Paul Basler’s Folk Songs for Horn and Piano (1995-1996) illustrate his compositional prowess, give horn players the opportunity to perform arrangements of great melodies from around the world, and are the perfect vehicle for teaching numerous musical and rhythmic concepts. 1  The set consists of seven folk songs from different nations, with the difficulty ranging from easy to moderately difficult.

While compiled and published in a set, any of the folk songs may be extracted and performed as a separate, complete work.  This set of folk songs is an audience-friendly work that is also kind to the performer’s endurance.  When separated out, Alegría, Hills of Arirang, and Shenandoah are all church-venue appropriate, while Funiculì, Funiculà and The Drunken Sailor are crowd-pleasing encores.