Fabian Müller - composer

Concertino for piano for 4 hands, cello and string orchestra (2017)

Each work has its particular own history. The special instrumentation of the Concertino came about through a friendship. This friendship with the Swiss piano duo Vilma and Daniel Zbinden began when I received the commission of the Festival «Musikwoche Braunwald» in 2014 to write a four-hand piano work for „Der Geist am Berg“, based on a story by the Swiss writer Tim Kohn. The work was performed several times and recorded on CD by the duo. Together with my wife Pi-Chin Chien and Vilma and Daniel Zbinden we had the wish to realize a concertante project all together, and this led to the idea for this concertino. The inspiration for this work, however, has also an older origin. Although I met Sergei Prokofiev again and again and had internalized the music of „Peter and the Wolf“ and „Romeo and Juliet“ since my childhood, there was later an intense encounter that shaped my interest and enthusiasm for his music. It was an extensive tour throughout Germany with the Bern Symphony Orchestra in 2009. The program included my orchestral work “Taranis” as well as Prokofiev´s 5th symphony. Since I had the pleasure to accompany the Germany tour and had the rare opportunity to hear this symphony live many times in a row, it was not only very educational and inspiring, but also greatly increased my admiration for this composer. When I started writing on the Concertino, and had as first idea this rhythmic, urgent pulsation at the beginning of the first movement, it reminded me of his music, and I got the idea that this concertino could become a Hommage to Prokofiew. I stayed true to this plan through all three movements. While in the first two movements the kind of rhythmic and melodic would like to be reminiscent of him, the last movement contains a cheeky quote from „Peter and the Wolf“. The result is a work with a divertimento character in which the performers’ joy of playing is in the foreground and which, presumably and to my knowledge, is unique in its instrumentation worldwide.

Movements

I. Allegro
II: Calmo
III: Scherzo

Instrumentation

Piano for 4 hands, Violoncello, string orchestra

Duration

about 17 minutes

Listen to the work on MX3