Max Hess was a noted German horn

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

 player.

Hess studied with Friedrich Gumpert

Friedrich Gumpert

Friedrich Adolph Gumpert was a German horn player and teacher.Gumpert received his early musical education in Jena. From 1860 he was a horn player, first in Bad Nauheim, then in Halle...

 in Germany from 1896-99. He first played the hand horn before switching to the valved horn. From 1899-1905, he played with the Frankfurt Philharmonic, the Gürzenich Orchestra

Gürzenich Orchestra

The Gürzenich-Orchester Köln is a symphony orchestra based in Cologne, Germany. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker"...

 in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 (where he played in the premiere performance of Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...

's Fifth Symphony in 1904), and with the Liszt Society.

In 1905, Hess moved to the United States to play with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

, where he remained until 1925. He then joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

As the fifth oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall, recordings, and international tours...

, retiring in 1937. He spent the final years of his life in a nursing home near Boston, Massachusetts.