Concert Band
Auf dem Härtsfeld
Ländliche Suite in 5 Sätzen
Info
With this composition, German composer Hans Blank, who comes from the Swabian region, shows his deep connection to the Härtsfeld area, which is close the the border between Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg. More specifically, his musically thoughts are about the city of Neresheim with its famous Benedictine monastery and a unique landscape - large forstes, a wide range of hills, dreamy valleys and romantic heath. This is how Hans Blank depicts the Härtsfeld area.
After a happy "Arrival" in 2/4 time the visitor finds himself in the "Abbey Church", where he can listen to the monks' chants (solo of horn/tenor horn). The clarinet then plays an intimate and silent prayer, vor a sonorous majestic tutti part closes the 2nd movement. The following "Happy Walk" presents in a very authentic way the composer's love for this beautiful landscape. The next movement "In Good Company" shows the down-to-earhness and the mentality of the population in ländler style. But then it is time for "Goodbye": The Allegro assai of the last movement leads the visitor home in a joyful mood - but not without looking back: : a small trumpet solo (Andante) with flute sparkles represents the visitor standing still and looking back as a slightly melancholic reminiscence to the beautiful Härtsfeld. But the composition ends with a very lively Allegro vivace.
You can feel in the music how dear this part of the Swabian region is to Hans Blank's heart. That's heartly suprising, regarding the fact that he was director of the Stadtkapelle Neresheim for many years. That is why his connection to this landscape and its inhabitants sounds so authentic in this suite.
The bottom line: It's worth to visit the Härtsfeld - and not only in a musical way!
Content:
1. Ankunft (Arrival)
2. In der Abteikirche (In the Abby Church)
3. Fröhlicher Spaziergang (Happy Walk)
4. In geselliger Runde (In good Company)
5. Abschied (Goodbye)