György Ligeti's "Concert Românesc for Orchestra" performed by the WDR Sinfonieorchester under the baton of its principal conductor Cristian Măcelaru on March 26, 2021 at the Kölner Philharmonie.
György Ligeti - Concert Românesc
00:00:00 I. Andantino
00:03:55 II. Allegro vivace
00:05:16 III. adagio ma non troppo
00:09:32 IV. Molto vivace
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Christian Măcelaru, conductor
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○ Introduction to the works
They seem to be inexhaustible, the sources of the folk music of Hungary and Romania. Even "classical" composers were gladly inspired by their original sounds, even Joseph Haydn was among them. But it was mainly Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók at the beginning of the 20th century who systematically collected folk melodies to artfully incorporate and reflect them in their works. And György Ligeti, a native of Romanian Transylvania, also showed great interest in ethnomusicology.
In one of his early works, the "Concert Românesc" for orchestra from 1951, this is shown in an exemplary way, rhythmically concise and with much esprit. Ligeti himself wrote a detailed explanation of the score in 2000, almost 50 years after the composition: "In 1949/50 I stayed in Romania, studied at the Folklore Institute in Bucharest, then took part in several trips to record partly Romanian, partly Hungarian folk music (in Covasint, near Arad and in Inaktelke in the Kalotaszeg region, near Cluj-Napoca). The present four-movement orchestral concerto (with string and wind solos) is based on a variety of Romanian folk melodies that I have recorded, but they are mostly from wax rolls and records from the Bucharest Folklore Institute. In Covasint, on the other hand, I became acquainted with the common harmonic turns of Romanian peasant music, which I used stylized in the 'Concerto'. This orchestral composition was one of the 'camouflage pieces', as an evasion (1951) from the imposed 'Sozrel' dictatorship [the all-encompassing repressive measures of the communist regime, which also affected classical music]. Although reasonably conformist, the piece turned out to be 'politically incorrect' as a result of some forbidden dissonances (e.g., F-sharp within B-flat major). For today's listener, it is hard to understand why such mild tonal banter was declared dangerous to the state. The 'Concert Românesc' reflects my deep love for Romanian folk music and Romanian-speaking culture par excellence. The piece was immediately banned and only performed many decades later."
(Text: Norbert Hornig)
5 авг 2024
