Con brio (Widmann)
{{Short description|Concert overture by Jörg Widmann}}
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{{Infobox musical composition
| name = Con brio
| type = Concert overture
| composer = Jörg Widmann
| image = Jörg Widmann (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = The composer in 2006
| translation =
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| key =
| catalogue =
| opus =
| genre =
| period = Contemporary
| form =
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| composed = 2008
| performed =
| published = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|2008}}|location=Mainz}}
| publisher = Schott Music
| movements =
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| first_recording = {{Start date|2008|09|25|df=y}}
| misc =
| duration = {{Duration|m=12}}
| premiere_date = {{Start date|2008|09|25|df=y}}
| premiere_location = Gasteig, Munich
| premiere_conductor = Mariss Jansons
| premiere_performers = Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Kaiser |first=Sybille |date=16 November 2015 |title=Ein Gespräch mit Jörg Widmann über sein Orchesterwerk "Con brio" |url=https://www.br-klassik.de/themen/klassik-entdecken/widmann-interview-con-brio-100.html |access-date=12 August 2018 |website=br-klassik.de |location=Munich |language=German}} The overture was composed in 2008. It was written in a "mad hurry".
Music
Widmann refers to musical characteristics of Beethoven’s 7th and 8th Symphonies.{{Cite news |last=Badelt |first=Udo |date=29 June 2016 |title=Beethoven und sein Klangschatten |language=German |work=Der Tagesspiegel |location=Berlin |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/andrs-schiff-zu-gast-bei-der-staatskapelle-beethoven-und-sein-klangschatten/13801056.html |access-date=12 August 2018}} There are no exact quotations from the symphonies, but he has chosen the same instrumentation.{{Cite news |last=Tommasini |first=Anthony |date=14 January 2011 |title=Beethoven's Varied Descendants |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/arts/music/15phil.html |access-date=18 August 2017}}{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=David |date=20 March 2020 |title=A Composer Finds the Old in the New |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/arts/music/jorg-widmann-carnei.html |access-date=20 March 2020}} According to Widmann, it is an exercise in fury and rhythmic insistence.{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Con brio |url=https://en.schott-music.com/shop/con-brio-no235622.html |access-date=12 August 2018 |website=Schott Music |location=Mainz |ismn=979-0-001-18691-9}} Fragmented motifs are fired between orchestra groups.{{cite web | title=Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra – Arcana.fm | website=Arcana.fm | date=9 August 2024 | url=https://arcana.fm/tag/helsinki-philharmonic-orchestra/ | access-date=10 August 2024}}
{{block indent|
\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
{{block indent|
\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
In a very small space, a sonata form is presented before the recurring material is arranged into a scherzo.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Jörg Widmann |encyclopedia=KDG Online |publisher=Komponisten der Gegenwart |last=Besthorn |first=Florian Henri |date=2019}} The overture is run through with Beethovenian riffs, flourishes and humor and is like a deconstruction of Beethoven. The piece, full of extended techniques, has a cut-and-paste structure. The timpani are in the focus from the beginning of the overture.
The metronome markings are deliberately selected at a fast speed. The score contains six dense pages of written instructions.
Instrumentation
Performances
Con brio was premiered by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons on 25 September 2008 in Munich, Gasteig, Philharmonie.
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". David Allen from The New York Times wrote: "One of the most performed orchestral works written this century".
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|gCQ0SzQEzSc|Widmann: Con brio ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Andrés Orozco-Estrada}}
{{Jörg Widmann}}
{{Portalbar|Classical Music}}
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Category:Compositions by Jörg Widmann
Category:21st-century classical music