Rihm: Verwandlung 2, für Orchester

According to Wolfgang Rihm’s remarks about Verwandlung 2, the title Verwandlung (‘Metamorphosis’) refers to a musical process whose basic unity is subjected to constant change. The basis of the piece is thus the idea of permanent transformation. It begins pianissimo: of the whole large orchestra (two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, bass tuba, timpani and percussion (one player each), harp and strings), only the first violins and two solo cellos are heard at the beginning. The two-bar motif which they expose is a kind of germinal cell, from which the generation of the whole work ensues. While this germination proceeds in the form of a continual weaving in and out of short phrases, this initial motif remains omnipresent in manifold variants – at times scarcely still recognisable except as distinct memory, then once again emerging clearly. Gradually more wind and string instruments are added, plus harp, but the instrumentation remains transparent and the impression of delicacy is maintained. The brass remain silent until the voice of a muted trumpet introduces a new colour into the sound world, whereupon in a further phrase (Meno mosso, fließend) the two trumpets are joined by the horns. The ongoing development glides imperceptibly into the next session (Andante), and now for the first time all the instruments are used. Here the strings fan out into divided parts, the scene becomes more animated (Subito un poco più mosso, inquieto). A section bearing the heading 'Con moto', with tremolo woodwinds, awakens memories of the opening, but even as one is listening to these the development proceeds apace, leading to a passage in which the percussion come to the fore. Over and over again recognisable ideas resurface in new guises, at once familiar and alien: an immense diversity of transformational possibilities is extracted from the basic unity of the material.

Programme Gewandhaus Leipzig
(Translation: Peter Burt)