Concerto in Tempi

In English

Concerto in Tempi (2012)
Accordion and piano

Concerto in Tempi is about time – both slow and fast – laid in layers on top of each other. Long themes and small motifs, in various time signatures and tempos, swirl between each other and blend into a texture of voices that slowly change and ebb away, like the pure colored light from a glass mosaic in a church as darkness falls.

Mobile
Mobile is a musical technique where distinct layers of music – each with individual tempos, meters, and styles – are combined within a simple chordal pattern. This pattern slowly modulates through all keys in a never-ending sequence, creating music with very few dissonances.

The technique combines several musical methods developed in earlier works:
1. The use of multiple musical layers, a central part of my music since 2000.
2. A simple repeating sequence of chords as the sole harmonic material, creating a sense of constant motion through never-ending modulation.
3. The ‘rhythm across harmony’ principle, where melodic motifs are played in independent tempos against the rhythmic pulse of the chords.

The work is available in several versions: the original for accordion and piano (1st edition 2010, 2nd edition 2012) and arrangements for accordion with string orchestra, string quintet, string quartet, or cello quartet (2012).

Dedicated to Bjarke Mogensen and David Lau Magnussen.

Duration: app. 11 min

Martin Lohse 2012

In Danish

Concerto in Tempi (2012)
Akkordeon og klaver

Concerto in Tempi handler om tid – både langsom og hurtig – lagt som lag ovenpå hinanden. Lange temaer og små motiver, i forskellige taktarter og tempoer, hvirvler rundt mellem hinanden og blandes sammen i et væv af stemmer, der langsomt forandres og ebber ud, ligesom det rene farvede lys fra en glasmosaik i en kirke, efterhånden som mørket falder på.

Mobile
Mobile er en musikteknik, hvor forskellige musikalske lag i individuelle tempi, metrikker og stilarter kombineres i et simpelt akkordmønster. Dette mønster modulerer langsomt gennem alle tonearter i en uendelig sekvens, hvilket skaber musik med få dissonanser.

Teknikken kombinerer metoder udviklet i tidligere værker:
1. Brug af flere lag, som har været en vigtig del af min musik siden 2000.
2. En simpel, repeterende akkordsekvens som det eneste harmoniske materiale, hvilket skaber musik i konstant bevægelse gennem uendelig modulation.
3. Princippet ‘rytme på tværs af harmonik’, hvor melodiske motiver spilles i individuelle tempi mod akkordernes rytme.

Værket findes i flere versioner: Originaludgaven for akkordeon og klaver (1. udgave 2010, 2. udgave 2012) samt udgaver for akkordeon og henholdsvis strygeorkester, strygekvintet, strygekvartet eller cellokvartet (2012).

Tilegnet Bjarke Mogensen og David Lau Magnussen.

Varighed: ca. 11 min

Martin Lohse 2012