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Organ Concerto No. 2 (1982) |
organ and orchestra - 24'
After the first organ concerto, which is more of an extended symphony with a concertante organ part, I wanted this time to write a true concerto for organ and orchestra.
One of the problems of an organ concerto is that the organ, unlike all the other solo instruments, has a potential in sound equivalent, or nearly so, to that of the orchestra; in exposing both partners at their full volume there is a risk of overloading the texture. Therefore, in many cases I have placed both elements on different planes, contrasting them not only in their thematic material, but also in time signature and tempi. Elsewhere I have divided melody and accompaniment between both partners, so that either the organ or even the orchestra takes the role of a melodic instrument, and then of course, the orchestra is often written as a unison voice.
The work is in two main sections:
The first contains the opening Allegro, the slow movement and a
short Scherzo, framed by an Introduction and coda of spaced
out chords. The chords of the introduction contract to become the first
theme of the Allegro, followed by two other themes: one
introduced in unison by the orchestra, the other, more rhythmically
aggressive, by the organ.
The slow movement, following on a long sustained chord, enriches its melodic elements with an ornamentation which recalls that of slavonic or balkanic folk music. In contrast to the outer movements the Andante rhapsodico is a blend of colours which mix and melt into each other, so that the organ and orchestra are often indistinguishable. It leads without a break into the a mini-scherzo, the Allegretto, which is characterised by grace-notes and irregular rhythms.
After the scherzo there follows the forementioned Coda with its spaced-out chords; the long breaks between them are this time filled with fragments of motivic material from the preceding movements which are played pianissimo.
The second section of the concerto is the Finale, in which runs and grace-notes give bite and aggressiveness to the main themes. Pulsating quavers provide a rhythmical underlay to the virtuoso stylisation of the organ part.
© 1986 Petr Eben