For every concert in our Southbank Centre series, we ask one of our players to write a little note for audience members to read as they leave the concert hall. Here’s what our Horn player, Martin Lawrence, wrote about performing Schumann’s Konzertstück for 4 horns, as part of our concert with Sir András Schiff on Monday 18 March 2019 at Royal Festival Hall.

‘The Schumann Konzertstück is one of the most demanding pieces in the horn repertoire.

As such, it has gained notoriety and in status above what it actually is – an exciting and beautiful piece of music. For horn players it has become something else – a measure of virtuosity or even machismo (my colleague Gavin refers to it as the Schumann Come-unstück!). It has been a pleasure rehearsing it with three of my oldest friends and colleagues, appreciating each other’s qualities and welcoming our differences rather than producing a standardised version of the piece.”