Instrumentation

afl(=picc).ob.Ebcl(=bcl).bsn.hn

Availability

Score 0571515088 and parts 0571555640 (fp) on sale

Programme Notes

Each of these short pieces features one of the players, not so much as a concertante soloist as the most prominent amongst equals and at the same time as something of an outsider to the others (this is especially the case in the third and fifth pieces). The tempos and characters of the movements are:

(i) Quasi improvisando (oboe) – declamatory, improvisatory; (ii) Molto vivo (bass clarinet) – fast and hectic; (iii) Molto meccanico (bassoon) – machine-like; (iv) Calmo (piccolo) – very quiet, floating; (v) Agitato (horn) – fast and spiky.

The total duration is around ten minutes. The Five Concertinos were commissioned by the Bath Festival for the Ensemble Intercontemporain with funds made available by the Arts Council of Great Britain, and are dedicated to Henri Dutilleux. The first performance took place on 3rd June 1990 at the Tippett Centre, Bath.

Colin Matthews

Five Concertinos

Royal Northern College of Music Concert Hall (Manchester, United Kingdom)

Royal Northern College of Music/Mark Heron

Five Concertinos

St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel (York, United Kingdom)

Souza Winds

Five Concertinos

Snape Maltings Concert Hall (Snape, Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Aldeburgh Music/Gregory Charette

Five Concertinos

Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, United Kingdom)

tbc

Five Concertinos

No Venue (Lenox, MA, USA)

Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center