related works
Concerto d'un bon esprit : pour piano et orchestre de chambre / Marijn Simons
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Piano and orchestra
Scoring:
fl(pic) ob(eh) cl fg(cfg) h trb 2perc str(5.4.3.3.1.) pf-solo
Concerto lirico : per pianoforte e orchestra, 1999 / Ton de Kruyf
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Piano and orchestra
Scoring:
2220 sax 2220 3perc hp str pf-solo
Concert : voor piano en orkest / Hans Kox
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Piano and orchestra
Scoring:
2200 sax-a 0330 timp 3perc str pf-solo
In Unison : Concerto for two pianos and orchestra / Joey Roukens
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Piano and orchestra
Scoring:
2pf-solo picc 2fl 3ob 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 3tpt 3trb timp 3perc cel str
composition
Concerto d'un bon esprit : pour piano et orchestre de chambre / Marijn Simons
Other authors:
Simons, Marijn
(Composer)
Contains:
Justice
Santé
Force
Description:
It was in 1998 when Jean-Bernard Pommier invited me to come to England to do a few concerts as a soloist with the Northern Sinfonia. He was the orchestra’s chief conductor at that time. After the concert in Newcastle, he asked me to compose a piano concerto for him. The title “Concerto d'un bon esprit” (Concerto of a good mind) reflects how I feel about Jean-Bernard as a person and a great artist rather than being audible in the music.
“Justice” (righteousness) refers to interpersonal relations. The first two bars in the piano consist of a small thematic motif, which will remain a sort of idée fixe throughout the first movement. Around this motif, the music is constantly intensifying. The six tuplets in the piano, accompanied by percussive music in the orchestra, form the first movement's motorical climax. The winding down
of the cadenza, followed by a duet for horn and trombone, leads the first movement to its ending.
“Santé” (health) refers to the proper balance between body and mind. This movement starts with a pulsating “A” rising out of the last piano chord of the first movement as it dies away. The first half of the second movement gradually tempts itself into triplets and then semiquavers. The second half starts with the recapitulation of the piano, but a semitone higher. Then, it comes into a kind of feel of A-major/minor in places, which refers to the long “A” of the beginning. After the passage for wind instruments, the piano and tam-tam settle the movement into “four-in-a-bar”, which stops the rolling, forward-pushing feeling.
“Force” (power) refers to the, in my opinion, strongest spiritual power: humour. Contrary to the straightness and austerity of the previous movements, this movement is written with swing and humour. As soon as this feeling is settled, the woodwinds, followed by the strings, play chorale-like music, after which the music develops towards a joyous end. - MARIJN SIMONS