David Philip Hefti: orchestral works & chamber music

Orchestral works and chamber music

antiphon Concerto for cello and orchestra

antiphon was commissioned by the Zurich Tonhalle Society in 2010 and is dedicated to the soloist Thomas Grossenbacher, the conductor David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra.

My Cello Concerto antiphon consists of two movements connected by a bridge tone. The first sentence, flickering, is in constant motion, which can be seen both in large form in the form of a huge accelerando and in small form in the micro-contrapuntal animation of supposedly stationary sound surfaces. The solo introduction of the cello can be regarded as a ›real‹ visiting card, since its sound material was generated from the names of the dedicatees and serves as the nucleus of the entire composition. In the second sentence, in the quiet Adagio, the harmony is condensed by micro-intervals and natural tones (quarter, fifth, sixth and twelfth tones). This sonority dissolves into a four-tone chord, that of the solo cello supported is played before the eternally long final tone begins.

uphill 3 states of matter for soprano, flute, violin, cello and piano
based on a poem by Felix Philipp Ingold

uphill was commissioned by the Ensemble Amaltea in 2010 and is dedicated to the musicians Sylvia Nopper, Isabelle Schnöller, Keiko Yamaguchi, Judith Gerster and Eva Schwaar.

In my composition uphill I set the poem of the same name by the Swiss author Felix Philipp Ingold to music. The body state of the language of this three-part poem evaporates from stanza to stanza, while the content goes through the opposite process - that is, condenses. My music is an attempt to trace this phenomenon.

Guggisberg Variations String Quartet No. 2

The Guggisberg Variations were created in 2008 on behalf of the Amar Quartet and are dedicated to Princess Melinda Esterházy de Galántha, Fränzi Frick and the Amar Quartet.

In my second string quartet, consisting of 7 movements, I deal with what is probably the most intimate Swiss folk song, the Guggisberg song. The melody in minor has under the title The shepherd's loneliness in the song collection The boy's miracle horn, edited by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. The six variations each refer to the folk song in their own way and using a wide range of expressive possibilities. In the first movement it appears almost untouched, almost as an overture.

Poeme lunar for viola and piano

Poeme lunar was commissioned by the violist Michel Rouilly in 2008 and is dedicated to him, Bettina Sutter and Hans J. Bär.

The flickering introductory bars open up space for a pull that is nourished by the constant concentration of motifs, harmonies, meters and actions and finally flows into a whirlpool of noise. The following cantabile sequences dissolve into a sparse ending, which uses natural tones and micro-intervals in both the viola and the piano.

sound arc Music for Orchestra

sound arc was created in 2009 on behalf of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (LSO) with the support of the Landis & Gyr Cultural Foundation. The composition is dedicated to the conductor Michael Sanderling and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.

In my orchestral music sound arc different soundscapes develop from a single sound thread. These soundscapes gain more and more contour through rhythmic structures. At the same time, their organic structure is disturbed by a series of brief interventions – external influences. After a final break, the music stops and a process of dissolution is initiated: the harmony is expanded by micro-intervals and natural tones (quarter, fifth, sixth and twelfth tones) to a sublime sonority, a wide range of multiphonic and fragile sounds prevails. The orchestra is thinned out until only a lonely solo cello remains.

David Philip Hefti