My Melodies
Music for 8 Horns and Orchestra
[8hn,orch] 2016–18/2019/2023 duration: 40' 4(3[4]picc.A-fl.Bb-fl).4.4.4 – 8.4.4.2 – perc(8) – 2hp.2E-guit – 2pno – str: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Description
I always have to do what I cannot do. And the story with the eight horns is simple: During the rehearsals of my opera “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” (The Little Match Girl), which also includes eight horns, a partial rehearsal was held with the horn players only. And that sounded so beautiful – more beautiful than the whole opera. I then thought: This is a new device! There are no soloists in the classical sense, where each one plays a virtuoso figure or the like. These eight – they are one instrument. It’s not about new sounds, it’s about new listening. But in order to set the antennas to this energy of listening, I had to suspend the view on the melody first. That was a reason to avoid the ‘melodious’ or at least to keep it totally in check. Now everyone is waiting for a melody and, of course, I am going to disappoint them all.
My Melodies are exactly not ‘my melodies’ – they don’t exist – but Frank Sinatra sends his regards: They convey ‘my way’ of melodies in the creative handling of the sounding means.
(Helmut Lachenmann, 2018)
MM 2335336
hire material
Description
Description
I always have to do what I cannot do. And the story with the eight horns is simple: During the rehearsals of my opera “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” (The Little Match Girl), which also includes eight horns, a partial rehearsal was held with the horn players only. And that sounded so beautiful – more beautiful than the whole opera. I then thought: This is a new device! There are no soloists in the classical sense, where each one plays a virtuoso figure or the like. These eight – they are one instrument. It’s not about new sounds, it’s about new listening. But in order to set the antennas to this energy of listening, I had to suspend the view on the melody first. That was a reason to avoid the ‘melodious’ or at least to keep it totally in check. Now everyone is waiting for a melody and, of course, I am going to disappoint them all.
My Melodies are exactly not ‘my melodies’ – they don’t exist – but Frank Sinatra sends his regards: They convey ‘my way’ of melodies in the creative handling of the sounding means.
(Helmut Lachenmann, 2018)
World premiere
World premiere: Munich, Herkulessaal der Residenz, June 7, 2018
World premiere of the version 2023: Munich, Herkulessaal der Residenz, June 23, 2023
Commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk, with kind support
from Freunde des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Bibliography
Ich bin nicht „pietistisch verformt“. Ein Gespräch [von Jan Brachmann] mit dem Komponisten Helmut Lachenmann, in: FAZ vom 7. Juni 2018, pp. 15.
Nonnenmann, Rainer: Ein Buch mit acht Hörnern. Helmut Lachenmanns neues Orchesterwerk „My Melodies“, in: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 179 (2018), Heft 4, S. 40-43
Stenzl, Jürg: Immer wieder ein Neubeginn. Helmut Lachenmanns „My Melodies“ in München, in: MusikTexte, Heft 158 (August 2018), S. 83f