Favourite of Louis-Phiilppe Marsolais - Principal Horn of the OM

The coup de coeur of Louis-Philippe Marsolais

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1

My first encounter with the work…
At around age 15, when I was beginning to develop an interest in symphonic music, a horn-playing friend suggested I check out this symphony. When I finished listening to it – it’s about an hour long – I started over again from the beginning at least five times.

First, the third movement with its “Frère Jacques” melody in a minor key, was so cool, especially since it was accompanied by music you might that sounds like it came from a Jewish wedding. I remember hearing a live performance of the work for the first time a year or two later. When the horn section stood for the last minute – it’s written in the score! – I can still recall the wave of sound that washed over me.

My favourite passage:
I’ve played the work several times in the years since and I always get the same feeling at the end. So I’d say the last four or five minutes are my favourite part of the work, beginning at the start of last big crescendo.

My favourite recording:
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam) conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

One of Canada’s most active horn soloists, Montreal-based Louis-Philippe Marsolais splits his musical life between solo, chamber music and orchestral performances. He has appeared on stages around the world for more than 15 years.

His career took off in 2005, when he won three prizes at the prestigious ARD Competition in Munich. He has also won awards at other international competitions, including Geneva, Trévoux and Rovereto. In the years since, he has performed with most Canadian orchestras, on tour in the United States and throughout Europe.

Louis-Philippe has been principal horn of the Orchestre Métropolitain since 2009. He frequently performs with Les Violons du Roy and I Musici de Montréal chamber orchestra. He is also very active as a chamber musician. With the Pentaèdre wind quintet, which he has been part of since 2003, he has performed across Canada and in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Louis-Philippe is a horn professor at the music faculty of the Université de Montréal. He also teaches at the Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy and has been a member of the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society since 2015.

Louis-Philippe Marsolais

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 1 in D major "Titan" 2/2

Mahler: Symphony No.1 - Bernstein - IV 2/2