The present compositions by horn player Carl Oestreich show that popularity is not always an indication of high-quality music. In return, unfamiliarity is not evidence to the contrary. Carl Wilhelm Eduard Oestreich was born on April 18, 1800 in the town of Spremberg in Lower Lusatia. He was the eldest son of Johann Carl Gottfried Oestreich, a town musician in Spremberg.
His musical training on the horn began around 1816 in Dresden with members of the Royal Court Orchestra. It is possible that the Haase brothers (August and Louis) from this orchestra became his teachers. He later dedicated a composition to these two. From 1820 he probably worked as a musician in the theater orchestra in Frankfurt (Main). Early evidence of this is an entry on a work for horn and orchestra.
On August 1, 1824, he registered in the muster book of the city of Frankfurt, where he stated his place and date of birth. In this document he was listed as a member of the local theater orchestra. On October 12, 1824, Oestreich married, but in his hometown of Spremberg. He was retired due to illness in 1832 and died in Frankfurt in 1840.
Oestreich must have been a successful horn player, as his work on compositions is quite extensive. These often include works for "seconde" horn, i.e. pieces in which the middle range of the horn is mainly used. However, very little of his work was printed. For example, 12 trios for 3 horns were published by the Frankfurt music publisher Dunst around 1830.
The present works for 3 and 4 horns are kept as a manuscript in the music department of the Frankfurt City and University Library. The horn quartets (Sign. Mus Hs 793) and horn trios (Mus Hs 791 & Mus Hs 792) are proof of Oestreich's joy in experimentation and extraordinary experience in dealing with the horn. These works were created at a time when the valve horn was gradually asserting itself against the valveless natural horn.
Although the valve instruments offered consistent chromaticism, they lost timbre and tone compared to the natural horn. However, some composers turned the supposed disadvantage of the stuffing tone technique, in which one can produce tones that are foreign to the natural tone by muffling the hand in the fall, into an advantage. As a result, minor key passages were presented more vividly and sensitively, and while strong tones appeared aggressive and penetrating in the forte, they did not dominate the volume of the orchestra. Schumann and especially Brahms therefore still preferred the natural horn and even regarded the valve horn as a “brass violin”.
It cannot be clearly proven whether Carl Oestreich's horn quartets and trios were intended for valve horn or natural horn. What is certain, however, is that Oestreich certainly knew the valve horn. An 1830 review of the 12 horn trios described them as "exceptionally difficult and certainly easier to play on the valve horn", suggesting that they were intended for the valve horn.
