The English Horn is not English, and it's not a member of the brass family of instruments as the word "horn" might suggest. English Horn -- aka cor anglais -- is the alto member of the oboe family, with a deeper timbre.
Cally Banham is the English Horn player for the St. Louis Symphony, and she has a new album called TANGO TO THE COR. It features the group Cortango, made up of four of Cally Banham's colleagues in the St. Loius Symphony -- violinist Asako Kuboki, violist Chris Tantillo, cellist Melissa Brooks, and bassist David DeRiso -- as well as St. Louis based jazz artist and arranger Adam Maness.
The Tango, Classical and Jazz fusion concert and dance orchestra plays a program that includes music by Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger Astor Piazzolla, French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer, and actor Carlos Gardel, trailblazing Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky, and others. Today's Beautiful Music is a playlist of selections from TANGO TO THE COR, so put on your dancing shoes!
