Alpine Story
Gernot Wolfgang
About this work:
Published by Doblinger Music Publishers of Vienna, Austria as a rental (contact: rent@doblinger.at).
Commissioned by Tiroler Kammerorchester InnStrumenti with the help of Tirol Kultur.
Premiered on November 20, 2004 by the Tiroler Kammerorchester InnStrumenti, conducted by Gerhard Sammer, at the Canisianum in Innsbruck, Austria.
REVIEW
James Cushing, San Luis Obispo Tribune
" ... the work of Gernot Wolfgang, a remarkable mid-career musician. Born in Austria in 1957, Wolfgang has been based in Los Angeles for 10 years, and his music also seems to be from several places at once ... If Wolfgang's title conjures something like Strauss' "Alpine Symphony," guess again. This 14-minute tone poem moves between old Europe and today's Los Angeles, bridging moody percussion with repeating string figures. A timpanist pounds out riffs the strings make deeper. Cymbals are stroked with violin bows until they scream. Marimbas and vibraphones clang and bong while a snare drummer browses between jazz and rock. Strings start plucking. Everything seems to circle back to the opening figures, but then it gets more interesting. It's over too soon. "Alpine Story" might not be a linear narrative, but it's full of surprises and accessible on several levels. The Arroyo Grande audience got to be the first in the United States to hear it."
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:14:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Chamber Orchestra
Instrumentation: 3 Percussion (General), 1 Strings (General)