György Ligeti

Double Concerto

Title

Double Concerto

Subtitle

for flute, oboe and orchestra

Category

Orchestra with Soloist(s)
Zwei Solisten

Duration

15:00

Number of performers

Instrumentation

3 (also 3 pic.) · 3 (2nd also obda., 3rd also ca.) · 2 (2nd also cl. in Eb) · bcl. · 2 · cbn. – 2 · 1 · t.-btbn. · 0 – perc. (glock. · vib. · xyl.) (1 performer) – hp. · cel. – str. (0 · 0 · 4 · 6 · 4)

Composition year(s)

1972

World premiere

1972-09-16

Berliner Festwochen · Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester · Christoph von Dohnáhnyi, conductor · Karlheinz Zöller, flute · Lothar Koch, oboe

Movements

I Calmo, con tenerezza
II Allegro corrente – Poco rubato – Presto capriccioso

Comment of the composer on the work

Another work based on subtly differentiated beats is the Double Concerto for flute, oboe and orchestra (1972), in which woodwinds are dominant in the orchestra. Yet this is not a quarter-tone piece, and the fluctuations of pitch are irregular. I notated the microtonal deviations in the solo flute (occasionally in the first orchestral flute as well) by means of special fingerings. For the oboe, however, it was more practical to indicate fluctuations of pitch with small arrows, the oboe being extremely susceptible to changing configurations of the mouth and the minutest alterations in pressure of the lips and teeth. The sound of the oboe and that of the flute could not be more antithetical sonorities; there is a world of difference between a vibrating column of air and a vibrating reed.

Publisher

Schott

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