Serenata & Fils

April 9. 2011
Sibelius Hall, Lahti

Program:

Carl Nielsen (1865 – 1931): Serenata in Vano (cl, bsn, cor, vcl, db)

Allegro non troppo ma brioso

Poco lento tranquillo é dolce

Tempo di marcia

Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949) /arr. Franz Hasenöhrl (1885-1970)

Till Eulenspiegel Einmal Anders! (cl, bsn, cor, vln, db)

Grotesque musicale

 -

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827): Septet in Eb major, Op. 20 (cl, bsn, cor, vln, vla, vcl, db)

Adagio - Allegro con brio

Adagio cantabile

Tempo di minuetto

Tema con variazioni: Andante

Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace

Andante con moto alla marcia - Presto

Sound theme

At the heart of the second concert of my series was Beethoven's idea of combining strings with clarinet, bassoon and horn, "the holy trinity" of the wind instruments from that time on, especially in chamber music. The fact that the clarinet was a rather new instrument shows that Beethoven took it into his sound world unprejudiced (with the help of Mozart's pioneering compositions). This sound world had a profound impact on European classical music. The overtone structure of clarinet's sound filled the gap between oboe and bassoon in orchestral woodwind instrumentation and created a new, rich ring, which obviously pleased Beethoven.  Combining clarinet with the other wind instruments and furthermore with strings gave a new direction to the sound of ensembles and orchestra.

Therefore, Septet in E flat was an obvious choice for this concert series. The piece gives the bass player a delightful opportunity to create a profound basis for a rich ring of the magnificent orchestral ensemble. Once that choice was made, the two other works on the program came of their own accord; Nielsen's Serenata in Vano and Till Eulenspiegel Einmal Anders by Strauss/Hasenöhrl give delightfully different viewpoints on the combination of clarinet, bassoon and horn with strings. Interestingly, the two quintets and the septet all manage to present the unique orchestral texture and distinctive sound of each composer.