This work was written for the 900th anniversary celebrations of my home town of Hüfingen in 1985. A whole series of childhood memories have been incorporated into the 3 movements of this commissioned composition.
The fanfare and chorale (1st movement) are reminiscent of the famous Corpus Christi procession in Hüfingen. ("Praise the Lord")
In the 2nd movement: March, a locally very popular march motif finds its partly ironic-grotesque treatment. ("Ei, de David, wenn'd ä Brod witt ...")
The finale: Folk song and finale contrasts a lovely folk song from the Black Forest ("I han an eim Ort ä Blümli gseh', ä Blümli rot und wiß") with the Hüfinger Narrenmarsch ("Hans gang hom"), which appears at various tempo levels and leads to an effective conclusion with multiple changes from major to minor. The work was premiered in its original smaller instrumentation by the "Stadtmusik Hüfingen " under the direction of the composer in July 1985.

Bertold Hummel

Bertold Hummel's speech before the premiere of Musica urbana on 14 July 1984 in the Festhalle Hüfingen

Dear Mr Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, my fellow citizens of Hüfingen!

I have been asked to say a few introductory words about today's premiere.

When a composer is asked by the mayor of his birthplace to write festive music for the town's 900th anniversary celebrations, he can only happily agree. This is what happened when Mayor Max Gilly called on me in Würzburg some time ago. The promise was immediately followed by the question: "Who should perform this music?" Well - unlike the Donaueschingen musicians, who always need the SWF Orchestra Baden-Baden for their music days - the Hüfingen musicians can fall back on a traditional town band. So the decision was made to write for the Hüfinger Stadtmusik.

When I started composing, many childhood memories came to mind that spontaneously made a connection to Hüfingen. There was the memory of my father playing the organ in Hüfingen's town church and my first acquaintance with choral and hymn melodies. There were the memories of the lively marches played by the town musicians at the Hüfingen carnival and the lilting melodies at the Corpus Christi procession. The cultivation of folk songs in the domestic circle - in the neighbouring Schellenberghaus - also came back to my mind. This resulted in a work - called Musica Urbana - which can be described as follows:

The 1st movement - fanfare and chorale - is adapted to the dignity and solemnity of today's occasion. The chorale melody"Lobe den Herren" - quoted three times in full - is surrounded by a wide variety of motifs taken from the introductory fanfare and from the chorale itself.

The 2nd movement is entitled " March". Here you will find as a counter-subject - a melody that was underlaid with the text in the Hüfingen of my childhood: "David wenn de Brot witt, in de Schublad liit en Aschnitt" (for those not from Hüfingen: "David, wenn du Brot begehrst, in der Schublade befindet sich ein Brotknaus"). After a few turbulent passages, the march even leads into a valse-triste - but only for a few bars. An upbeat final gesture wipes away the resignation that has arisen.

In the concluding 3rd part of the work - folk song and finale - the folk song "Han amenort ä Bluemli gsäh, ä Bluemli rot un wiiss" ("I saw a little flower in one place, a flower with red and white blossom") is first arranged. As a contrast, the familiar "Hans blieb do, du woascht jo nit wiäs Wetter wird" ("Hans stayed there, you don't know what the weather will be like") is staged. The "Musica Urbana", which is dedicated to Hüfingen and its citizens, comes to a quasi-symphonic conclusion with different variations on this theme.

Last but not least, a word of thanks to the performers. First of all to the conductor of the Stadtmusik, Günter Walter, who not only painstakingly produced the sheet music, but also led the preparatory rehearsals with meticulousness and skill, so that I found well-prepared musicians in the three rehearsals that I held myself. I really enjoyed rehearsing together. The unusual task was tackled with great commitment by all members of the Stadtmusik and proved to me that even amateur musicians are capable of demanding performances.

Enough words have been exchanged - let's finally see action.

Works for (amateur) wind orchestra

At the end of these observations on Bertold Hummel's symphonies, it is necessary to mention his works for amateur music-making. In this area he is fully in the tradition of his teachers Genzmer and Hindemith, who also never lost touch with the practice of non-professional musicians. Naturally, the following maxim applies: the simpler the concept, the more diatonic and reduced the building blocks and sounds. The aspect of colour then recedes into the background and the compositional fracture is more strongly determined by graphic, linear structures, which appear much more conventional.
Of the symphonic works, the pieces for wind orchestra are among the simpler compositions. The "Sinfonietta" op. 39, written in 1970, and the "Musica Urbana" op. 81c, which Hummel composed in 1983 and which was launched a year later in his birthplace of Hüfingen under his direction with local players, were composed expressly for amateurs. In 1977, Hummel created the "Oregon Symphony" op. 67, which was performed for the first time on 7 April 1978 in Ashland/Oregon (USA) in the presence of the composer. Nine years later, on the occasion of his second trip to the USA, Hummel took the "Symphonic Overture" op. 81d (the extended first movement of the "Oregon Symphony") with him in his luggage and premiered it on 21 November 1987 in Seattle with the W.I.B.C. Directors Band.

Claus Kühnl (in "Die sinfonischen Werke Bertold Hummels", Tutzing, 1998)