Andante and Hungarian Rondo

From Wind Repertory Project
Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria von Weber (arr. R. Mark Rogers)


Subtitle: Hungarian Fantasy

This work bears the designation Opus 35.


General Info

Year: 1809 / 2001
Duration: c. 9:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Southern Music Co.
Cost: Score and Parts - $200.00   |   Score Only (print) - $12.50


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo Bassoon
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto or B-flat Contra Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tubas
String Bass
Timpani


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The brief Andante and Hungarian Rondo was originally composed in 1809 for Weber’s violist brother Fritz, while the bassoon transcription was made for the virtuoso player Georg Friedrich Brandt with some inevitably consequent changes. The Rondo’s rhythms emphasize the Hungarian flavor of the music. Weber’s writing exploits fully the facility of the instrument, its agility over a wide range of notes, tonal quality, and its lyrical as well as comical element. It was in March 1810 that he found himself conducting a concert with the Munich Court Orchestra, its programme including a clarinet concertino he had written for Heinrich Bärmann. Its success encouraged the orchestra’s principal players to ask for solo works, so two concertos for clarinet followed in 1811 and, on 28 December, a bassoon concerto for Brandt. He made some revisions in 1822, expression and dynamic indications expanded and some string accompaniments rewritten.

- Program Note by Christopher Fifield


Two compositions for bassoon and orchestra by Carl Maria von Weber stand out in a century when very little bassoon solo repertoire emerged, unlike the eighteenth or twentieth centuries. The Andante e Rondo Ungarese, Op 35, was written in response to the success of his Bassoon Concerto Op 75, and was requested by the bassoonist in the Munich Orchestra, Georg Friedrich Brandt. It is in fact a reworking of an earlier composition -- it began life as a viola solo with orchestra, written for the composer’s brother. Weber’s modifications for the bassoon version are mainly in the solo part, but the character of the work remains essentially the same.

The Andante is a rather plaintive theme in C minor, followed by three variations. In the first, the bassoon provides an accompaniment to a two-part version of the theme on violins alone. The second variation moves into the relative major key of E flat, and in the final variation the bassoon assumes a virtuoso obbligato role with strings and woodwind providing a richly orchestrated version of the melody. A transition leads us directly into the Rondo Ungarese, which is Hungarian in flavor only, largely through the rhythms in the solo line and accompaniment. As always, lyricism is never far away, but the work showcases the virtuosic capabilities of the soloist and concludes with a final flourish.

- Program Note from Michigan State University Wind Symphony concert program, 27 October 2016


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble (Hampton, Va.) (William Garlette, conductor; Jeffrey Wasik, bassoon) - 1 October 2022
  • Dallas (Tx.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor; Laura Bennett Cameron, bassoon) - 24 April 2021
  • St. Louis (Mo.) Wind Symphony (Thomas Poshak, conductor; Jaqueline Wilson, bassoon) – 13 November 2016
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Wind Symphony (Kevin L. Sedatole, conductor; Michael Kroth, bassoon) – 27 October 2016
  • University of Miami (Fla.) Frost Wind Ensemble (Robert Carnochan, conductor; Gabriel Beavers, bassoon) – 22 September 2016
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Concert Band (Courtney Snyder, conductor; Jeffrey Lyman, bassoon) – 5 October 2016
  • United States Navy Band (Kenneth Collins, conductor) – 10 March 2016 (CBDNA 2016 Eastern Division Conference, New London, Conn.)
  • Carrollton Wind Symphony (Jeff Strong, bassoon) – 2011


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

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