Judit Varga
Shattered Sun
Short instrumentation: 2 2 3 2 - 4 4 4 1, timp, perc(3), hp, str
Duration: 14'
Instrumentation details:
1st flute (+picc)
2nd flute (+picc)
1st oboe
2nd oboe
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
3rd clarinet in Bb (+bass cl(Bb))
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon (+cbsn)
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
4th horn in F
1st trumpet in C
2nd trumpet in C
3rd trumpet in C
4th trumpet in C
bass trombone
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion (3 players)
harp
violin I (10 players)
violin II (8 players)
viola (6 players)
violoncello (6 players)
double bass (4 players)
Shattered Sun
Sample pages
Video
Work introduction
This piece was commissioned by the Musikverein Graz for its 210th anniversary. The composition is intended as a prelude to Mahler's Titan. Ideally, the piece should be performed as follows:
Shattered Sun should be played first in the concert. After the last bars of this piece, Gustav Mahler's 1st Symphony follows without interruption. Ideally, it is neither acoustically nor visually noticeable when one piece ends and the other begins. Attention should be paid to the conductor's body language as well as to noises and restlessness caused by the players turning pages or changing notes.
It is also possible to perform this composition as an independent work without Mahler's 1st Symphony. In this case, an imperceptible fade in should be played at the beginning of the piece and an imperceptible fade out at the end.