Shadows for orchestra

for flute, clarinet and orchestra

Commissioned by Land Baden-Württemberg

Description

First performance: March 1996 – Ludwigshafen, Baden-Baden
Südwestfunk Orch.
Conductor: Hans Zender
Dagmar Becker-flute, Wolfgang Mayer, clarinet

 

Curiosity about what deviates from the norm is a prerequisite in Peter Eötvös compositions. This is evident from, amongst other things, his renunciation of standard dispositions of the orchestra on the podium. In Shadows, sounds form objects in a space through which they move, stand out against each other, cast shadows and become shadows themselves. The key to understanding this imaginary theatre of “sound movements” lies in the selection of instruments and in their staggered arrangement on the stage, which follows a precise plan.

 

The small orchestra is divided into four parts. Two groups of strings are placed on the left and right of the stage, forming a distanced stereophonic layer of sound. In front of them, on the left, is the woodwind section, and on the right the brass: both groups face away from the audience and with their backs to the centre of the stage, where the protagonists of this “sound scenario” are to be found: flute and clarinet.

Read further

The instrumental groups act as “shadows” of the two soloists: the woodwind “shadow” the flute, the brass “shadow” the clarinet. Yet the division of instrumental space goes even further. The celeste forms a tonal shroud around the clarinet and the timpani, who are set up in the backgorund and in turn form the “shadows” of the small drum positioned alongside the solo instruments, which acts as a tonal and rhythmic prompt. finally, amplification through loudspeakers extends the differentiated stereophonic sound into the hall and, beyond that, into the listener’s imagination, creating another imaginary space.
When playing pianissimo, the two wind soloists are meant to be audible only through the loudspeakers. This creates an intimate situation in which sounds whisper simultaneously in the listener’s ears. The celeste and drums are assigned exclusively to this imaginary dimension of the speakers’ sound.

A sequence of three strongly contrasted movements locates Shadows within the formal framework of the traditional solo or double concerto. The first movement (‘Breathless, rushed’) twice exposes a rising melody, which finally dissolves into background sounds. The virtuosic second movement, with its motoric rhythmes, has an almost jokey character. The confessional third movement, however, moves further into the ‘Realm of shadows’. It begins with strings playing their lower registers in a ‘Funeral Dance’ (a traditional death ritual in Eötvös’s native land, Transylvania, but also in Indian and Asiatic cultures) before the music flows into a long, intimate dialogue between the two solo instruments, leading to a cadence subtly enveloped in the sound of the celeste and a few other instruments. Here again, as in the two first movements, the final word is had by the small drum and a closing hi-hat: the withdrawal of sound into the shadow realm of noise.
/Max Nyffeler/
Translated by Frank Monaghan

Performances

9 May, 2021
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

Ligeti Ensemble
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music
9 May, 2021
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

Durkó: Fire Music
Eötvös: Shadows
Boulez: Dérive 1
Birtwistle:Secret Theatre
Ligeti-Ensemble
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music
14 Jul, 2020
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

Ligeti Ensemble
conductor: Zoltán Rácz
Venue: Budapest Music Center, Hungary
24 Nov, 2017
San Sebastián, Spain

Eötvös: Shadows

Pedro Dominguez, viola
Jorge Gallardo, viola
Inga Freyrsdóttir, flute
Noelia Rodríguez, klarinetea

 

Conductor: Peter Eötvös
5 Nov, 2017
Vienna, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Sonata per sei, Chinese Opera

Klangforum Wien ensemble
cond.: Peter Eötvös
1 Nov, 2017
Hamburg, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows, Sonata per sei, Chinese Opera

Klangforum Wien ensemble
cond.: Peter Eötvös
1 Aug, 2016
Salzburg, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Sonata per sei, Chinese Opera

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Klangforum Ensemble
25 Apr, 2014
Madrid, Spain

Eötvös: Shadows

Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
30 Mar, 2014
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

UMZE Ensemble
cond.: Zoltan Racz
Budapest Spring Festival
Budapest Music Center
31 Jan, 2014
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

UMZE Ensemble
conductor: Zoltan Rách
Budapest Music Center, Hungary
31 Jan, 2014
Lille, France

Eötvös: Shadows

Orchestre National de Lille
conductor: Maxime Pascal
26 Aug, 2012
Lucerne, Switzerland

Eötvös: Shadows

Luzern Music Festival

Murail: Terre d´ombre
Eötvös: Shadows
Ives: 4th Symphony
Cond: Peter Eötvös
Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra
26 Jan, 2011
London, UK

Eötvös: Shadows

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Cond: Vladimir Jurowsky
Susan Thomas, flute
Nicolas Carpenter, clarinet
Royal Festival Hall
29 Jan, 2009
New York, USA

Eötvös: Shadows, Encore, Octet plus, Psy, Derwischtanz, Snatches of a conversation

Composer portrait

Cond: Peter Eötvös

Carnegie Hall
16 Mar, 2008
Lyon, France

Eötvös: Shadows

Lyon Biennale
Nouvel Ensemble Modern
Conductor: Daniel Kawka
9 Nov, 2007
Essen, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

Ensemble Folkwang Modern

Conductor: Zsolt Nagy
28 Oct, 2007
Baden-Baden, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

SWR Orchestra

Cond: Eva Fodor
26 Oct, 2007
Karlsruhe, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

SWR Orchestra

Cond: Eva Fodor
19 Mar, 2007
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

UMZE Ensemble
Conductor: Zoltán Rácz
26 Feb, 2007
Salamanca, Spain

Eötvös: Shadows

Orchestra de Conservatorio Superior de Musica Salamanca
Cond: Zsolt Nagy
3 Jun, 2006
Schwetzingen, Germany

Eötvös: Steine, Shadows

Eötvös: Steine
Eötvös: Shadows
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Schubert: Deutsche Tänze
Berg: Kammerkonzert

Cond: Peter Eötvös

Ensemble Modern
16 May, 2006
Paris, France

Eötvös: Shadows

Eötvös: Shadows
Strauss: Metamorphoses
Schönberg: Kammersinfonie

Conservatoire Superieur
27 Nov, 2005
Basel, Switzerland

Eötvös: Shadows

Ligeti: Kammerkonzert
Dallapiccola
Lutoslawski
Webern: Ricercare
Eötvös: Shadows

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Basel Musikhochschule
25 Nov, 2005
Basel, Switzerland

Eötvös: Shadows

Ligeti: Kammerkonzert
Dallapiccola
Lutoslawski
Webern: Ricercare
Eötvös: Shadows

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Basel Musikhochschule
24 Feb, 2005
Hamburg, Germany

Eötvös: Kosmos, Korrespondenz, Shadows

Eötvös: Kosmos (Grau/Schumacher, piano duo)
Eötvös: Shadows (NDR Symph. Orch.)
Eötvös: Korrespondenz (Pellegrini Quartet)

Cond: Peter Eötvös
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
7 Oct, 2004
Gütersloh, Germany

Eötvös: Chinese Opera, Shadows, Two poems to Polly, Windsequenzen, Snatches of a conversation

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Ensemble Modern
6 Oct, 2004
Dortmund, Germany

Eötvös: Chinese Opera, Shadows, Two poems to Polly, Windsequenzen, Snatches of a conversation

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Ensemble Modern
20 Jul, 2004
Szombathely, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

International Bartók Festival, July 10-21

Csaba Klenyán, clarinet
Márta Szalai, flute
Savaria Symphony Orchestra
Conductors: students and Zoltán Peskó (professor)
18 Jul, 2003
Szombathely, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

International Bartók Festival

Cond: Peter Eötvös
Savaria Symph. Orch.
20 Feb, 2003
Stockholm, Sweden

Eötvös: Shadows

Ensemble concert
Cond: Peter Eötvös
1 Sep, 2002
Strasbourg, France

Eötvös: Chinese Opera, Shadows

Rouen Orch.
Cond: Oswald Sallaberger

Musica Festival
10 Mar, 2002
Brussels, Belgium

Eötvös: Chinese Opera, Shadows

L'Orchestre Léonard De Vinci / Opéra de Rouen
Cond: Oswald Sallaberger
10 Jul, 2001
Avignon, France

Eötvös: Psy, Two poems to Polly, Kosmos, Windsequenzen, Shadows, Korrespondenz 

Psy
Two poems to Polly
Kosmos  (two piano version)
Windsequenzen (UMZE Ensemble Budapest)
Shadows (UMZE Ensemble Budapest)
Korrespondenz (Arditti quartet)

10-25 July
UMZE Chamber Ensembe Budapest
10 Oct, 2000
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

Budapest Autumn Festival, Hungary
UMZE Ensemble
Conductor: Zsolt Nagy
25 Jul, 2000
Salzburg, Austria

Eötvös: Replica, Shadows

Mozarteum
Camerata Academica
Kim Kashkashian, viola
Conductor: Peter Eötvös

 
14 May, 2000
London, UK

Eötvös: Chinese Opera, Shadows, 600 Impulse

London Sinfonietta,
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
4 Apr, 2000
New York ,USA

Eötvös: Shadows

Julliard School
New Juilliard Ensemble
Julietta Curenton, flute, Dimitar Moskovsky, clarinet
Conductor: Joel Sachs
9 Oct, 1999
Paris, France

Eötvös: Shadows

Ensemble InterContemporain
conducted by Pierre Boulez
26 Apr, 1999
Los Angeles, USA

Eötvös: Shadows

Los Angeles Philharmony Orch.
17 Apr, 1999
Miami, USA

Eötvös: Shadows

New World Symphony Orch.
5 Feb, 1999
Stuttgart, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

Klangforum Ensemble Wien
31 Jan, 1999
Vienna, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Chinese Opera, Steine

Klangforum Ensemble Wien
30 Jan, 1999
Vienna, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Chinese Opera, Steine

Klangforum Ensemble Wien
29 Jan, 1999
Vienna, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Chinese Opera

Marino Formenti, piano
Florian Müller, piano
Eva Furrer, flute
Bernhard Zachhuber, clarinet

Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Klangforum Wien
29 Jan, 1999
Vienna, Austria

Eötvös: Shadows, Chinese Opera, Steine

Klangforum Ensemble Wien
18 Nov, 1998
Berkeley, USA

Eötvös: Shadows

Berkeley Symph. Orch.
conducted by Kent Nagano
24 Mar, 1997
Budapest, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows

Radio recording, March 24- April 5

Steve Reich: Tehillim
Eötvös: Shadows

Cond: Peter Eötvös
26 Jan, 1997
Bruxelles, Belgium

Eötvös: Shadows

Carl Ruggles
Roosendal
Harrison Birtwistle

Cond: Peter Eötvös

RKO

 
25 Jan, 1997
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Eötvös: Shadows

Carl Ruggles
Roosendal
Harrison Birtwistle

Cond: Peter Eötvös

RKO

 
23 Jul, 1996
Szombathely, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows, Psalm 151

International Bartók Festival

Cond: Peter Eötvös

 
22 Jul, 1996
Szombathely, Hungary

Eötvös: Shadows, Psalm 151

International Bartók Festival

Cond: Peter Eötvös

 
15 Mar, 1996
Baden-Baden, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

Soloists: Becker, Meyer

SWF Symph. Orch.

Conductor: Hans Zender

 
12 Mar, 1996
Ludwigshafen, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

Soloists: Becker, Meyer

SWF Symph. Orch.

Conductor: Hans Zender

 
11 Mar, 1996
Ludwigshafen, Germany

Eötvös: Shadows

Eötvös: Shadows (world premiere)

Soloists: Becker, Meyer

SWF Symph. Orch.

Conductor: Hans Zender

 

Details

Genre:
Duration:
15 minutes
Date:
1996

Publisher information

Edition Ricordi München (Sy 3318)
https://www.ricordi.com/en-US/Catalogue.aspx/details/441491

Orchestration     

TITLE Dur. Soloists & choir fl ob cl bcl bn   hn tpt tbn tba   perc pf hp   vn1 vn2 va vc db Other Tech
Shadows for orchestra
Concerto		15'fl,​cl11021 2110 100 80642sax,​cel,​ timpamp

picc., ob., bcl, cbcl, bassoon,/ 2 horn, trumpet (picc.tr.), trombone, bariton sax./timpani, percussion, celesta/strings: 8.0.6.4.2.
(fl., cl., perc. and cel. amplified)

Sound

Recordings