Cimbalom and harmonium are not the first instruments you immediately think of when you think of classical music. Nevertheless, the ever adventurous Ludwig collective will focus on precisely these mavericks during two concerts, on Saturday 26 September at the AVROTROS Friday concert in Utrecht and on Sunday 27-9 in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam.
In 1915, Igor Stravinsky and a friend visited a noisy bar in Geneva. When the owner requested silence for a gypsy musician and his cimbalom, he stormed to the front, snatched a cuff from his shirt and enthusiastically wrote down the notes played on it. Fascinated by the rich sound of the trapeze-shaped, baton-played Hungarian chopping board he immediately purchased one himself, after which he frequently incorporated it into his compositions.
Very appropriate, then, that Ludwig Stravinsky's originally composed for his children's piano lessons Roller and Polka presents in a version for cimbalom and harmonium, played by Jan Rokyta and Dirk Luijmes respectively. More surprisingly, the two soloists also throw themselves into Debussy's shimmering ballet L'après-midi d'un faun. I am very curious to see how that will sound!
Alongside these arrangements are three original compositions. In 2014, Hungarian Peter Eötvös composed da capo for cimbalom and ensemble, which has its Dutch premiere. Inspired by unfinished sketches by Mozart, it is brimming with unusual timbres and swirling runs. Within the rousing rhythms, the Mozart themes act as beacons of calm and familiarity.
If possible even more compelling is the Cimbalom Concerto by German-Dutch composer and heavy metal guitarist Florian Magnus Maier. Unlike Eötvös, he incorporated typical gypsy themes in it. The combination with rock, heavy metal and more classical sounds produces a vibrant cocktail that will be an exhilarating experience for visitors of the AVROTROS Friday Concert, to say the least; the audience of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ is a bit more used to such crossovers.
Martijn Padding also likes unconventional line-ups and in 2008 wrote his First Harmonium Concerto. We should take that literally: it is not only Padding's first concerto for harmonium, but, as far as we know, even the first ever composed. With its soft sound, the reformed 'psalm pump' seems totally unsuitable for a solo role, but the contrary is proved by the contrary by the contrarian Padding. In the first movement, the instrument seems to trip over its own runs, in the second it sounds solemnly like a church organ, in the final movement it serves up jolly fairground tunes. Never does the soloist get snowed under by the ensemble.
The evening will conclude with the renowned Pavane by Gabriel Fauré. Whether it holds up in a setting for cimbalom, harmonium and regular orchestral instruments? I'm going to hear it next weekend.
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