Oscar Franz Sheet Music
- Born: 30th December 1843
- Died: 1886
- Birthplace: Germany
Oscar Franz was one of the most prominent teachers and performers of the horn in the late nineteenth century. Franz spent most of his career in Dresden, where he taught at the Dresden Conservatory [Pizka, 134, and Morley-Pegge, 166. There is a surprising almost total lack of modern biographical information on Oscar Franz]. Franz was well respected in his time, and it is to him that Richard Strauss (1864-1949) dedicated the orchestral score of his Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 (1883) [Johnson, 59. The original piano reduction, prepared by Richard Strauss, is however dedicated to his father, Franz Strauss]. Oscar Franz wrote a number of teaching materials for the horn. His Grosse theoretisch-practische Waldhorn-Schule [Complete Theoretical and Practical Horn Method] was first published around 1880. In this method Franz put forth many of his ideas for performing on the horn. Franz opened his method, as had Kling, with exercises for the open natural horn. The hand horn is introduced soon afterward with the following advice, which hornists of any period would be wise to follow.