3 piano pieces "hommage à Alban Berg" (op. 83, 1985)
I. Fantasia, II. Giocoso, III. Sostenuto
Piano
Duration: 11 minutes
Peter Sauermann
Eileen Klatzky
Title: 3 piano pieces: "hommage a Alban Berg" op. 83 - Length: 12 pages - Date: I. Dec.84 II. 25.3.85 III. 24.4.85 - Location:
N. Simrock Hamburg-London (Boosey & Hawkes) ED 5161 / ISMN M-2211-1572-0
Correction of the Simrock edition by the composer in October 1995:
I. Fantasia: bar 3: right hand: quaver note c sharp '''', crotchet note c sharp '''' instead of c sharp'
III. sostenuto: bar 47: right hand: suggestion: four 32nd notes: b'c'b'c' instead of two 32nd notes b'c'
Bar 59: after the bar: comma with fermata omitted
Hummel's visit to Alban Berg was worthwhile. No copy, twelve-tone is recognisable but used freely and the fourth-semitone-fourth is not only building material, working in the background (transposable twice to the twelve-tone total) but also a motif that audibly sets things in motion. Berg's emotionality and rhythmic variety resonate and enrich Hummel's musicality. Inventive music that is well received.
Hummel shows here - as in earlier piano works - that he knows the possibilities of the instrument and knows how to utilise them in a beautiful-sounding, pianistic piano setting without using fashionable playing techniques. The pieces do not exceed medium technical difficulty and are well suited for study and teaching.
The 3 piano pieces "hommage à Alban Berg" op. 83 were written in the Berg year 1985 and are an expression of my admiration for this great composer. In pieces 1 and 3 (Fantasia and Sostenuto), the letters of the name AlBAnBErG that can be set to music as well as some of Berg's favourite chord formations form the starting material. The 2nd piece (Giocoso) is structured entirely from the four opening notes of his opera "Lulu".
Bertold Hummel