Love Songs (Liebeslieder)
For violoncello and orchestra
Commissioned by the Westdeutscher Rund- funk Cologne
Period of composition 1984-85
Duration 25 minutes
I Calm, restrained
II ¼ = 72
III Agitated, intense, stormy
IV Serious, grave
V Tango
VI Sonnet
World premiere
World premiere December 12th, 1986
Köln
Westdeutscher Rundfunk · Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester
Violoncello Heinrich Schiff
Conductor David Shallon
Comment
Behind the originally seven movements (of which I later removed the fifth, using it in “Introduction, Theme and Variations”) lie seven English poems of various dates, spiritual types, and verse-forms, whose internal structure I have analysed and translated into music, specifically in the sense of “Lied com- position”, which was gradually modified into instrumental music.
Hans Werner Henze
Instrumentation
| 2 Flauti | 2° anche Ottavino |
| 1 Flauto contralto | |
| 2 Oboi | |
| 1 Corno inglese | |
| 2 Clarinetti | |
| 1 Clarinetto basso | |
| 3 Fagotti | 3° anche Contro- fagotto |
| 4 Corni | |
| 3 Trombe | |
| 2 Tromboni tenore | |
| 1 Trombone basso | |
| 1 Tuba bassa | |
| Timpani | |
| Percussione I | Cimbali antichi Gong cinesi Tamtam Maracas Guiro |
| Percussione II | Tamburo piccolo Tamburo militare 3 Tomtom Grancassa e piatto Verga |
| Percussione III | Sistri Vibrafono |
| Arpa | |
| Celesta | |
| Pianoforte | |
| Archi |