I have many fond memories from my time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and among my favorites is Four Part Invention, a horn quartet made up of graduate students. Recently I was able to convert an old VHS recording of a quartet recital from the spring of 2004. I’m not sure of the exact date, but it was probably sometime during February. The video quality is not the best, but the audio comes through pretty clearly. I’m currently exploring more efficient ways to transfer from VHS to digital format, and I’ll post updates here as they become available.

We sound pretty good, and I remember putting in lots of hours for practice and rehearsals. In 2005 the quartet had the opportunity to record Falstaffiade, a work for four horns and solo tuba by Jan Koetsier. The recording was later released on the Summit Records CD Forbes Plays Koetsier.

In short, chamber music has long been a passion of mine, and I find it particularly fulfilling when all of the members of a group are working towards a common goal, whatever that may be.

Here are the videos. The performers on this recording are Lauren Robinson, Stacie Mickens, Ryan Sedgwick, and James Boldin.

Up first is the second movement of Paul Hindemith’s Sonata for Four Horns.

And next is the short quartet Hogwarts Forever, by John Williams.