Partita
Partita by Jörg Widmann
The composer in 2006
PeriodContemporary
Composed2017–2018
Published2018 (2018): Mainz
PublisherSchott Music
Duration36:00[1]
Premiere
Date8 March 2018 (2018-03-08)
LocationGewandhaus, Leipzig
ConductorAndris Nelsons
PerformersLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Partita, five reminiscences for large orchestra is a collection of musical pieces by Jörg Widmann. It was written for the 275th anniversary of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 2018.[2]

History

Widmann was appointed for the season 2017–2018 as the first Gewandhauskomponist (Gewandhaus composer). Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra commissioned Partita in 2015 as part of the collaboration between both orchestras.[3][4] The work was composed from 2017 to 2018 for the 275th anniversary of the Gewandhaus Orchestra.[1]

Structure

The five reminiscences, a partita, are:

  1. Grave – Gigue
  2. Andante
  3. Divertimento
  4. Sarabande
  5. Chaconne

Music

The five pieces refer to the musical history of Leipzig and Boston.[5][4] All movements begin with woodwinds.[6] The whole concept of Partita is to link the music of Bach and Mendelssohn.[6][4] The first reminiscence is influenced by Bach, Bruckner, and Wagner.[2][7] A bass clarinet solo, playing an endless melody line, dominates the opening, followed by a section with Wagner tubas.[2] The expansionary prelude leads to a first dance of the orchestra, a brief gigue. The "melancholic"[8] second reminiscence Andante cites Mendelssohn's Clarinet Sonata (2nd movement), but starts with an English horn solo.[2][6]

\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet" \time 6/8 \tempo 8 = 80 \key g \minor \partial 8 d8 g8. fis16 g8 bes a g a4( fis8 d) r8 a'16( c) bes4 bes8 \acciaccatura d8 c( bes c) d4 f16 es d4 f16 es d4 f16 es d4\fermata } \layout { \context { \Staff \consists "Horizontal_bracket_engraver" } }
Mendelssohn: Clarinet Sonata (2nd movement: Andante)

Mendelssohn was the Gewandhauskapellmeister from 1835 to 1847.[9] Woodwind figures open the "humorous"[8] third movement of neo-Baroque ancestry.[6][4] Widmann cites in the Divertimento the Bach cantata Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort, BWV 168.[7] The fourth reminiscence, Sarabande, contains bassoons whimpering in highest register.[2] The last reminiscence, a chaconne, starts with a modern decatonic scale,[lower-alpha 1] played by an alto flute.[10][11] Reminiscence: Bach's Crucifixus from Mass in B minor.[8] This final movement leads to a "joyful, ecstatic" coda.[7]

\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute" a1 bes b! c cis d e f g gis a } \layout { \context { \Staff \consists "Horizontal_bracket_engraver" \remove Bar_engraver \remove Time_signature_engraver } }
Decatonic scale
\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute" \partial 4 a4 bes b! c cis d2 e4 f g2 gis a1 } \addlyrics { Fern ist der Grund der Din- ge und tief, gar tief; wer will ihn finden? } \layout { \context { \Staff \consists "Horizontal_bracket_engraver" } }
Widmann: Experiment on a Fugue, string quartet No. 5 with soprano[12]

Instrumentation

  • Woodwinds: 4 flutes (1st–3rd doubling piccolo, 2nd doubling alto flute), 4 oboes (2nd doubling oboe d'amore, 3rd doubling cor anglais), 4 clarinets in A and B♭ (3rd doubling bass clarinet, 4th doubling contrabass clarinet), 4 bassoons (3rd doubling double bassoon)
  • Brass: 6 horns in F (3rd–6th doubling wagner tubas [3rd and 5th in B♭, 4th and 6th in F]), 4 trumpets in C (1st and 2nd doubling in high B♭), 3 trombones, tuba
  • Strings: 16 violins I, 14 violins II, 12 violas, 10 cellos, 8 double basses (all with 5 strings, with B as lowest string)
  • Percussion: 3 players (glockenspiel, xylophone, tubular bells, triangle, 2 suspended cymbals, crash cymbals, sizzle cymbal, Chinese cymbals, 3 tam-tams, gong, tambourine, vibraslap, ratchet, whip, birch brush, crotales, wood blocks, tom-toms, bass drum), timpani
  • harp, celesta (doubling cembalo)

Performances

Partita was premiered at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig on 8 March 2018. Andris Nelsons conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.[2] The concert was repeated on 11 March 2018, the 275th birthday of the orchestra.[5] The American premiere took place in Boston on 29 March 2018 with Nelsons conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[13][14]

Reception

Peter Korfmacher of Leipziger Volkszeitung wrote: "overripe opulence" ("überreife Üppigkeit")[15] and "infinitely long, infinitely beautiful woodwind lines" ("unendlich lange unendlich schöne Holzbläser-Linien").[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Asymmetrical scale, comprising 8 semitones and two whole tones.

References

  1. 1 2 "Score Partita". schott-music.com. Schott Music. 11 March 2018. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Korfmacher, Peter (9 March 2018). "Widmanns Partita uraufgeführt". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Leipzig. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "The BSO Partnership with Leipzig's Gewandhausorchester". bso.org. Boston Symphony Orchestra. 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kirzinger, Robert (2018). "Jörg Widmann "Partita," Five Reminiscences for Orchestra" (PDF). Program Notes. Boston: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Korfmacher, Peter (11 March 2018). "275. Geburtstag: Leipzig feiert sein Gewandhaus-Orchester". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Leipzig. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Powers, Keith (26 March 2018). "For The BSO, Composer Jörg Widmann's 'Partita' Offers Connection And Surprise". The ARTery. Boston: wbur. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Besthorn, Florian Henri (2019). "Jörg Widmann". KDG Online. Komponisten der Gegenwart.
  8. 1 2 3 "Werk der Woche – Jörg Widmann: Partita". Schott Music (in German). 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Böhm, Claudius (2018). "The Gewandhausorchester: from town band to institution of international renown". Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Wells, Kevin (2 April 2018). "An irascible Don and a Widmann première in Boston". bachtrack.com. London. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Gantz, Jeffrey (30 March 2018). "Nelsons and the BSO shine in Widmann and Richard Strauss". Boston Globe. Boston. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  12. ↑ Bruhn, Siglind (2013). Die Musik von Jörg Widmann (in German). Waldkirch: Edition Gorz. p. 108. ISBN 978-3-938095-16-4. Archived from the original on 2023-07-30. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  13. ↑ Keebaugh, Aaron (30 March 2018). "BSO's Widmann premiere bridges Leipzig's musical past and present". Boston Classical Review. Boston. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Weininger, David (30 March 2018). "Reminiscences, Loud and Sotto Voce". The Boston Musical Intelligencer. Boston. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  15. ↑ Korfmacher, Peter (16 March 2018). "Tschaikowski-Sternstunde mit Andris Nelsons". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Leipzig. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
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