Hesketh, K. (2016) Concerto salmigondis. [Composition]
Abstract
For chamber orchestra (2. (2 = picc). 2. 2. 2/ 2. 2. 0. 0/Timps; Harpsichord; Harp/Strings), duration 15 minutes. "The result of a commission from the Britten Sinfonia to write for their academy orchestra (and Sinfonia soloists), Concerto Salmigondis takes its name from the musical form called the pasticcio (literally pasty in Italian); A musical work built from an adaptation of an existing work (or works). The word salmigondis is a synonym for pasticcio (salmigondis is a French word meaning a disparate assembly of things or salad). The extant works that this piece is based comes from music written when I was between fourteen and seventeen years old. The commission requested that some aspect of Handel’s life, found in the Fitzwilliam Museum music collection in Cambridge, be included in the work. My choice of the pasticcio form was fortuitous as Handel worked with this form throughout his life. The extra-musical element present in the work comes from Joseph Goupy’s painting “The Charming Brute”, also housed at the Fitzwilliam museum, which suggested the title for one of the movements of the Concerto. A carillon part from the collection (from the final chorus of Part 1 of L’Allegro “Or let the merry bells ring round”) is the backbone for that movement. Loosely based on the Concerto Grosso form, similar to those found in Handel’s Op. 6 concerti, it is in five sections - Intrada, Lento, Leggiero – The Charming Brute, Musette and Hop Jig. The antique titles and forms of the movements have been freely interpreted and, if one is frank, resulted in a neoclassicisation of my style for this particular work. The concept of the concertino and ripieno groups from the Concerto Grosso form is utilized (mostly formed of principle strings and harpsichord, but also, in the ‘Brute’ movement, of various groups of flutes, oboes and brass); The reworking of the originals includes extensions and recastings as well as the imposition of various episodes for the concertino groups on the extant materials’ formal arcs. This frequently meant taking the originals down very different compositional routes than my teenage self intended. The reworking of the originals includes extensions and recastings as well as the imposition of various episodes for the concertino groups on the extant materials’ formal arcs. This frequently meant taking the originals down very different compositional routes than my teenage self intended. The resulting work therefore is in no way a Handelian pastiche, but more of a jeu d'esprit." Kenneth Hesketh ©2017
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