A PERFORMER’S GUIDE TO THE ORIGINAL WORKS FOR SOLO HORN, HORN AND PIANO, TWO HORNS, AND TWO HORNS AND PIANO BY PAUL BASLER

The horn music of Paul Basler, while extremely popular and widely recognized, is relatively unexplored in academia. Basler’s experiences have led him all over the world from Wisconsin, Florida, and New York to Kenya and the Dominican Republic. Because of Basler’s variety of experiences, his music encompasses many styles and media. This document focuses on the life and influences of Paul Basler as a composer for the horn as the featured instrument. It provides a historical context for each of his original pieces for solo horn, horn and piano, two horns, and two horns and piano. Also present is a performer’s guide that catalogues each piece’s difficulty, highest and lowest notes, duration, instrumentation, technical and ensemble issues, and extended techniques. Several interviews with Paul Basler, Michelle Stebleton, and Thomas Bacon were conducted via email and are included in the appendix with a complete list of his compositional output for horn. Adviser: Alan F. Mattingly