Con brio (Widmann)
Con brio | |
---|---|
Concert overture by Jörg Widmann | |
![]() The composer in 2006 | |
Period | Contemporary |
Composed | 2008 |
Published | 2008 |
Publisher | Schott Music |
Recorded | 25 September 2008 |
Duration | 12:00[1] |
Premiere | |
Date | 25 September 2008 |
Location | Gasteig, Munich |
Conductor | Mariss Jansons |
Con brio is a concert overture by Jörg Widmann influenced by Beethoven. It is a commission by the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
History
Mariss Jansons said, that the new piece should be performed along with a pure Beethoven program.[2] The overture was composed in 2008.[1] It was written in a "mad hurry".[3]
Music
Widmann refers to musical characteristics of Beethoven’s 7th and 8th Symphony.[1][4] There are no exact quotations from the symphonies, but he has chosen the same instrumentation.[5][3] According to Widmann, it is an exercise in fury and rhythmic insistence.[1] The overture is run through with Beethovenian riffs, flourishes and humor and is like a deconstruction of Beethoven.[5] The piece has a cut-and-paste structure.[5] The timpani are in the focus from the beginning of the overture.
- Motif I
- Motif II
The metronome markings are deliberately selected at a fast speed.[1] The score contains six dense pages of written instructions.[3]
Instrumentation
The concert overture is scored for 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B, timpani, and strings.[1]
Performances
Con brio was premiered by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons on 25 September 2008 in Munich, Gasteig, Philharmonie.[1]
Recordings
- Con brio (with Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 & 8), Mariss Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BR-Klassik 2015) OCLC 1017093816
Reception
Anthony Tommasini from The New York Times wrote: "effective as a warm-up".[5] David Allen from The New York Times wrote: "One of the most performed orchestral works written this century".[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Con brio". Schott Music. Mainz. 2008. ISMN 979-0-001-18691-9. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Kaiser, Sybille (16 November 2015). "Ein Gespräch mit Jörg Widmann über sein Orchesterwerk "Con brio"". br-klassik.de (in German). Munich. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d Allen, David (20 March 2020). "A Composer Finds the Old in the New". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Badelt, Udo (29 June 2016). "Beethoven und sein Klangschatten". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Berlin. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d Tommasini, Anthony (14 January 2011). "Beethoven's Varied Descendants". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 18 August 2017.