Victor Ewald 27 November 1860 - 16 April 1935 Ewald was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments. He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. He also collected and published Russian folk songs. Ewald’s professional life, like that of many of his musical contemporaries, was in an entirely different field; that of a civil engineer, in which he excelled, being appointed in 1900 as professor and manager of the Faculty of Construction Materials at the Institute of Civil Engineers. Brass players however are indebted to him for something very different – a series of quintets which have become a staple of the repertoire and which represent almost the only, and certainly the most extended examples of original literature in the Romantic style. Ewald’s formal musical training began in 1872 when he enrolled at the St Petersburg Conservatory at the age of twelve. Founded in 1861 by Anton Rubenstein, this institution was the first of its kind in Russia and it was here that Ewald received lessons in cornet, piano, horn, cello, harmony and composition.As an adult he worked alongside fellow musical nationalists known collectively as the Mighty Handful—Borodin, Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and the most famous of all, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov. All of these men had “day jobs” in non-musical fields. Victor Ewald, whose work epitomized his deep affection for brass instruments, notably in his four celebrated brass quintets. Originally scored for two cornets, an alto horn, a baritone horn, and a tuba. In addition to his quintets, Ewald composed smaller works, including the Romance, Opus 2. Originally crafted for cello or viola and piano, this piece is a charming example of Ewald's melodic sensitivity and lyrical style.When arranged for horn in F and piano, the Romance reveals new dimensions, allowing the warm, resonant timbre of the horn to shine. This three-minute composition, structured in a classic A-B-A form, features a delightful lilt and elegant phrasing, capturing both grace and subtlety.