Florida composers write Beethoven-inspired fanfares
THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2019-2020
With his striking musicality,
instinctive
stylistic certainty
and musical maturity,
cellist Maximilian
Hornung is taking the
international music
scene by storm. He
regularly performs
as a soloist with such
renowned orchestras
as the London Philharmonic
Orchestra,
Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tonhalle
Orchestra Zurich, Czech Philharmonic, and
Vienna Symphony. In September 2018, he became
artistic director of the VivaCello Festival Liestal.
His wide-ranging discography is impressive and
includes solo concertos as well as recordings
with prominent chamber musicians. He received
the ECHO Klassik Prize for his first album (Sony
2011), for which he was designated as Young Artist
of the Year. Further recordings include Richard
Strauss’ major cello works with the Bavarian
Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bernard
Haitink, Haydn concertos with Kammerakademie
Potsdam under Antonello Manacorda, Russian
concertos with the DSO Berlin and Andris Poga,
and a Schumann album with the Swedish Radio
Symphony and Daniel Harding. In 2017, Deutsche
Grammophon released a highly acclaimed recording
of Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Anne-Sophie
Mutter and Daniil Trifonov, amongst others.
Born in 1986 in Augsburg, Hornung began taking
cello lessons at the age of eight. His teachers include
Eldar Issakadze, Thomas Grossenbacher and
David Geringas. As cellist of the Tecchler Trio, he
won the first prize of the ARD Music Competition in
2007. At the age of only 23, he became first principal
cellist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
and held this position until 2013. Maximilian Hornung
has been supported and sponsored by the
Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation
and Borletti-Buitoni Trust London.
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MAXIMILIAN HORNUNG
Violoncello
In honor of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s
birth, The Florida Orchestra is partnering with
Florida universities to co-commission five short
fanfares inspired by Beethoven. The works also
promote music as a living art form and will
premiere at the start of select Masterworks concerts
conducted by Music Director Michael Francis.
The first one debuts on the Beethoven’s Eroica
Symphony concert:
Imagined Adventures: AutoBonn
By Kevin Wilt, Associate Professor and
Composer-in-Residence
Florida Atlantic University
Co-commissioned by The Florida Orchestra and
The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letter,
Florida Atlantic University
From Wilt’s artist statement:
AutoBonn is the second in a series of pieces called
Imagined Adventures -- short, programmatic works
based on childhood fantasies. It is about the dream
of taking off in a fast sports car, ramping up the
energy with each gearshift.
This work was commissioned as part of the
celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday in 2020.
All of the motives were taken from the Presto
movement of his String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131, in
C-sharp minor. The quartet movement itself is a
galloping race, which provided ample opportunity
for orchestral adrenaline. The original opening cello
arpeggio is treated as the roaring engine ignition in
all of the low strings, bassoons, and timpani.
Each successive section takes us through a different
gear, with first gear being light in color and register,
as our sports car is revving through high RPMs off
the starting line. The second gear drops a bit lower
as the engine resets for another build up, with the
third gear dropping further, and then building up
further still. Finally, we reach the last gear and a
direct quote of the original string quartet, with the
car beginning its last push toward top speed,
all before winding down as the joyride comes
to an end.