Totentanz (2011)
Danse macabre (1516/17) — Niklaus Manuel
for solo piano and large ensemble of thirteen musicians [11’]
written for pianist Mark Austin and Renard Ensemble
instrumentation
solo piano / fl(=picc) / ob / cl / bsn / hrn / perc (2 players — 1: bdm, mounted set of 3 wdblocks & 3 cbells, 3 tom; 2: vib) / 2 vlns / 2 vlas / vc / db
details
written for pianist Mark Austin and Renard Ensemble — first performed by Mark Austin and Renard Ensemble, with conductor Maxime Tortelier, at the Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London, on June 25, 2011
audio | score
note
Totentanz was written especially for a programme including works by Brahms, Ligeti, Bartók, and myself, and its musical hinterland comprises of specific chamber works by these composers – namely the horn trios of Brahms and Ligeti. Throughout its duration appears lyric material from the Adagio Mesto of Brahms’ Trio – transformed through various musical processes – alongside a rhythmic language, influenced by Ligeti, of forever-changing, angular, and asymmetric patterns.
It is a frantic tarantella, which, in a sense, marks the beginning of an end; an intensely lyrical and demonic mania punctuated by a brief, desolate interlude for solo piano.
David Coonan, 2011