Emil Hlobil - Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra, Op.70 (1967-68)

Emil Hlobil - Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra, Op.70 (1967-68) Emil Hlobil (11 October 1901 – 25 January 1987) was a Czech composer and music professor based in Prague. Hlobil was born in Veselí nad Lužnicí, but lived most of his life in Prague. Between 1924 and 1930 he studied at the Prague Conservatory under Josef Suk and Jaroslav Křička, and taught music and composition at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He also taught at the Prague Conservatory (1941–1958) before moving to the Academy. He married Czech painter Marie-Hlobilová Mrkvičková, and after World War II they bought a cottage in the Krkonoše mountains as a summer home. Hlobil died in Prague in 1987. The Concerto for Contrabass and Orchestra, op. 70, in three movements, was written in 1967-68. The first movement "Allegro Assai" is being developed on the plot of a sonata. Two introductory bars of the orchestra and four bars of agitated invocations of the contrabass are a quasi introduction. It is only after them that the first theme sets in, presented twice and, at no.2, relieved by an accessory idea completing the moment of the first theme by a rhythmically capricious element. At no.3 sets in a contradictory second theme whose melodiousness is being interspersed with rhythmical interjections. A short interstage at no.5 lets out a performance whose structure is rather made up both of the matter of secondary elements of the exposition and of new motifs. A brief reprise (since no. 11) is literally repeating only a small part of the music of the exposition, for the most part from the range of the first subject. At no.13, it passes over to a short coda. The second movement "Lento" is based on the alternation of the surfaces according to the scheme A (until no. 1) - B (until no. 3) - A (until two bars after no. 5) - C (until one bar after no. 6) - A (until two bars after no. 7) - coda. The recurring surfaces are always arranged in a new way. The third movement "Allegro con Brio" is a lively rondo. The recurring surfaces are extended in a new way with the use of operational technique. The central surface A (to no. 2) is based on two contrastive ideas. After surface B (until the 4th bar after no. 3) is an utterly different A (until no. 5) and C with a contrastive rhythmic disconnection (until no. 7). A further A is again transformed with operational elements (until no. 11). The last B, enhanced by furious execution, is followed by a coda of A elements with a contrabass cadenza. I.Allegro assai - 0:00 II.Lento - 4:52 III.Allegro con brio - 9:09 Double Bass: Václav Fuka Conductor: František Vajnar Orchestra: Musici de Praga #classicalmusic #doublebass #piano #orchestra #scores #hlobil #concerto #hindemith