Tripartita for accordion and string quartet (op. 85a, 1986)
I. Invocation, II. lamentation, III. conclusion
Accordion, string quartet
Duration: 21 minutes
Hugo Noth | Joachim Quartett: Volker Worlitzsch | Friedemann Kober | Monika Hüls | Stephan Haack
Title: Tripartita for accordion and string quartet op. 85 - Length: 51 pages - Date: I. - / II. 31.12.85 / III. 6.1.86 - Location: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich
Schott Musik International ED 9711 / ISMN M-001-13631-0
Then the "candy" among the eleven firsts was served. In "Tripartita" for string quartet and accordion, Bertold Hummel uses the four notes b flat, a flat, d flat and e flat to create eight-part second sounds from superimposed sixths for the strings. The accordion also melodises the material. Hummel cleverly combines the two sound worlds in ever new ways. The piece ends strikingly after a virtuoso final movement characterised by scales and tremolos. "Tripartita" will certainly soon become part of the repertoire for this instrumentation.
Gone are the days when sound was only of interest in its aggregate state, so to speak; it is once again an important means of expression, no longer an end in itself, a cheap commodity for speculators who call themselves composers. Bertold Hummel's "Tripartita" for accordion and strings, premièred by the "Joachim Quartet" and Hugo Noth, plays with sound in a new way. In the second movement ("Lamentation"), glissandi create the most wondrous interweaving of these fundamentally different instrumental types. The work rises dramatically, intensifying the dialogue to a hitherto unimagined density and concentration. Kaleidoscopic expressive gestures and short-limbed figurative work break up towards the end as a brilliant finale.
Hummel binds his ideas with traditional formal grids; the musical language is original, we are inclined to say polyglot. The "Tripartita", enthusiastically received by the audience, proved to be one of the few valid works of accordion chamber music that could be presented at this year's "Trossinger Musiktage".
Bertold Hummel's "Tripartita" was characterised by coherently linked call structures, a middle movement based on glissando sequences and a final virtuoso movement with various rhythmic and melodic elements. Hummel wrote catchy, immediately comprehensible and understandable music.
Anne Borkowki
Literature list of the German Music Council for the competition "Jugend musiziert":
Level of difficulty 5/ very difficult (upper level)
Inspired by Hugo Noth, the work was composed between September 1985 and January 1986.
1st Invocation:
Starting from a four-tone gesture, stationary 8-part string quartet sounds are obtained. Various call structures alternate with recurring sound structures and short melodic sequences. An extensive accordion cadenza, which seeks to link the diverse tonal material, is framed by chord blocks in the strings. The movement ends with drilling repetitions in triple forte.
2 The lamentation stands in stark dynamic contrast to this. The glissando possibilities of the accordion are coupled with glissando techniques in the strings. At the centre is a broadly conceived build-up over an ostinato bass line in the accordion. After the climax (in the golden section), the dynamics are quickly reduced; the initial mood is briefly resumed and faded out in a few bars.
3rd Conclusion:
After a short, restrained introduction, a virtuoso Vivace dominates the movement, which is repeatedly interrupted and structured by tango rhythms, short chorales, restrained melodic sections and finally leads to a striking conclusion.
I would be delighted if I had succeeded with op. 85 in making a constructive contribution to the subject of chamber music with accordion.
Bertold Hummel