Composers of our times often draw inspiration from the work of earlier masters. In today’s concert, we are going to perform three works that consciously or unconsciously evoke the musical style of the great classics.
Máté Bella‘s work is an exciting encounter of old motifs and elements of modern minimalist music. The piece clearly follows the tradition of the baroque concerto grosso, but in a modern, 20th century guise, with repetitive musical elements. The final movement (Death Dance) may bring to mind the summer storm of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, but the mood of the Death Dance is underpinned by the ominous theme of the Dies irae melody.
Richard Strauss‘ Oboe Concerto is a late work of the composer. He declared that he considered his works written after the Capriccio to be “wrist exercises”. Apparently, the Oboe Concerto is also such a wrist exercise, for a small apparatus, with a translucent orchestration, recalling Mozart in both its melodic and playful nature.
Brahms‘ Piano Quartet is one of the gems of chamber music literature. We Hungarians are particularly fond of the fantastically drifting Rondo alla Zingarese, the final movement that was written in the style of gypsy music, which was considered typical Hungarian at the time. All in all, by its musical and emotional dimensions, this work surely belongs in the category of symphonies. Perhaps this is what Schoenberg felt, too, as he was making the orchestral transcription. He jokingly remarked that with the transcription he had in fact created Brahms’ Fifth Symphony.
