5 aus 49
There is actually nothing new about a solo ensemble performing together with an orchestra. In the 17th century the style was established as Concerto grosso and being further developed in the 18th century under the name of symphony concertante. This style of vicissitude with a group of soloists and an orchestra is still a genre that composers enjoy revitalizing.
Despite the historical origins, this CD presents something completely new!
The brass quintet formation of 2 trumpets, french horn, tuba and trombone manifested only in the past 30 years and therefore it wasn't until then that composers were inspired to write compositions for brass quintet with orchestra.
The RENNQUINTETT presents on this CD 5 aus 49 for the first time exclusively original compositions for brass quintet and orchestra.
The brass chamber music has been enriched because of these compositions and we would personally like to express our gratitude to the composers for this enhancement.
Performing on Piezas Latino-Ibericas are Charles Tibbetts, French horn, and Michael Peuser, trombone.
Das Rundfunkorchester des Südwestfunks
Founded in 1951, the Radio Orchestra of the German Southwest Broadcasting Company has grown in popularity over the years, not only with German but also with foreign audiences. The orchestra is equally famous for its musical verve, the perfectionism and the versatile repertoire: from baroque music and 'Mannheimer Schule' up to Viennese classical style, from the romantic period to operettas and vigorous musical melodies.
Many vocal and instrumental soloists, some of the latter being members of the orchestra, have been accompanied at various broadcasting productions and concerts, and some of them began their international career with debut performances together with this orchestra.
The numerous recordings and CD productions confirm the overwhelming acknowledgment and popularity with listeners from far and wide.
During the over 40 year history of the orchestra, the position of principal conductor has been changed only twice. Following Prof. Emmerich Smola (1951 - 1987) and Prof. Klaus Arp (1987 - 1995), Prof. Peter Falk took over this responsible function at the beginning of the 1995/96 concert season.
Klaus Arp, conductor
Born in Soltau (near Hamburg), he played several different instruments since his childhood and always has had an interest in classical, jazz and minimal music. In 1967 he won the Jugend musiziert competition playing the double-bass. Starting in 1970 he studied piano, conducting and composition at the College of Music in Hamburg.
In 1975 he became assistant conductor and pianist at the Hamburg State Opera, where he was responsible for the rehearsals of West Side Story under the direction of John Neumaier in 1978. This musical production led to his first success as a conductor.
From 1979 until 1982 he was the head of the Hamburg Youth Orchestra, wrote compositions for the ballet ensemble of the State Opera and the Thalia Theater and engaged himself intensively in chamber music.
In 1981 he became conductor of the theater in Koblenz, where he had the opportunity to expand his experience in the fields of opera and symphonic music. His opera Odysseus auf Ogygia premiered there in 1988 very successfully. Klaus Arp received the position as principal conductor of the Südwestfunk Radio Orchestra in 1987 and remained until 1995. Since 1992 he is the artistic director of Villa Musica in Mainz, a foundation established by the Rheinland-Pfalz state government and the Südwestfunk.
He was appointed professor of conducting at the College of Music in Mannheim in the year 1994, where he also is responsible for the college orchestra. In addition he is a guest conductor of numerous orchestras in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Croatia and Taiwan; he also recorded a wide range of CD's for Karussell, Capriccio, Amati, Schwann, Sony and Bayer Records.
Christoph Eberle, conductor
After studying at the State Conservatory in Vorarlberg and at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, he received his diploma with honors in 1980 from the Conservatory and in 1986 from the Academy. During this period he already conducted countless performances with many renowned artists. In 1986 he had a successful conducting debut with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, followed by international concerts with various orchestras, i.e. Bach-Collegium München, Capella Istropolitana, Niederösterreichische Tonkünstler, Wiener Virtuosen, Innsbrucker Symphonieorchester, Orchestra Sinfonica di Bolzano e Trento, Prager Symphoniker, Brucknerorchester Linz, Northern Sinfonia Newcastle, Rundfunkorchester Saarbrücken, Rundfunkorchester des Südwestfunks, ORF-Symphonieorchester and Orchestre National de Belgique.
He has received invitations to international festivals, such as Schubertiade Feldkirch, Kammermusikfestival Lockenhaus, Bregenzer Festspiele, Rheingau Festival and Bodensee Festival. Besides numerous recordings for CD, radio and TV productions, he conducted operas at the theaters of Klagenfurt and Ulm, at the Wiener Volksoper and the Semperoper in Dresden. Since 1988 he is the musical director of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, the Camerata Bregenz and the Vorarlberg Theater. In 1995 he was a finalist at the International Leonard Bernstein Conducting Competition.
Hidas Frigyes
Hidas was born in Budapest on May 25th, 1928. It was there, that he received his musical training: piano lessons with Zoltan Horusitzky, composition with Janos Viski (student of Kodaly), as well as conducting with Laszlo Somogyi at the Franz Liszt Academy. Between 1952 and 1966 he was the musical director of the Budapest National Theater, from 1974 until 1979 he was in charge of the Operetta Theater. Performing as a pianist with the Hungarian Radio Symphony among others, he made himself a name with his improvisations on piano and organ. For his concerto for oboe, written in 1951, he was awarded the Ferenc Erkel Prize in 1959, five years after his teacher Janos Viski had been bestowed with this honor.
A free-lance composer since 1974, Hidas is highly respected by musicians all over the world, especially for his compositions for brass ensemble.
Quintetto concertante for brass quintet and orchestra
Because of his teacher Janos Visky, Hidas is directly connected to the 'world of sound' of Zoltan Kodaly. While Visky is considered a pioneer in the field of post-Kodaly-composing, applying this style of expression on the musical genders of Symphonic Poem and concerto, these compositional elements make up only a small facet in the work of Hidas. Firmly based on tonality, Hidas refers to the baroque form of the Concerto, or even introduces jazz elements in his compositions. In addition there is a strong structural weaving with elements of serial music.
Written in 1986, the Quintetto concertante in the versions for brass quintet and symphonic orchestra as well as for brass quintet and symphonic wind ensemble, equally show different aspects:
1. movement (Allegro energico): following fanfare-like orchestral chord passages with thrusting triplet eighth lines by the quintet and a short interruption by the clarinet, there is a dialogue between the quintet, often divided in two groups (two trumpets / french horn, trombone and tuba) and the orchestra. While the quintet is engaged with ascending dotted eighth or rapid sixteenth notes, the melodic line of the orchestra always moves in the opposite direction. Towards the end, the quintet seems to be winning the battle: the orchestra takes over the ascending melody of the brass, who intensify their part supported by the timpany, reaching a triumphant climax of pulsating homophonic chords. But the orchestra still has the final word with its ironically thrown in descending line.
2. movement (Lento): beginning with the trumpet and passed on to the french horn, trombone and tuba, the quintet develops a large cantilena over a retaining orchestral sound, turning it slowly into a choral, while the orchestra is restricted to echo effects. Afterwards the cantilena is picked up again in the reversed order, the trumpet being the last solo instrument at the end of this movement.
3. movement (Moderato energico): here the entire enthusiasm is demanded of both the orchestra and the soloists. Daring passages and echoes alternate with parts in a calm and romantic style, that remind us of the entertaining music of the 50's and 60's, and thus proof Hidas' mastership to the utmost.
Dr. Hans Ulrich Michalik
Aldo Rafael Forte
Born in Havana, Cuba, he moved to the United States at the age of eight. He studied composition with Ross Lee Finney, William Presser, and Robert Jager and holds music degrees from Tennessee Tech University and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Forte has composed works in a wide variety of media ranging from chamber pieces to major compositions for band and orchestra. His music has been performed and recorded by such groups as the Bohuslav Martinu Orchestra of the Czech Republic, the Radio Orchestra of the German Südwestfunk, the North Carolina Symphony, and the USAF ACC Heritage of America Band. Forte's works have recently been performed at such places as Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City, the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL and the International Brassfest in Long Beach, CA. His music is published by Kjos, Ludwig, and Masters Music Publications.
Forte ist Staff Composer and Arranger for the USAF ACC Heritage of America Band at Langley AFB, VA.
Piezas Latino-Ibericas (1990)
(gratefully dedicated to DAS RENNQUINTETT)
This work was written in honor of the 40th anniversary of Das Rundfunkorchester des Südwestfunks. The composition received its world premiere at the Fruchthalle in Kaiserslautern, Germany on May 12th, 1991 under the direction of Klaus Arp with as soloists.
During the orchestra's recording of my horn concerto in November 1989, I was asked by trumpeter Peter Leiner to compose a work for the quintet. Subsequently I met with the entire group, they played me some of their repertoire, and I was so taken by their outstanding musicianship that my inspiration began to flow. In March 1990 Klaus Arp suggested the idea of a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra.
However, I first completed the piece for brass quintet alone in September 1990 and two months later I received a letter from Werner Meyers, the orchestra's manager, extending the gracious invitation for me to set the work as a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra. The concerto was completed in April 1991.
I am pleased and honored to dedicate Piezas Latino-Ibericas to the superb DAS RENNQUINTETT and the Rundfunkorchester des Südwestfunks. DAS RENNQUINTETT is a wonderful ensemble who is indeed making a mark on the brass quintet scene today. This is evidenced by their recent world class recordings which are being heard on various continents.
Piezas Latino-Ibericas is a three movement work which contrasts Latin-American and Spanish musical elements. The first movement, Furia, features the solo piccolo trumpet in wild Spanish bravura music. Danza, the second movement, comprises a variety of moods ranging from tango-like rhythms to brief developmental devices. The last movement, Fiesta, is inspired by the conga music of the Cuban carnival season and contrasts these ethnic rhythms with a lively Spanish three-quarter time.
Aldo Rafael Forte
Heinz Störrle
He was born in 1933 in Nalla (Bavaria) and studied music theory, conducting and composition at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich. He has worked for various German and foreign broadcasting orchestras as a composer, arranger and conductor. Numerous CD productions and guest conducting with divers symphony orchestras round out his professional life.
Concerto in F-major for Brass Quintet and Orchestra (1982)
Quoting the composer:
The idea to compose a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra was to be an alluring challenge for me. Not just writing for one soloist, but for five soloistic performers together with an orchestra and the brass quintet being in itself a type of 'orchestra' formation. Two harmonized orchestrating 'bodies' together - definitely not an unheard of fact: the baroque Concerto grosso was in its time a prevailing style and has remained until today. I haven't modeled my composition to the Concerto grosso, even though the distant relationship does exsist. The musical language of the concerto was written, from one aspect determined by the specific individuality of the solo instruments and from the other essentially, but in my opinion, an 'accessible' music, that enables the performing musicians and the audience to receive a positive musical impression.
Jan Koetsier
Though his heritage lies in the Netherlands, Jan Koetsier, born in 1911, has adapted completely to the German way of life. He studied composition, piano and conducting between 1927 and 1934 in Berlin, experiencing there still the ingeniously excessive 'roaring twenties' and the abrubt change into the 'order' of the nazi regime. At first he had to struggle through typical beginner positions (i.e. a traveling opera company among others), though was able to advance his career, when the legendary Willem Mengelberg (who conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra for a total of 50 years from 1895 until 1945) asked him to come to Amsterdam in 1942 to be his assistant. In 1950 Koetsier accepted a position at the Bayerische Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting), offered by Eugen Jochum, where he produced an enormous compilation of recordings of various styles and eras over the years, partly with the Bamberg Symphony.
In his concerts Koetsier always included compositions he thought were being unjustly neglected; already in the fifties he was one of the first who attempted to give the symphonic music of Gustav Mahler the recognition it deserved. In 1966 he was appointed professor of conducting at the College of Music in Munich, where he passed on his knowledge and his experience to a whole generation of young conductors. Jan Koetsier has long since become a living legend in Munich, where he spent over 50 years in the city and its surroundings. Many years ago he escaped the hustle (and the pollution) of the city by moving into a farmhouse in a hamlet near Mühldorf, where the 85 year old still writes music with inexhaustible energy.
Besides numerous pieces of chamber music, Jan Koetsier composed many symphonies and also wrote the dramatic oratorium The Man Lot, which was performed first by Rafael Kubelik in Munich.
Concerto for Brass Quintet and Orchestra, opus 133 (1993)
This concerto not only remains true to tradition in its structure, sonata form -song form - rondo, but also the single components are arranged so logically, that the listener is always aware of what is being played. A glance at the score demonstrates the perfectionistic artisan, who optimally reveals the particular character of the instruments. The economics in respect of sound with a small orchestra already show his experience; for example, nine different percussion instruments can be performed by one single percussionist. Koetsier never had the intention of dogmatizing his music, he approached the task with the cheerful distance of an established and matured composer.
Searching for a related example, Paul Hindemith's Spielmusiken come to mind. The ingeniously frivolous level is only deserted twice: towards the finish, the cantabile, almost meditative middle movement surprises with an eruption of sonority and expressionism; at the end of the concerto Koetsier wants to forget the gestures of nonchalant withdrawal and exploits every advantage: increase of tempo, change of time, abrupt dynamic differences (including a largo-insert of the five soloists), until the powerful finale leads hastily to perfect E-flat-major, the basic key of the entire composition.
Erich Mauermann
CREDITS
Digitally recorded in 1995
Sounf engineers: Sigurd Krumpfer, Reinhard Geller, Dr. Pavel Gilic, Rudolf Anslinger, Karl Haffner
Digital Mastering: Sigurd Krumpfer, Reinhard Geller
This Compact Disc was produced without any sound effects, solely the placement and selection of the microphones determine the instrumental sound.
Production: Rudolf Bayer
in Co-Production with the Südwestfunk Baden-Baden
Text: Uwe Zaiser, Peter Leiner, Aldo Rafael Forte, Heinz Störrle, Jan Koetsier, Dr. Hans-Ulrich Michalik
Translation: Bernadette and Jochen Scheerer
Photos: Peter Hollenbach, Carmen Kreiss
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