Description
The work was composed for the 1984 Rhineland Music Festival. The seven short individual movements are arranged in suite form. At the center of the cycle are the two meditations, which proceed without a fixed meter, in a calm tempo (bells, cymbals) and are structured as static or aleatoric sound surfaces; they form a contrast to the other, predominantly rhythmic, lively movements.
A concise, multi-layered overture opens the cycle. The “Glasperlenspiel” is based on a constantly repeated series of figures in various groups (duplets, triplets, quintuplets) – introduced and concluded by an expressive recitative. A xylophone solo structures the ostinato “Intermezzo,” in which concise motifs are imitatively superimposed and constantly intensified.
In “Ricordo nostalgico” (Memory), echoes of the “Golden Twenties” can be heard. The “Sinfonia piccola” concludes the entertaining portrait suite as a humorous and thoughtful finale.
All pieces are conceived as “soloistic”; each individually follows a typical (mostly symmetrical) formal principle and is characterized by a specific sound constellation.
The richly staffed percussion battery is complemented by celesta and one or two bass instruments (double bass, bass clarinet, bassoon ad lib.).
(Jürg Baur)
MM 2304129
hire material
Description
The work was composed for the 1984 Rhineland Music Festival. The seven short individual movements are arranged in suite form. At the center of the cycle are the two meditations, which proceed without a fixed meter, in a calm tempo (bells, cymbals) and are structured as static or aleatoric sound surfaces; they form a contrast to the other, predominantly rhythmic, lively movements.
A concise, multi-layered overture opens the cycle. The “Glasperlenspiel” is based on a constantly repeated series of figures in various groups (duplets, triplets, quintuplets) – introduced and concluded by an expressive recitative. A xylophone solo structures the ostinato “Intermezzo,” in which concise motifs are imitatively superimposed and constantly intensified.
In “Ricordo nostalgico” (Memory), echoes of the “Golden Twenties” can be heard. The “Sinfonia piccola” concludes the entertaining portrait suite as a humorous and thoughtful finale.
All pieces are conceived as “soloistic”; each individually follows a typical (mostly symmetrical) formal principle and is characterized by a specific sound constellation.
The richly staffed percussion battery is complemented by celesta and one or two bass instruments (double bass, bass clarinet, bassoon ad lib.).
(Jürg Baur)
Table of contents
| 1. | Overture |
| 2. | Glasperlenspiel |
| 3. | Ricordo nostalgico |
| 4. | Meditazione prima |
| 5. | Intermezzo |
| 6. | Meditazione seconda |
| 7. | Sinfonia piccola |
World premiere
World premiere: Düsseldorf (Rheinisches Musikfest), June 16, 1984
Bibliography
Discography
Percussion Ensemble of the Cologne University of Music, cond. Christoph Caskel
LP Schwann SCW 3060