Con brio (Widmann)

Con brio is a concert overture by Jörg Widmann influenced by Beethoven. It is a commission by the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Con brio
Concert overture by Jörg Widmann
The composer in 2006
PeriodContemporary
Composed2008
Published2008 (2008): Mainz
PublisherSchott Music
Recorded25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)
Duration12:00[1]
Premiere
Date25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)
LocationGasteig, Munich
ConductorMariss Jansons
PerformersBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

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 Symphonies.[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] In a very small space, a sonata form is presented before the recurring material is arranged into a scherzo.[6] The overture is run through with Beethovenian riffs, flourishes and humor and is like a deconstruction of Beethoven.[5] The piece, full of extended techniques,[3] has a cut-and-paste structure.[5] The timpani are in the focus from the beginning of the overture.

\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \tempo "Più mosso sub." 4 = 152 \key c \major \time 4/4 \tuplet 3/2 { a8->-. a-. a-. } \tuplet 3/2 { c8( a) a-. } r2 }
Motif I
\relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \tempo 4 = 152 \key c \major \time 2/4 r4 \tuplet 3/2 { c8( d es) } \tuplet 3/2 { e8( d cis) } b4-- }
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
  1. "Con brio". Schott Music. Mainz. 2008. ISMN 979-0-001-18691-9. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  2. 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.
  3. Allen, David (20 March 2020). "A Composer Finds the Old in the New". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  4. Badelt, Udo (29 June 2016). "Beethoven und sein Klangschatten". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Berlin. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  5. Tommasini, Anthony (14 January 2011). "Beethoven's Varied Descendants". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. Besthorn, Florian Henri (2019). "Jörg Widmann". KDG Online. Komponisten der Gegenwart.
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