Helmut Lachenmann - My Melodies [w/score]

Helmut Lachenmann -
My Melodies 
for 8 horns and orchestra
"Berliner Fassung", 2016-2018/2019

NB. This piece had many revisions made by composer. I only own the score of the "Berlin version", which appeared only in this particular recording I used. Unfortunately this recording omitted the cadenza of 8 horn players, so I made an appendix with another recording to show this extract with the score. The other recordings are played from the score which was revised in 2023 and had many changes. You can study the beginning extract of the newest score on issuu: https://issuu.com/breitkopf/docs/mm_2...
On the other hand, the score I present varies a bit from the recording - some elements were deleted, few bars cutted etc.

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Performers:
Horn section of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks: Carsten Duffin, Ursula Kepser, Thomas Ruh, Ralf Springmann, Norbert Dausacker, François Bastian, Marlene Pschorr (guest), Marcin Sikorski
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Péter Eötvös - conductor

   • Lachenmann - My Melodies | Peter Eötvös | ...   - here is a video recording of the same performance

Performers of appendix:
Horn section and orchestra as above
Matthias Hermann - conductor
Norbert Ommer - sound director
(from BR-KLASSIK CD 900643)

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TIME-STAMPS:
0:00 - composers' portrait, front matter (see below)
0:08 - My Melodies
36:31 - Appendix: cadenza of 8 horn soloists

Unfortunately I have no explanation key to this piece. But as you can see on issuu, there is actually no explanation key, unless it is printed seperately, as it is the case of some rental only works published by Breitkopf & Härtel, for example Lachenmann's "Concertini". Fortunately, Lachenmann used in this piece primarly notations already explaines in previous pieces of his.

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Helmut Lachenmann, born in Stuttgart in 1935, is one of the most renowned German composers of contemporary music. He studied piano, music theory and counterpoint in Stuttgart and composition with Luigi Nono in Venice. The first public performances of his works took place in 1962 at the Venice Biennale and at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. He taught composition in Hanover (1976-1981) and in Stuttgart (1981-1999), and gave numerous master classes in Germany and abroad. His works are performed by internationally renowned players and orchestras all over the world. Helmut Lachenmann has received numerous awards, most recently the GEMA German Music Authors' Prize for his life's work (2015).
(Source: https://www.brso.de/en/cd-dvd/helmut-...)

I always have to do what I cannot do. And the story with the eight horns is simple: During the rehearsals of my opera “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” (The Little Match Girl), which also includes eight horns, a partial rehearsal was held with the horn players only. And that sounded so beautiful – more beautiful than the whole opera. I then thought: This is a new device! There are no soloists in the classical sense, where each one plays a virtuoso figure or the like. These eight – they are one instrument. It's not about new sounds, it's about new listening. But in order to set the antennas to this energy of listening, I had to suspend the view on the melody first. That was a reason to avoid the ‘melodious’ or at least to keep it totally in check. Now everyone is waiting for a melody and, of course, I am going to disappoint them all.
My Melodies are exactly not ‘my melodies’ – they don’t exist – but Frank Sinatra sends his regards: They convey ‘my way’ of melodies in the creative handling of the sounding means.
(Helmut Lachenmann, 2018)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_...

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I do not own neither the score, nor the recordings used in this video. This is only for educational purposes. If the video violates any copyright laws, please contact me: [email protected]