Jozsef Molnar, the Alpine horn enthusiast
Following the death of horn player Jozsef Molnar on February 24, 2022 in Ollon, the Music Archives department has received new documents to complete the collection created in his name in 2019. Part of this collection has recently been classified and placed in acid-free boxes. This is the sheet music collection, comprising 350 documents for cor des alpes and 200 for cor d’harmonie. They mainly comprise etudes, chamber music, music for wind band or fanfare, and concertos. The collection also contains numerous transcriptions, particularly for the alphorn. There are also orchestral materials and reductions, as well as collections. The alphorn library in particular is unique and extensive (from small works for teaching purposes to concertos for alphorn and symphony orchestra). The French horn library includes numerous copies of rare works found in Eastern European libraries, arrangements and transcriptions, and editions of out-of-print works.
What is striking about this collection is the number of handwritten copies and the care taken with the handwriting. According to the horn player’s wife, Maryse Zeiter, the majority of these copies were made by copyists in Hungary, Jozsef Molnar’s homeland. Others are by the composer himself.
The collection reveals a rarely-performed repertoire, for both amateur and professional musicians, often written for unusual formations.
Jozsef Molnar played with the Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne for thirty-eight years, from 1958 until his retirement in 1996, and until then taught horn at the Lausanne Conservatoire. He is therefore well introduced to the Swiss musical scene. He discovered the alphorn in 1960, became fascinated by the instrument and devoted more and more time to it. His compositions for alphorn are numerous, and there are countless works dedicated to the instrument. Swiss composers are well represented in this repertoire, particularly Jean Daetwyler, Etienne Isoz, Emile Ristori, Gottfried Aegler and Hans-Jürg Sommer.
To find out more about Jozsef Molnar, whose collection can be consulted by appointment in the Music Archives section, please visit the Patrinum database. You’ll find a list of scores, and if you’re interested in any of them, you can request their digitization. The collection is currently being catalogued.
