violin, two horns, and string orchestra
In Corale (Chemins VI) the obvious and hidden aspects of my Sequenza VIII are expanded and developed through the use of solo violin, a string orchestra and two horns. The solo violin part in Corale is mainly based on Sequenza VIII. Built around two constantly sounding notes, I describe Corale as “quasi una passacaglia.” The two notes (A and B) function as a limit during the very diverse and carefully-worked-out course of the piece, often displaying a pronounced regularity of expression characterized by exuberant melodic and polyphonic growth and extreme accelerations.
While all my other Sequenzas are primarily developments of the specific characteristics of an instrument, Sequenza VIII—and with it Corale—deals with a broader, more extensive, and historic view of the instrument. The composition of this work was a personal tribute to the violin, which I have always regarded as the most subtle and complex of instruments. I studied the violin when I was learning the piano and before I began the clarinet (my father wanted me to learn all the instruments), and I have always held a special affection for this instrument, perhaps mixed with somewhat painful feelings (probably because I first began my violin studies far too late—at age thirteen). The harmonic changes of the orchestra are generated by the soloist: they reveal and constantly renew the picture of the soloist, who appears in the mirror of his own inner harmonic life. Corale, written in 1981, is dedicated to Maja and Paul Sacher.
oeuvre@21699 generated in Montréal by litk 0.600 on Tuesday,
November 29, 2011. Development & maintenance: DIM.