Böse Zellen for piano and orchestra (2006/rev. 2007)

22′
Work commissioned by the Ruhr Piano Festival and the city of Innsbruck
WP: 19.07.2006, Ruhr Piano Festival, Essen (DE) | Thomas Larcher (piano), Dennis Russel Davies (conductor), Munich Chamber Orchestra;
WP of the new version: 15.11.2007, Innsbruck (AT) | Till Fellner (piano), Aleksandar Markovic (conductor), Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck

Sehr langsam, attaca
Langsam, attaca
Viertel ca. 83, attaca
Viertel ca. 77

Orchestra instrumentation
piano solo; 1 (also piccolo)/0/2 (2. also bass clarinet)/2 (also contrabassoon) – 2 1. also finger cymbals)/2 (2. also Chinese cymbal)/0/0 – players (2 glockenspiel, vibraphone, celesta [ad lib.], cow bell, tubular bells, steel drum, large cymbal, Chinese cymbal, large tam-tam, large water gong, oil barrel, metal foil) (2 players) – strings (6/5/4/3/2 [2. with 5. A strings])

Audio sample

Till Fellner, Dennis Russell Davies, Munich Chamber Orchestra | CD Madhares

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Programme note
The inception of Thomas Larcher’s piano concerto can be traced back to a commission from Franz Xaver Ohnesorg for the Ruhr Piano Festival. In 2004 he asked the composer to “compose a piano concerto which has the same orchestration as Mozart’s KV482 – the same ensemble, the same constellation – a piano concerto that can be conducted by the soloist.” That Larcher wrote, of all things, “Böse Zellen” makes us suspect that something in him rebelled against the constraints dictated by the commission. The title of the work “Böse Zellen” is actually taken from Barbara Albert’s movie of the same name. It is a film abounding in scenes of great intensity which kept appearing before his mind’s eye during the months he was composing the piece.

“Although this film was on my mind while composing the piece,‘ Böse Zellen’ is not program music. Perhaps there are analogies in the construction, in the structure, in the treatment of the form, in the openness of the construction, in the juxtaposition of people, impressions, feelings, structures … For me the abiding basic impression is one of tracing the ‘horizontal structures’ in life – the depiction of how impossible it is to dictate what direction one’s life will take. Within the film there are many attempts at finding directions, to cautiously or vehemently feel one’s way towards, or to force perspectives.” (Thomas Larcher)

quoted from: www.schott-music.de