Caltabiano: Concerto for Six Players

Concerto for Six Players

Duration:

20 min.

Year:

1987

Fl./A.Fl. Cl./B.Cl. Perc. (Vibr. Marim. Crotales) Pno. Vn. Vcl.

Catalog No.:

rental only

	Clarinet solo and start of violin solo (2' 49 " -- 3.3 MB)		download

An extended introduction, which foreshadows the structure of the entire work, alternates between orderly exposition of the work's melodic material and a driving, clangorous figure for vibraphone and piano. The main body of the work is conceived as a series of extended, concerto-like passages, each instrument with its own temporal/intervallic relationship and its specific accompanying instruments. The passages are either ornamental or (as in the case of the long clarinet solo that opens this portion of the piece) are themselves a central cantus firmus. As the music progresses, this cantus thins out to a very few notes as layers of ornamentation are applied.

On another level, the piece can be heard as a group of highly individualized motives which, through a number of quiet discussions and raucous arguments, finally arrive at a unanimous conclusion.

Concerto for Six Players is affectionately dedicated to my friend and former teacher, Peter Maxwell Davies. In January of 1987, at their farewell concert, I conducted his ensemble, The Fires of London, in the first performance of this work.

-- R.C.

"Solo instrumental lines emerged from a discreetly textured web of sound...[creating a] sense of pulse on which the music rode into moments of wonderful serenity - which alone makes me want to hear the piece again."
-- The [London] Independent