Duettino for vibraphone and piano (op. 82b, 1985)
I. Meditation, II. Ostinato
Vibraphone (cymbals, gong, tam tam), piano
Duration: 7 minutes
Günther Happernagl | Hans-Leopold Schwerdhöfer
Title: Duettino for vibraphone (cymbal) and piano op. 82b - Length: 13 pages - Date: I. 30.12.84 II. 2.Jan.85 - Location: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich
Schott Music ED 20975 / ISMN: 979-0-001-17441-1
The manuscript of the 1st version is printed in "Opus 60 - Ein musikalisches Taschenbuch - Festgabe zum 60. Geburtstag von Gerhard Über" (ISBN 3-920117-12150).
The encounter with Bertold Hummel's ostinato from the "Duettino" op. 82b, whose neoclassical and in places atonal sounds went very well with the painting "Fragility", was particularly exciting.
Literature list of the German Music Council for the "Jugend musiziert" competition:
Level of difficulty 3/intermediate (intermediate I)
The Duettino for vibraphone (cymbal) and piano op. 82b was composed in 1985 for the 60th birthday of the publisher Gerhard Über (Böhm und Sohn)
In the meditation, the design principle of the passacaglia is applied to the sequence of 12 different sounds. This chord sequence appears 3 times in the piano (from bar 3) and is counterpointed by a vibraphone melody characterised by metamorphosis. The introductory bars correspond to the final bars as a kind of frame.
The character of the 2nd movement, labelled Ostinato, is determined by a 4-note sequence that appears again and again. In contrast to this is an 8-note sequence pedalised by both instruments, from which a short melody develops in the course of the piece. An entertaining rondo emerges from the various interweavings of the original material, which also incorporates echoes of jazz rhythms.
Bertold Hummel