commentary to opus 103b
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Concertino classico D major for Violin (1st position) and Piano or Strings, op. 103b (1999)

I. Allegro

II. Elegy

III. Presto

 

Dedication: for my grandchild Fabian

First Performance of teh 3rd movement: 5 January 2001, Würzburg, Residence
Fabian and Bertold Hummel


Duration: 12 Minutes

Publisher: Schott Music
Version for Violin and Piano (Score and Violinpart) VLB 127/ ISMN: M-001-15165-8
Version for Solo-Violin and Strings (Score and orchestral material are available for purchase!)
Score: CON 255 / ISMN: M-001-15142-9
Parts: CON 255-50 / ISMN: M-001-15143-6

Version with Strings


I. II. III.
Version with Piano  
I.II.III.

 

Fabian and Bertold Hummel at the premiere of the 3rd movement on 5 January 2001 in the Würzburg Residence


The Concertino classico for Violin and Piano or Strings by Bertold Hummel was composed in the Summer of 1999 as his grandchild Fabian was just mastering the first position. The idea was to write a short violin concerto for violinists at an early stage, offering an opportunity for trying out their limited technical abilities in a musical way. Depending on the situation, it can be performed with an accompanying piano, with a string quartet or with the school orchestra.
The title already betrays that Hummel takes his lead here from the form and musical language of the classical solo concerto. In three movements, simple, folk-like themes are introduced and undergo variation. An extended cadenza in the Allegro is marked by Hummel - depending on the character of the child playing - only as ad libitum. The short bridging cadenza in the Presto is, in contrast, obligatory. With the melancholy Finnish Folk-song of the Elegy, Hummel and his wife, from their student days on, often used to build a bridge over their geographical separation.

 

Finnish Folk Song
Over the mountain my love has departed,
far over the sea my falcon is flown.
If he remembered the nights of his homeland,
he would come back again.

Over the salt-sea in gold shining castle,
horses of kings he leads stomping to trough,
If he remembered the nights of his homeland,
he would come back again.

Fair as the morning on meadows in sunshine,
more than the ladies and knights shines his face.
If he remembered the nights of his homeland,
he would come back again.

Lovely young maidens, why smile to charm him,
Hearts such as yours will seem foreign to him.
If he remembered the nights of his homeland,
he would come back again.

Ah, I must languish, am care-worn with sighing,
him with one thousand warm arms would embrace.
But he thinks not of nights in his homeland,
and comes not back again.

 

Finnish Folk Song:

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