Lento (Skempton)
Encyclopedia
Lento is a composition for orchestra written by Howard Skempton
in 1990. It was Skempton's third work for large forces, and his first major success.
The piece was commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
. Skempton was to write a piece to be performed between the Prelude from Richard Wagner
's Parsifal
and a Deryck Cooke
completion of Gustav Mahler
's Tenth Symphony
. Skempton initially set out to compose three short pieces to be played in sequence, but afterwards decided on a single large piece. Lento was completed in November 1990; it was premiered on 12 March 1991 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre
concert hall, conducted by Mark Wigglesworth
.
The work is scored for 3 flute
s, 3 oboe
s, cor anglais
, clarinet
, 3 bassoon
s, contrabassoon
, 4 horns
, 3 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, tuba
, timpani
, and strings
. The instrumentation is the same as that of Wagner's Parsifal prelude, although Skempton's use of instruments is very different. Most of Lento is scored for strings alone, and although there's a central section scored for woodwinds, instruments other than strings are generally used to highlight various aspects of the music. The piece comprises 166 bar
s, but the single orchestral tutti occupies only eight. Timpani are used only twice, both times to produce a G trill
.
Like much of Skempton's work, Lento uses precomposed chance
arranged sequences of chords as the basic harmonic material. There are ten sections, and the melodic material is restricted for the most part to just two themes. The opening section presents the "first subject" and establishes the tonic key of G minor. This material is repeated three more times as sections 5, 7 and 10. The second section, which the composer refers to as the "lyrical second subject", is repeated only once as section 9. The tempo (quarter note
= 52) is kept constant throughout the piece. Note value
s are restricted to mostly half note
s and quarter notes.
The piece was very well received; a number of scholarly articles were written about it. Lento was described as "the emancipation of the consonance
" by musicologist Hermann-Christoph Müller.
Howard Skempton
Howard Skempton is a British composer and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped organize the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music...
in 1990. It was Skempton's third work for large forces, and his first major success.
The piece was commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
. Skempton was to write a piece to be performed between the Prelude from Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
and a Deryck Cooke
Deryck Cooke
Deryck Cooke was a British musician, musicologist and broadcaster.-Life:Cooke was born in Leicester to a poor and working class family; his father died when he was a child, but his mother was able to afford piano lessons. Cooke acquired a brilliant technique and began to compose...
completion of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's Tenth Symphony
Symphony No. 10 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 10 by Gustav Mahler was written in the summer of 1910, and was his final composition. At the time of Mahler's death the composition was substantially complete in the form of a continuous draft; but not being fully elaborated at every point, and mostly not orchestrated, it was not...
. Skempton initially set out to compose three short pieces to be played in sequence, but afterwards decided on a single large piece. Lento was completed in November 1990; it was premiered on 12 March 1991 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
concert hall, conducted by Mark Wigglesworth
Mark Wigglesworth
Mark Wigglesworth is a British conductor. Wigglesworth has served as associate conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as musical director of the Opera Factory of London, and music director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales...
.
The work is scored for 3 flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 3 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, cor anglais
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, 3 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
, 4 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, 3 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
. The instrumentation is the same as that of Wagner's Parsifal prelude, although Skempton's use of instruments is very different. Most of Lento is scored for strings alone, and although there's a central section scored for woodwinds, instruments other than strings are generally used to highlight various aspects of the music. The piece comprises 166 bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
s, but the single orchestral tutti occupies only eight. Timpani are used only twice, both times to produce a G trill
Trill (music)
The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill....
.
Like much of Skempton's work, Lento uses precomposed chance
Aleatoric music
Aleatoric music is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer...
arranged sequences of chords as the basic harmonic material. There are ten sections, and the melodic material is restricted for the most part to just two themes. The opening section presents the "first subject" and establishes the tonic key of G minor. This material is repeated three more times as sections 5, 7 and 10. The second section, which the composer refers to as the "lyrical second subject", is repeated only once as section 9. The tempo (quarter note
Quarter note
A quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
= 52) is kept constant throughout the piece. Note value
Note value
In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags/beams/hooks/tails....
s are restricted to mostly half note
Half note
In music, a half note or minim is a note played for half the duration of a whole note and twice the duration of a quarter note...
s and quarter notes.
The piece was very well received; a number of scholarly articles were written about it. Lento was described as "the emancipation of the consonance
Emancipation of the dissonance
The emancipation of the dissonance was a concept or goal put forth by composer Arnold Schoenberg and others, including his pupil Anton Webern. The phrase first appears in Schoenberg's 1926 essay "Opinion or Insight?". It may be described as a metanarrative to justify atonality...
" by musicologist Hermann-Christoph Müller.