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.