Work of the Week – Joerg Widmann: 7 Capricci

Reverent chorales alongside circus music – a contradiction? Joerg Widmann unites the alleged opposites in his 7 Capricci for saxophone quartet. On 4 March 2022 the Spanish Kebyart Ensemble will present the British premiere in London’s Jarewood Hall at LSO St. Luke’ s.  

From sacred seriousness to exuberant comedy – the 7 Capricci by Joerg Widmann

The Kebyart Ensemble premiered 7 Capricci last October in Luxembourg. The varied characters in each of the seven short movements give the saxophone quartet scope to expose the great versatility of their instruments: Rhythmically complex chromatic runs in the first piece "Ascensió" are followed by melodies reminiscent of the Viennese waltz. While in "Noises" and "Keys" the focus is not on tones but on noises, the two chorales are characterised by slow vibrato vibrations and sound surfaces. The finale is "Circus Parade" which offers a virtuoso homage to the composer Wilhelm Killmayer. The pieces take us on a journey "from sacred seriousness to exuberant comedy", according to Widmann.

"Over the years the saxophone quartet genre had been rather unfamiliar to me – until I heard the Kebyart Ensemble.The homogeneity and virtuosity of the sound of these four young Catalonian saxophonists made me want to write for this instrumentation." Joerg Widmann

The Kebyart Ensemble continues the tour of European concert halls: 

on 7 March in Paris, 12 March in Dortmund, 2 April in Katowice, 24 April in Barcelona, 11 May in Amsterdam and 10 September in Ernen, Switzerland.

If this work has inspired you to explore more of Widmann's music, see the recently published catalogue of his works by Schott below. It is available for download and promises an eclectic overview of Widmann's work to date.

• Joerg Widmann: Composer profile
• 7 Capricci: Work details
• 7 Capricci in London
• Kebyart Ensemble
• Widmann catalogue of Works at Schott
• Widmann catalogue of Works at issuu

                                     

 photo: ©IGOR STUDIO