Concertino - Árpád Balázs

With its energetic impetus and imposing instrumentation, Concertino is certainly outstanding in the oeuvre of rpd Balzs. Among his compositions for concert band, it is by far the most engaging and exacting work. Passing away and a will to live are simultaneously present in Concertino, which rpd Balzs composed in memory of his beloved father. Its structure brings Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies to mind: its solemn opening, which returns at the end,is followed by a slow and a fast movement. The funereal music of the slow movement evolves from a motif of Bach's St. Matthew Passion with enormous intensification equal to the lament in Grieg's Peer Gynt.