Fantasia for Strings (Henze)

Fantasia for Strings (German: Fantasia für Streicher) is a composition by German composer Hans Werner Henze. It was finished in 1966, as part of the soundtrack for Volker Schlöndorff's film adaptation of Robert Musil's novel The Confusions of Young Törless.[1] This composition has been published by Schott Music.

Composition

Fantasia for Strings is an abridged concert version of the full score for Der junge Törless, which has never been published and has only been performed for the film. Henze finished both the film score and the Fantasia in 1966, and he chose specifically Renaissance instruments for the film score recording, for it was purposely composed to resemble the baroque style. The Fantasia was eventually first performed on April 1, 1967, in Berlin, by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Zender.[1] Part of the Fantasia is played over the closing credits of the 1973 horror film The Exorcist.[2][3]

Structure

The structure of this composition is a controversial topic, for it is unclear in the score how many movements it consists of. In the published version, the index includes seven movements; however, in the score, only six movements are listed.[4] Some experts have stated that the work could be considered as a four-movement composition, because movements one, two, and three all resemble one another, creating thus a tripartite adagio and are used in the movie as the Törless family arrives at the school.[1] According to the score itself, the movement list should be as follows:[5]

According to the score disposition:
  1. Adagio
  2. Tempo eines Trauermarsch
  3. Espressivo
  4. Allegro – Poco meno mosso
  5.  
  1. Air
  2. Pastorale
  3. Air
  1.  
  1. Vivace
  2. Epilogo
 According to the index:
  1. Adagio
  2. Tempo eines Trauermarsch
  3. Espressivo
  4. Allegro
  5. Air
  6. Vivace
  7. Epilogo

The composition is scored for violins I, violins II, violas, cellos and double basses. However, Henze uses the divisi a number of times throughout the whole composition, to the point that some of the voices can be divided into more than four staves.[4] A performance takes about 16 minutes.

Notable recordings

This composition has been very rarely performed, even though it has been featured in other audiovisual products. The following is a list of recordings of Henze's Fantasia:

Orchestra Conductor Record company Year of recording Format
Collegium Musicum Zürich Paul Sacher Deutsche Grammophon 1968 CD[6]
Camerata Salzburg Leonidas Kavakos Orfeo 2003 CD[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Walsh, Stephen. Henze: Double Concerto · Sonata · Fantasia - Heinz Holliger/Ursula Holliger/Paul Sacher. Deutsche Grammophon.
  2. ^ "Henze: Complete Deutsche Grammophon Recordings" Archived 2014-04-26 at the Wayback Machine by Brett Allen-Bayes, Limelight, 9 January 2014
  3. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2002). "The Exorcist (1973)". Horror Films of the 1970s. McFarland. p. 263. ISBN 9780786491568.
  4. ^ a b Henze, Hans Werner (1967). Fantasia für Streicher. Schott Music. Please note that the index is in page 6. The score can be accessed through the link provided in the "External links" section. In page 7, the cello part is divided into 5 different staves.
  5. ^ "Hans Werner Henze - Fantasia, for strings or string sextet (from film Der junge Törless)". Allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation Ltd. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Hans Werner Henze - Fantasia für Streicher/for Strings - Sonata per Archi - Doppio concerto". Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH. 1996. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  7. ^ "Leonidas Kavakos Performs Stamitz, Haydn, Henze, Mozart". Munich: Orfeo International Music GmbH. 2005. Retrieved February 8, 2014.