About the Concerto for Heckelphone & Orchestra

​

Orchestra: 1121 2120, timpani, perc. harp. piano. Strings
Duration: approx. 23 '

​

Work text by the composer:

After completing my opera "Eiger" for the theaters in Biel and Solothurn in the spring of 2020, and with the sudden halt of the entire concert life due to the COVID-19 crisis, I found the time to fulfill a wish of mine: to compose a piece for an instrument that had fascinated me for a long time with its wonderfully lyrical and melancholic sound, the Heckelphone. This deep oboe instrument, situated between the English horn and the bassoon, was developed by the German instrument maker Wilhelm Heckel (1856-1909) at the request of Richard Wagner. Wagner aimed to complement the woodwind section in the orchestra with a sound that combined the lyrical sweetness of the oboe and the power of an alphorn.

The Heckelphone is an instrument of remarkable expressiveness and carries significant yet largely untapped potential. In my three-movement concerto, I aimed to showcase it in an entirely new light. The solo part demands a considerable amount of virtuosity. Fortunately, in the rarity that we have concerning this instrument, in my homeland, Switzerland, we are privileged to have Martin Frutiger, one of the world's best Heckelphone players. This work is dedicated to him.