Photo by Monie de Wit.

George Gelles has been playing French horn since he was a child. From 1986 to 2000, he was executive director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco.

Photo by Monie de Wit.

 

Gordon Jacob 

Sextet for Piano and Winds

Cyrus Ginwala, piano

Justin Lee, flute

Fred Fox, oboe

Peter Weinberg, clarinet

George Gelles, horn

Tom Hill, bassoon

Recorded at San Francisco State University 

Winter, 2012

Jacques François Gallay

La Saint Hubert: 6 Fanfares en Trios, sur des mélodies favorites 

George Gelles, horn

Recorded at Santa Barbara Sound Design

August, 2024

Brahms Horn Trio, Opus 40

George Gelles, horn; Edwin Huizinga, violin; Ian Scarf, piano

Recorded at Santa Barbara Sound Design

November 16 and 17, 2013

Carl Nielsen, Wind Quintet, Opus 43

Karl Kraber, flute; Fred Fox, oboe, Peter Weinberg, clarinet;

George Gelles, horn; Georgeanne Banker, bassoon

Recorded at Santa Barbara Sound Design,

June 21 and 22, 2013   

Eight by Gallay 

These performances are less a product of professional expertise and more reflective of the aspirational art of the avocational musician. In the constellation of virtuoso hornists in early 19th century Paris — Frédéric Duvernoy, Heinrich Domnich, and Louis-François Dauprat, among them — Jacques-François Gallay (1795-1864) shone brightest. A superstar performer and pedagogue nonpareil, he also was a composer of fertile gifts. Largely ignored by modern-day hornists, these brief pieces are nonetheless engaging, and though their charms might be modest, they are undeniably real.

Mr. Gelles plays a Kruspe pre-WWI ‘Horner’ model double horn.

Recorded at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Albany, CA, in January 2020.

Recording engineer-producer was Mark Lemaire.