Elegy for viola and piano (1999)
Duration: 5 minutes
Title: Elegy for viola and piano after op. 103b - Length: 3 pages - Date: - - Location: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich
Schott Music VAB 78 / ISMN: 979-0-001-18174-7
Finnish folk song
Over the mountain my beloved has travelled,
Far across the sea my falcon has flown.
If he remembered the secret nights,
then he returned.
Behind the sea of salt in the golden castle
He watered the king's stampeding steeds.
If he remembered the secret nights,
then he would return.
Beautiful as the morning on wooded meadows,
he shines forth from the knights and ladies.
If he remembered the secret nights,
then he returned.
Lovely maidens, why do you laugh at the fair one.
His heart will never grow accustomed to yours,
if he remembered the secret nights,
then he would return.
Alas, I'm dying of sorrow and pain,
would like to embrace him with a thousand arms!
But he does not remember the secret nights
and does not return.
Poetry adaptation: Gisela Tiedge
Preface (Schott Music VAB 78)
When Bertold Hummel composed the middle movement (Elegy II) of his Concertino classico for violin and piano or string orchestra op. 103b on 11 August 1999, there was a solar eclipse over Europe, as he noted at the end of the composition. Perhaps this is why he placed the wistful Finnish folk song "Tuoll' on mun kultani" con sordino at the centre of this little elegy. He had known it since his student days and, under the German title "Über den Berg ist mein Liebster zog" (Over the mountain my beloved has moved), it had poetic significance in his correspondence with his future wife. For his viola-playing daughter-in-law Andrea, he arranged the easily realisable work - probably in 2000 - into an independent concert piece for viola and piano.
Martin Hummel, November 2011
Description (Schott Music)
Bertold Hummel's "Concertino classico", composed in 1999, enables violin students with limited technical skills to play a complete little violin concerto. The 2nd movement, the Elegy, is now also available as a single edition for viola and piano. The melody of the Finnish folk song that forms the thematic basis of the movement is wistful and gentle: a short, simple theme that is introduced and then varied. To master the piece, it is sufficient to master the first position in the viola part, and the piano part is also easy to play. A perfectly suitable piece for pupils, competitions and for playing at home.