Rookh Horn Quartet

Following their performance at The Night With… festival in 2023, Scotland’s Rookh Quartet is bringing an eclectic program on tour, showcasing contemporary horn quartet works that push the boundaries of the instrument’s potential. This program features a range of composers, including Alisson Kruusmaa’s Three Night Songs commissioned by use for the 2023 Festival.

The Rookh Quartet began life in 2017 when four of Scotland’s horn players decided to get together regularly to explore – and expand – the horn quartet repertoire. The original plan did not involve doing any concerts – the idea was to get together regularly, to enjoy playing chamber music. This changed when the University of Glasgow offered the Rookh Quartet a lunchtime concert, and the group has since gone on to play in venues and festivals that include The Cathedral of the Isles, soundfestival, Orkney’s St Magnus Festival, and Dunfermline Chamber Music Society, as well as joining other players from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera for an online event to promote the Covid-19 vaccine take-up internationally.

The first concert also gave the group their name, as they gave the first performance of Jane Stanley’s Lalla Rookh, for natural horn, 2 horns, and narrator. The piece is based on a letter written by a former University of Glasgow staff member and amateur horn player, William Thomson (aka Lord Kelvin). The letter was written as he was anchored in the harbour of Funchal, Madeira, on board the Lalla Rookh. His natural horn can be found in the University’s Hunterian Museum.