Web comment by the composer:
Concert Fantastique is my sixth solo concert since the trumpet concert Bridge in 1998. Before each new concert, it has been a challenge not to repeat form or idea, but to constantly seek new ways and expressions. Looking back at my previous concerts, I can find many similarities such as varied tempos, dynamic highs and lows, solo cadenzas, orchestral interludes and a tonal language that fluctuates between tonality and non-tonality. But none of these musical elements have inherent guarantees for a good solo concert or personal work. It is rather in the combination of these components, in the sequence and tension between them, that the unique and personal takes shape. There are two more and absolutely crucial ingredients that contribute to the fact that Concert Fantastique will be unique on its own terms among my solo concerts, and that is that the solo instrument is called clarinet and the soloist is Martin Fröst. I have for a long time studied the clarinet and listened to clarinet concerts, but above all had a very creative dialogue with Martin. Our discussions, my sheet music samples, his comments on my sheet music samples, the impression all his CD recordings made on me and the impression my previous works made on him, our perception of each other as composers and soloists, all of this is in the background and has a decisive way influenced me to compose Concert Fantastique just as I did.
The collaboration with Martin has been intense and extremely inspiring throughout the creation of the work. Initially we discussed all possible ideas for the concert but in the end Martin said - why not just write a great concert? Sure, easier said than done, I thought, but let's get started anyway. The title of the work of course refers to our conversation, but is above all a tribute to the fantastic musician and artist that Martin Fröst is.
During one of our meetings, Martin suddenly displayed a lightning-quick, weak and flighty clarinet playing that immediately made me think of how a hummingbird darts around in the air, stops and sucks nectar completely still, only to rush on to a new flower the next second. I have inserted such a part just after the solo cadenza at the end but before the fast final part and named the section Humming Bird.
The form of the concert is clearly divided into five sections. The introduction, which is moving and begins very firmly, is followed by a shorter orchestral interlude that thematically foreshadows the work's extensive slow lyric section. In the second part, the soloist plays only one note, but the longer, without breathing. The technique to achieve this is circulatory breathing and in this case it is required that the soloist holds the same note for more than a minute without interruption. The third part is the work's lyrical highlight. A long beautiful melodic sequence gradually creates more and more tension for the harmonica and then transitions to a contrasting exotic part to later return to the melodic sequence theme. The fourth movement is a breathtaking solo cadenza that leads into the fifth and final movement at a fast and whirling pace."
Rolf Martinsson Concert Fantastique is a joint commission between the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm and the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra in Tromsø.
