With the autumn season already a little darker, this time the recommended works from the rental team shed light on some rather shorter works, some of which are for small ensembles and often focus on long and clear melodic lines. All the works are characterised by not being excessively difficult to perform, so that they are suitable for both professional orchestras and amateur ensembles.
Robert Schumann : Carnaval Op. 9 (Quatre fragments pour orchestre)
Orchestration by Maurice Ravel
2.2.2.2 - 2.0.0.0 - timb. - perc. - hpe –strings
11 min, 1914, Salabert
Maurice Ravel, an incredibly fine orchestrator with an excellent sense of sonic colour, has created a very delicate and balanced variation of Robert Schuman's well-known piano cycle ‘Carnaval’. The harp arpeggios, for example, repeatedly complement Schumann's original composition with incredible lightness and a fine, very French touch. Ravel has limited himself to the movements Preambule, Valse allemande, Paganini and the March of the Davidsbündler, creating a distilled orchestral adaptation lasting just over ten minutes, which is suitable both as an overture as well as an encore.
Enescu : Intermezzos Op. 12
For string orchestra
12 min, 1902-1903, Salabert
In this early work for string orchestra by Romanian composer Georges Enescu, grand melodic lines take centre stage. Both movements (labelled ‘Allègement’ and ‘Très lent’) develop a long arc of tension that explores emotional worlds ranging from rapturously enraptured to dramatically melancholic. In terms of the practical performance, there are no major difficulties; behind the melody lines, the other voices are mostly reduced to a light accompanying chordal background.
Oscar Fernandez : Batuque
2[1/pic.2/pic] 2[1.Eh] 2[1.bcl] 2[1.cbn]/4331/tmp -3perc - pf -str
1936, 5 min, Ricordi
The Brazilian composer Oscar Fernandez, founder of the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música in Rio de Janeiro, composed the three-movement suite ‘Reisado do Pastoreio’ in 1936. Its last movement, a ‘danse populaire afro-brésilienne’, quickly became so popular that it was eventually published individually by Ricordi. The piece is a classical encore, consisting of a single theme that undergoes an almost constant rapid build-up and ends in a brilliant fortissimo. A piece in which the percussion section is ultimately the centre of attention throughout.
Manuel De Falla: Homenajes
3.3.3.3 / 4.3.3.1. / Tp.Batt. Cel. A. / Archi
19 min, 1939, Ricordi
De Falla composed this later work from his exile in Argentina in 1939, even though some parts of the work already existed before then. The four homages, each with different quotations and compositional name references, are addressed to composers who were important and admired by de Falla: the first movement honours E. F. Arbos with a fanfare whose theme consists of the pitches of the notes resulting from the letters of his name: mi (e), fa (f), la (a), ré (d), si bémol (b flat), do (c), sol (g). While the instrumental focus in this movement is on the winds, the strings take centre stage in the second movement, dedicated to Claude Debussy and featuring a reference to his ‘Soirée dans Grenade’ from the ‘Estampes’. The Hommage à Paul Dukas quotes Dukas' Piano Sonata in E flat major from the same year. The last homage, ‘Pedrelliana’, which is dedicated to de Falla's teacher Felipe Pedrell, remains the most optimistic piece in terms of its underlying mood and gives the ‘Homenajes’ a very peaceful and positive ending.
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur : Symphonie de danses
For piano, percussion and string orchestra
26 min, 1958, Ricordi Paris
The last piece is a longer work by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, who is primarily known for his choral works, but whose orchestral works are very well suited for rediscovering due to their often great catchiness and few practical performance difficulties. The ‘Symphonie de Danses’ consists of ten movements, each named after a different dance genre. Almost all of the movements are musically developed from a small motivic core, which is what makes them so appealing. The compositional idea is often elaborated with a continuous rhythmic structure, sometimes with very lyrical melody lines, such as in the Pavane and the incredibly sad Sarabande.