Hamburg Concerto for solo horn

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

 and chamber orchestra with 4 obbligato

Obbligato

In classical music obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified...

 natural horns

Natural horn

The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the ancestor of the modern-day horn, and is differentiated by its lack of valves. It consists of a mouthpiece, some long coiled tubing, and a large flared bell. Pitch changes are made through a few different techniques:* Modulating the lip tension as...

 is one of György Ligeti

György Ligeti

György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...

's last works, composed in 1998-99 and revised in 2003.

The work was commissioned by the ZEIT-foundation, expressing the special wish that it should be associated with the city of Hamburg. It is dedicated to the German horn player Marie Luise Neunecker

Marie Luise Neunecker

Marie Luise Neunecker is a German hornplayer and a professor of French horn.- Professional career :Neunecker studied musicology and German studies....

, who premiered the original six movements with the Asko Ensemble

Asko Ensemble

Asko Ensemble is a Dutch chamber orchestra that specializes in contemporary classical music. Formed in 1965 and based in Amsterdam, the group performs traditional concerts along with film music programmes, dance and multimedia projects and modern opera....

 in January 2001 in Hamburg (the place of the premiere being another special wish from the ZEIT-foundation).

The final revision is cast in seven movements:

1. Praeludium
2. Signale, Tanz, Choral
3. Aria, Aksak, Hoketus
4. Solo, Intermezzo, Mixtur, Kanon
5. Spectra
6. Capriccio
7. Hymnus

György Ligeti wrote about his work:

In this piece I experimented with very unusual non-harmonic sound spectra. In the small orchestra there are four natural horns, each of which can produce the 2nd to the 16th overtone. By providing each horn or group of horns with different fundamentals I was able to construct novel sound spectra from the resulting overtones. These harmonies, which had never been used before, sound "weird" in relation to harmonic spectra. I developed both "weird" consonant and dissonant harmonies, with complex beats. Horns blend very well together, and to enrich the sound further, the two clarinettists play basset horns. Even though it is replete with spectra of strange beats, the resulting overall sound is soft and mellow.

The name of the work was chosen in analogy to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos

Brandenburg concertos

The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...

(Brandenburgische Konzerte), Ligeti saw the naming as a dedication:

The ”ZEIT“ foundation which commissioned the work had the special wish that the World Première should take place in Hamburg and the movement titles also be associated with the city. I thought to myself: Bach dedicated his wellknown six Concerti grossi to the Margrave of Brandenburg – why should I not dedicate my horn concerto to the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg?

External links

Study score published by Schott Musik International, Mainz, Germany