Compositions

Hémiphères - deux tableaux rituels concerto for piano and orchestra (2019) 24′
3(picc), 2(eh), 2(bcl), 2 – 4, 2, 2(b-tromb), 1 – timp, perc(3), gr. piano, solo piano - 10, 8, 6, 4, 3
2 mouvements

"Hémisphères" belongs to the series of my symphonic concertos. The solo piano part contrasts with a large, highly differentiated orchestral score. Its role always alternates between contrast and integration, variation and similarity. The two parts of the composition form two ritual tableaus which unfold from the tetrachords G-B♭-C♯-F and E♭-A♭-B♭-D. The musical inspiration for the composition came from a unique concert experience with the conductor Simon Rattle. In this concert he was capable of conjuring a phenomenal transparency and fine structuring of the orchestral sound of Debussy "La Mer" in a brilliant performance by the "Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment". I wanted to integrate the piano into the cosmos of "symphonic chamber music" that he evoked. My goal was to transport the listener into the exotic world of distant (imaginary) cultures.

Both movements begin in meditative-contemplative calm, even timelessness, in which the harmonic and polyphonic levels are revealed. The complexity increases continually and breaks forth into a powerful ceremonial dance in which the soloist virtually drives the orchestra before him in a wave of energy. A fortissimo statement from the tam-tam separates the two tableaus. After its sways into inaudibility the second part begins. The work oscillates between modality and garish dissonance.

Although the work arose from a stimulus from Debussy it cannot be fixed harmonically. It fluctuates between modality and garish dissonance. “Hemispheres” is opened with a short effervescent orchestral tutti just like a cosmic explosion (“big bang”) which fades away in a calm epilogue transcending the edges of the musical universe.