5th Chamber Concert
Victor Ewald: Quintet No. 1 op. 5 / Richard Strauss (arr. Clément Schuppert): »Till Eulenspiegel‘s Marry Pranks« op. 28 / Hans Gál: Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano op. 97 / Francis Poulenc: »Le bal masqué« FP 60. Cantata for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra
Alter Saal
A programme proposing a wide range of styles: Wind instruments take centre stage in the last chamber concert of the season. Victor Ewald (1860-1935) earned his living as an engineer, though he also studied composition at the Conservatory of Saint Petersburg and was an amateur composer. His series of quintets for brass instruments is a repertoire staple and almost the only example of original writing in the Romantic style.
Richard Strauss had planned to write an opera based on the story of Till Eulenspiegel. However, his composition then turned into a symphonic poem. Clément Schuppert, solo trumpet player of the Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg, has written an arrangement for brass instruments that is feared by horn players for its solo parts.
In 1950, Hans Gál created his Clarinet Trio. The lyrical music with a lot of sentiment is reminiscent of Brahms and Strauss in its sound.
»Those who don’t know it, don’t really love my music. It is 100% Poulenc,« the composer writes about his secular cantata »Le bal masqué«. 100% Poulenc means: musical humour and a virtuoso play with many genres from bel canto to opera, chamber music as well as fairground and cabaret music.