Capriccio
5th Chamber Concert / Richard Strauss: »Till Eulenspiegel« / Pablo de Sarasate: »Navarra« op. 33 for Two Violins and Piano / Leoš Janáček: Capriccio for Piano (left hand) and Wind Ensemble
Alter Saal
Richard Strauss had planned to write an opera based on the story of Till Eulenspiegel. This composition later became a symphonic poem. Feared by horn players for its solo parts, this work was arranged for brass instruments by Clément Schuppert, solo trumpet player of the Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg.
Created in 1889, Pablo de Sarasate's »Navarra« op. 33 is a tribute to the region in the North of Spain where he was born in 1844. The duo was written for two violins in the jota style, a fast dance with complicated steps, usually in a 3/8 rhythm. Sarasate's composition emphasises the spirit and the vitality of the dance.
»Capriccio«: One of Leoš Janácek's last chamber music works was created in the autumn of 1926 on the impulse of Otakar Hollmann (1894–1967), a pianist and World War I invalid encouraging composers to write for the left hand. Complying with his request, Janáček said that he nevertheless didn't want to compose a »dance for one leg«. Instead, he wrote a work in four movements based on free associations about military music, scored for piano and wind ensemble. Premiered in 1928, Janáček's »Capriccio« is a wild mix of polkas, marches, waltzes and sentimental songs: A concert piece with flying sparks and sweeping sounds.