Wolfgang Rihm
COLL'ARCO
Short instrumentation: 2 2 2 2 - 2 2 2 1 - timp, perc, hp, str(14 12 10 8 6)
Duration: 30'
Dedication: für Carolin Widmann
Solos:
violin
Instrumentation details:
1st flute
2nd flute (+picc)
1st oboe
2nd oboe (+c.a)
1st clarinet in A
2nd clarinet in A
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon (+cbsn)
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
1st trumpet in Bb
2nd trumpet in Bb
1st trombone
2nd trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion
harp
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Rihm - COLL'ARCO for violin and orchestra
Sample pages
Audio preview
Work introduction
Wolfgang Rihm’s 30-minute long COLL’ARCO is already his “Fourth Music for Violin and Orchestra”, as the subtitle declares – following Lichtzwang (1976), Gesungene Zeit (1992) and Dritte Musik (1993). The title itself refers to the predominating performance technique. After the three opening pizzicato chords the rhapsodic and at the same time monologue-like solo part makes exclusive use of the most varied bowing techniques. But it uses these with such a technical variability, even unashamedly brilliant, as if it were actually necessary to prove what is possible on a violin “with the bow” (the literal translation of the title). Carolin Widmann, to whom the work is dedicated, was in close contact with Wolfgang during the creation of the work, giving him information about the playability of those parts of the work that stretch the “boundaries of the technical possibilities”.
Evidence of the subtle reference to tradition in the work is also provided by the comparatively modest instrumentation, which only expands on the romantic orchestra by the addition of a vibraphone. The continuously extremely dominant solo violin part, which starts without any introduction, is also a hint towards the tradition of the concert works of the 19th century – specifically the two Violin Romances by Beethoven – while Rihm’s musical language has unsurprisingly emancipated itself from the bonds of tonality.