The problem with many shorter pieces with relatively large instrumentation is often that they alone are not sufficient as the thematic focus of a concert programme and therefore, from a pragmatic programme planner's point of view, they need to be easily combined with larger works. Five works are presented below. Each of them presents very different thematic anchor points for a programme, but their musical conception is so open that the most diverse points of contact can arise.
César Franck : Le chasseur maudit. Symphonic poem based on la Ballade de Bürger
3.2.2.4. / 4.2.Crnt.2.3.1./Tp.Batt.Cmp./Archi
1882, ca. 13 min
César Franck composed his Le Chasseur maudit based on a literary model by Gottfried August Bürger ("Der wilde Jäger"), whose musical esprit is reminiscent of Hector Berlioz' "Songe d'une nuit de sabbat" from his Symphonie Fantastique in some places. Thematically taking up the myth of the "wild hunt" ("chasse fantastique" or "chasse aérienne"), it is about the blasphemous hunt on Sunday, the day of rest, which results in the demonic punishment of the hunter. A concise hunting horn melody and an almost continuous syncopated rhythm characterise this work monothematically, so that despite its brevity, it remains succinctly in the memory of both the player and the listener.
Maurice Delage: Bateau Ivre
2 / 2 / 2 / 2 — 4 / 2 / 3 / 1 — timb. - 2 perc. - pno - hpe — strings
1954, ca. 12 min
This work is also a setting of a literary model - this time the well-known symbolist poem of the same name by Arthur Rimbaud, which describes the "life" of a ship from its maiden voyage to its sinking. Musically, a very homogeneous tone colour prevails, low winds dominate, while ascending and descending wave-like, partly chromatic, partly diatonic lines alternate with very small interval leaps in a very natural and picturesque way. Delage adheres to the literary model down to the smallest detail in the musical progression - a pleasure for music analysts to trace the respective references in Rimbaud's poem.
Jeanne Demessieux: Poème, op. 9
3 / 3 / 3 / 3 — 4 / 2 / 3 / 1 — timb. - perc. - hpe — strings (divided)
1949, ca. 11 min
Jeanne Demessieux is one of the composers of a generation in the middle of the 20th century whose works, after having been almost completely forgotten, are now quite rightly finding their way more and more into the repertoire. In her Poème for orchestra and organ, Demessieux, who is primarily committed to the instrument of the organ, conjures up dramatic cascades of sound which, after a pianissimo beginning, spiral upwards through the registers in several attempts - accompanied by radiant melodic interjections from the winds and a late-romantic string setting. Radiant brass chords provide a glorious finale at the end.
Alejandro García Caturla: Trois Danses Cubaines
3 / 3 / 3 / 2 — 4 / 3 / 3 / 1 — timb. - 2 perc. - pno - cél. - hpe — strings
1927, ca. 10 min
Alejandro García Caturla is regarded as one of the leading personalities of Afro-Cubanismo, a musical style that combines elements of the different musical cultures prevalent in Cuba and, above all, integrates the cultural heritage of the Afro-Cuban population into traditional European classical music. Due to their brevity, the Trois Danses Cubaines are ideal as encores or last pieces of a concert programme. No. 1 ("Danza del Tambor") and No. 3 ("Danza lucumi") in particular form rhythmically and harmonically intoxicating miniatures that are almost immediately over before the complex musical events have been fully grasped. No. 2 ("Motives de Danzas") forms a somewhat more detailed counterpoint to this, with some thoroughly lyrical moments - a solo violin repeatedly sets melodic accents. A very dense work in which there are many musical details to discover despite its brevity - Again!
Milhaud: Fantaisie Pastorale, Op. 188
For piano and orchestra
1.1.1.1 - 1.1.1.1 - perc. - hpe - strings
1938, ca. 10 min
Although this work by Milhaud only has a relatively small instrumentation, it requires a solo piano and should therefore ideally be combined with another piano concerto, as it has a very short duration of just under 10 minutes - possibly the reason why it has unfortunately not appeared so often in the concert repertoire to date. With the fiftieth anniversary of Milhaud's death being celebrated this year, the opportunities are likely to multiply. Milhaud's very specific polytonality is also predominant here, but an almost chamber music-like dialogue between the solo piano and occasional orchestral interludes prevails over long stretches, within which a wide variety of very "homely" moods are evoked. A very delicate, lyrical and playful gem by Milhaud's standards.