalo, Craig Knox of Pittsburgh and Anthony DiLorenzo now of Salt Lake City. Last summer they went to Tokyo where they performed a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra composed for them by DiLorenzo, who is also a fairly well-known film composer. While there, they all gave master classes, another aspect of Rich’s life that he especially likes—teaching.

Here, in his hometown, he teaches at Cleveland Institute of Music and at Kent/Blossom Music. “I’m liking it more and more. People who are dedicated are really fun to teach. They work hard and they really get it,” he says with a big smile. Of course, he was fortunate to know at a very young age that music would be his career. “I wasn’t really into sports, or anything else either, just music.”

That isn’t quite true any more, however, as he is a faithful runner and competitor in triathlons (the varying length competitions that consist of run, swim and bike.) “If not that, then just regular running races. I do between five and ten a year, usually. I’m slow, but I love it!” he adds, laughing. “It’s great, because it’s not pressure packed or job related. A good stress reliever.” He’s been known to ride the bicycle between his home in Cleveland Heights and Blossom, but carefully, and always wearing a helmet.

Or, maybe he’ll drive his summertime special—a light blue 1965 Chevy Malibu convertible with a white top. “It’s a perfect summer car.” Although he built the engine from scratch with the help of several orchestra buddies, Rich does not claim to be a mechanic. “Actually, I fix it from working,” he says. “We were doing the engine swap the week before our son Charlie was born four years ago, and I kept checking with my wife, Julie, to see how things were going. I told the guys that if I had to leave they should just go ahead and finish it all up anyway.”

Fortunately, Julie’s timing was excellent, and Charlie waited for the car to be finished before making his appearance. Last year, Amelia was added to the family. Julie is a cellist in several local orchestras—Akron Symphony, Red {an orchestra}, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and occasionally, that of OperaCleveland. Juggling the two children and practice sessions along with playing keeps both parents busy. But happy.

Rich is quick to say that his position in the Cleveland Orchestra has opened doors for him. In addition to the diverse orchestral repertoire experienced here, he is also able to play in summer festivals here and there, and perform the occasional concerto. “Variety is important,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to December, when I’ll be playing with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, in a concerto they commissioned for me from a good friend, John Kennedy who lives in Santa Fe. This is the first time that a horn concerto has been written with me in mind, and it’s a great honor.”

Liza Grossman, founder and music director of Cleveland’s CYO says of King, “Having the opportunity to work with one of the greatest musicians of our time is incredible. Richard King is the type of musician that would be brilliant on any instrument that he chose to play—he has that kind of talent. He premiered a concerto with his wife, Julie King (a cellist) with CYO in 1999. (From Your Shadow's Eye by P. Kellach Waddle.) He is a close friend and it is exciting to have him back on many obvious levels, but to share the growth of CYO with him both personally and professionally is quite meaningful to me. It is going to be a spectacular life experience. It will also be our 50th world premiere.” (This concert will be Saturday, December 15th at CSU, Waetjen Auditorium.)

As to his musical accuracy (not so easy on the horn, believe me) Rich says he has ‘pretty good relative pitch, but not perfect pitch.’ He hears the note in his head before he plays it, and finds the constant transposition necessary for this instrument just comes automatically after all these years. It puzzled him at first, as it does all students of the horn. (Historically, about half the orchestrations or arrangements of orchestral music were done with the horns in various keys. The first horns were valveless hunting horns, but as they became more desireable for orchestras, more tubing was added to add more notes. Most horns came with a set of removable ‘crooks’ or extra piece of tubing in a particular configuration, which made for more key selections.

If the music was written in the key of C, the player used the C crook. If it was in G, the G crook was used. The natural key for horn is usually either F or Bflat, although sometimes it was in C. Confused? Join the poor horn player! Blessings on the one who invented valves! Even so, transposition is still a fact of life for hornists everywhere.)

While Rich thinks that Mozart was the greatest composer ever, and perhaps the best for the listener, Richard Strauss gets the nod for being the most rewarding for the performer. “It’s the most challenging, that’s for sure. And not just for the horns. I think every orchestral musician would say the same thing. Strauss just wrote really well for every instrument in the orchestra. You can’t do an audition without playing something by him.”

He’s been practicing this concerto, diligently. “Every day since January, I think I’ve played through it at least once.” He’s even had a pianist work with him on it, for a better idea of what it will be like with the full orchestra behind him. “Whatever,” he says with a grin, “I’m going to give it everything I’ve got!”

I wouldn’t miss it for the world! Neither should you. Performances will be Thursday and Saturday evenings plus Friday morning. For tickets or other information, call the Cleveland Orchestra ticket office at 216-231-1111, or visit the website: http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net
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