Gregorian fantasy for harp solo (op. 97b, 1994)
Dedication
Dedicated to Giselle Herbet in friendship
Instrumentation
Harp
Duration: 9 minutes
Premiere
26 November 1995,
Würzburg, University of Music
Giselle Herbet
Autograph
Title: Gregorian Fantasy for harp solo op. 97b - Length: 7 pages - Date: 28.3.94 - Location:
Publisher
N. Simrock Hamburg-London (Boosey & Hawkes) EE 5222 / ISMN: 979-0-2211-1642-0
Literature list of the German Music Council for the competition "Jugend musiziert":
Level of difficulty 4/difficult (intermediate level II)
For B. Hummel's"Gregorian Fantasy", the Gregorian chant forms the motivic template for the work. It is the norm from which the composer then distances himself. The medieval chorale characterises the entire character of the composition as a solemn Andante religioso.
Dr Sylvia Sowa (CD booklet, Genuin 2003)
As a devout Catholic, Hummel remained attached to the source of Catholic church music, Gregorian chant, throughout his life. Through this and the deep seriousness of religious preaching, he felt a connection to his French colleague Olivier Messiaen. Hindemith, Bruckner and Berg were also his most important role models, while he orientated himself strongly towards France in terms of sound. The Gregorian Fantasy for harp also reveals some of these influences. It uses material from chorale melodies in a free-tonal, rhythmically highly variable manner. The harp, otherwise more the instrument of the romantic rush of sound and undulating chordal surfaces, takes on an unusually serious, archaic tone here, that of the biblical instrument of King David.
Dr Karl Böhmer (www.kammermusikfuehrer.de, 28.6.2013)