Description
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Intermezzo. The 4th movement of Bela Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is arranged here for flute choir. The voicing of 4 flutes, with alto and bass flutes requires players of advanced level throughout. The fourth movement, “Intermezzo interrotto” (literally “interrupted intermezzo”), consists of a flowing melody with changing time signatures, intermixed with a theme that quotes the song “Da geh’ ich zu Maxim” from Franz Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow, which had recently also been referenced in the ‘invasion’ theme of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad”. Whether Bartók was parodying Lehár, Shostakovich, or both has been hotly disputed, without any clinching evidence either way. Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra is a challenging, fascinating and exciting piece to play requiring both technique and musicality. This arrangement of the Intermezzo provides an opportunity for exploring the complexities of Bartók’s music.
