Triplo concerto barocco

Hans Werner Henze skilfully spans the distance between the Baroque and modern periods in his music for José Montes-Baquer’s film ’Montezuma’ dating from 1980, undertaking an entertaining journey through time and different countries accompanied by the protagonist of this story. Around twenty years later, Henze made a concert version for three quasi-solo instruments and chamber orchestra.
The first movement begins with the tuning of the instruments. This general unrest is followed by an Allegro vivace in which the swinging Baroque dance style gradually breaks out of its harmonic and tonal constraints and is subsequently blended with bizarre rhythms. The concluding Tarantella begins with the virtuoso piano part, building up gradually into a contrapuntal texture incorporating jazz elements and tonal explorations to a dazzling climax.