Hommage

Hommage is the central thematic reference point of this recording that arose from a transnational collaboration of the Tyrolean Chamber Orchestra InnStrumenti. Works by composers from Germany and Austria from four generations will be presented. The quality and musical range of the six world premieres and the two internationally renowned soloists Gerold Huber (piano) and Florian Bramböck (saxophone) featured on this release are outstanding.

The CD opens with an homage by Bertold Hummel who composed his powerful Adagio for Strings in memory of Benjamin Britten immediately after Britten’s death. This is followed by the world premiere of the piano concerto Hommage à trois by Christoph Wünsch, composer and professor at the Würzburg University of Music. Each of the three movements establishes tonal references, namely to G.G. (George Gershwin), B.B. (Béla Bartók) and C.C. (Chick Corea). The oppressive orchestral work by the renowned South Tyrolean composer Manuela Kerer is a “tribute to all those who have to/had to flee or hide and have to/had to achieve incredible deeds in the process”. Joachim F. W. Schneider chooses a different approach in Gambit, a Hommage à une idée that refers to the meaning of the unpredictable. The Tyrolean State Prizewinner for the Arts 2016, Florian Bramböck, was commissioned to compose a concertante work for himself as a soloist: The Flow – Healing Music for Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra is an homage to the prominent Tyrolean mountain peak in the Tyrolean Unterland, the Hundalmjoch (1637m). With Katrin Klose a young composer was once again invited to present her specific tonal language: the former Würzburg student, who is currently pursuing a doctorate in vocal composition in Scotland, created the colorful composition Accord – Hommage à Grisey. This CD concludes with the Symphytum Sinfonium by the young composer René Schützenhofer.