1. Nocturne from Midsummer Night's Dream - Felix Mendelssohn arr. John Hutchinson
2. Palladio 1st Movement - Karl Jenkins arr. John Hutchinson
3. Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie arr. John Hutchinson
4. Pavane pour une enfante défunte - Maurice Ravel arr. John Hutchinson
5. Agnus Dei - J. S. Bach arr. John Hutchinson
6. Fear from Five Tango Sensations - Astor Piazzola arr. John Hutchinson
7. The Mission - Ennio Morricone arr. John Hutchinson
8. Somewhere - Leonard Bernstein arr. John Hutchinson
9. Pavane - Gabriel Fauré arr. John Hutchinson
10. When I am Laid in Earth - Henry Purcell arr. John Hutchinson

Midsummer is a beautifully crafted disc of popular tunes played by an outstanding musician. The French horn is a notoriously difficult instrument to master, but in the hands of Tim Thorpe it is made to sound easy. He has a quality to his sound which is very rare. It is sweet, sensitive, controlled and most importantly hugely musical. The clever arrangements by John Hutchinson are such that they allow Tim’s playing to shine through and show off his obvious solo playing talent, but also his natural artistic generosity as a chamber musician. Each track from this wonderfully well balanced disc has a special stand alone quality all of its own, and the choice of repertoire ranges from Karl Jenkins to Bach, but for me the stand out track is ‘Somewhere’ by Bernstein. Exquisite French horn playing, accompanied by fine live musicians, this one track alone is worth the price of this disc which has just raised the bar for all future French horn recordings.

This album represents a collection of pieces arranged by John Hutchinson for the hornist Tim Thorpe and a chamber ensemble consisting of a string quartet, double bass, clarinet, flute and harp. All members of the ensemble are principals and players of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Thorpe combines superb control and phrasing with a beautiful effortless quality of sound reminiscent of Hollywood’s finest Vince De Rosa. The choice of music is certainly commercial in the Classic FM smooth classics mould however the arrangements by John Hutchinson combine a traditional classical chamber music setting with a touch of dark chocolate. The playing from the chamber ensemble is excellent throughout and the arrangement of Agnus Dei gives Thorpe the chance to display his technical mastery of the horn which compliments the general melodic style of the album. This is not your standard horn recital or another horn ensemble disc. Thorpe has taken his own new direction in a crossover market which many people will enjoy for it’s honest simplicity and beauty.

Album Credits:
Horn - Tim Thorpe • Violins - Lesley Hatfield, Nick Whiting • Viola - Jimmy Drummond • Cello - Jessica Feaver • Bass - Chris Wescott • Clarinet - Robert Plane • Flute - Andrew Nicholson • Harp - Valerie Aldrich-Smith • Photo – Kate Barnard

Recorded by Prozone Music
Engineer - Tom Watson
Producer - John Hutchinson
Co Producers - Tom Watson, Tim Thorpe
Mixed and Mastered - Tom Watson, John Hutchinson
Recorded at Acapela studio Cardiff Jan/Feb ‘09 www.acapela.co.uk / www.kissan.co.uk
Mixed and Mastered at Prozone Music www.prozonemusic.com
Released in association with The Audio Concept www.theaudioconcept.com
With sincere thanks to Hywel Wigley and Catrin Finch @ Kissan productions.
Layout & Design by Tidy Ink