Music for Wind Band

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When The Thinker was conceived in its original size (approx. 70 cm) in 1880 as the crowning achievement of The Gates of Hell, seated on the tympanum, it was given the title The Poet. He represented Dante, author of the Divine Comedy who had inspired The Gates, bent over to observe the circles of hell, meditating on his work. The Thinker was therefore initially both a being with a tortured body, almost a damned soul, and a free-thinking man, determined to transcend his suffering through poetry. The pose of this figure owes much to Carpeaux’s Ugolino (1861) and to the seated portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici carved by Michelangelo (1526-31).

Remaining in place on the monumental Gates of Hell, The Thinker was exhibited individually in 1888, becoming an independent work. The colossal version, enlarged in 1904, proved even more popular: this sculpture of a man lost in thought, but whose powerful body suggests a great capacity for action, has become one of the most celebrated sculptures ever. There are numerous casts worldwide, including the one now in the gardens of the Musée Rodin, a gift to the City of Paris installed outside the Panthéon in 1906, and another in the gardens of Rodin’s house in Meudon, on the sculptor’s tomb and his wife.

A challenging composition for wind orchestra based on several “leidmotifs”, written from the perspective of the thinker, who ponders the different emotions and characters of the leitmotifs before coming to a conclusion, but with an open ending, because after all, the thoughts go on again…

“Der Arme Poet” (painted 1839) in is the most popular painting by the German Painter Carl Spitzweg.

In 1839, Spitzweg was a beginning artist who in the 1830s lived for a long time on the top floor of a house in old Munich, from which he wrote in one of his letters: “The view is great, the roofs resemble a large mountain range, with the chimneys and attic windows like ruins and castles”.

The influence of the Biedermeier style is easily recognizable in the painting. The typical pursuit of a bourgeois bohemian existence is reflected in the various attributes. In combination with the poor environment the whole gives a parodical appearance.

The poems that were once thought to have eternal value are sacrificed to the stove as soon as they can provide some warmth.

Characteristic of the painting is the quill that holds the poet clamped between his teeth, indicating that he continues his work unrelentingly.

Above his bed you can see a hexameter scheme, which indicates the meter of verse. Next to his bed is a stack of classical books with inscriptions such as “Gradus ad Parnassum”, which represent the high ideals of the artist.

Between his fingers he seems to crush a flea, which expresses the banality of the situation.

“Ein Winzer Spiel” (a winery piece for windband) was commissioned by the Family Fritz Keller (Kaiserstuhl, Germany) for the 200 year anniversary of the Winzerkapelle Oberbergen im Kaiserstuhl, in which a number of characteristic elements of the “Kaiserstuhl” wine region and the Oberbergen district are highlighted.

This suite consists of 3 contrasting parts.

1. The Kaiserstuhl

An impression of the beautiful landscape with its rich history. In the middle of this part a specific part from “Kaiserstuhl” is highlighted, namely “Die Oberbergener Bassgeige” an area around the village Oberbergen in the form of a double bass (hence the name) in which high-quality vine culture takes place.

2. The St. Mauritius Kirche

The St. Mauritius Church is an inseparable part of Oberbergen, a beacon of peace and reflection.

3. The Winzerspiele

A playful final part of this suite in which the cozy and competitive wine festivals are illustrated in the form of a Waltz. The “Oberbergener Weinlied” is added here as an additional illustrative element to the uplifting nature of this part.