Foreword

This little waltz for strings and piano is Bertold Hummel's last sonorous declaration of love to his wife Inken. He met her at the age of 25 while playing together in a string quartet at the Freiburg Academy of Music. They married on a concert tour of South Africa and lived together happily for almost fifty years. It is therefore not surprising that the waltz begins with Wagner's blurred Tristan motif. The harmonic allusions to Der Rosenkavalier are understandable given the occasion of the composition. This cheerful, melancholy waltz was performed by the polyphonic family orchestra on the occasion of Inken's 75th birthday on 22 April 2002.

Martin Hummel, August 2014