Con brio is a concert overture by Jörg Widmann influenced by Beethoven. It is a commission by the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Con brio
Concert overture by Jörg Widmann
The composer in 2006
Period	Contemporary
Composed	2008
Published	2008 (2008): Mainz
Publisher	Schott Music
Recorded	25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)
Duration	12:00[1]
Premiere
Date	25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)
Location	Gasteig, Munich
Conductor	Mariss Jansons
Performers	Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

History

Mariss Jansons said, that the new piece should be performed along with a pure Beethoven program.[2] The overture was composed in 2008.[1] It was written in a "mad hurry".[3]

Music

Widmann refers to musical characteristics of Beethoven’s 7th and 8th Symphony.[1][4] There are no exact quotations from the symphonies, but he has chosen the same instrumentation.[5][3] According to Widmann, it is an exercise in fury and rhythmic insistence.[1] In a very small space, a sonata form is presented before the recurring material is arranged into a scherzo.[6] The overture is run through with Beethovenian riffs, flourishes and humor and is like a deconstruction of Beethoven.[5] The piece, full of extended techniques,[3] has a cut-and-paste structure.[5] The timpani are in the focus from the beginning of the overture.

Motif I

Motif II

The metronome markings are deliberately selected at a fast speed.[1] The score contains six dense pages of written instructions.[3]

Instrumentation

The concert overture is scored for 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B, timpani, and strings.[1]

Performances

Con brio was premiered by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons on 25 September 2008 in Munich, Gasteig, Philharmonie.[1]

Recordings

• Con brio (with Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 & 8), Mariss Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BR-Klassik 2015) OCLC 1017093816

Reception

Anthony Tommasini from The New York Times wrote: "effective as a warm-up".[5] David Allen from The New York Times wrote: "One of the most performed orchestral works written this century".[3]

References