Concerto Giocondo E Severo Op. 132

Concerto giocondo e severo (Cheerful and Serious Concerto) Op. 132 for Orchestra by Vagn Holmobe (1977).

Programme note

Concertogiocondo e severo was composed in 1977 and first performed in the following year on  18th April by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra during a vist to Gothenburg with Jorma Panula conducting. This work is scored for a muchlarger orchestra than the other conertos (including a large percussion section), but the orchestration is relatively transparent. It is only occasionally that everybody is on the pitch at the same time. The concerto is inonemovement, but is divided into a succession of different tempi and sections that contrast with each other in character. A fortissimo chord from the whole orchestra starts the the slow, somewhat tentative introduction.But another fortissimo outbreak is required before strings and the woodwinds together prononunce the beginning of the first rapid section.

Knud Ketting