Concerto for orchestra No.2

Calmo e sereno - Allegretto tranquillo - Molto calmo, quasi adagio - Presto

Gian Francesco Malipiero - an older contemporary of Petrassi and the only major 20th-century Italian composer to have applied himself consistently to the symphony - once remarked that “the Italian symphony is a free kind of poem in several parts which follow one another capriciously, obeying only those mysterious laws that instinct recognizes.” If that is so, most if not all of Petrassi’s eight concertos for orchestra qualify as Italian symphonies, their concertante element not withstanding. The Second Concerto for Orchestra, which was written for Paul Sacher and the Basle Chamber Orchestra in 1951, derives, as Petrassi has said, “from absolutely unlimited freedom of the imagination.” Even so, although it is constructed in one continuous span (lasting about 17 minutes), it contains four clearly distinguished sections corresponding to the four movements of the conventional symphony. At the same time, while avoiding, in his own words, “expositions, developments, recapitulations, in short the whole toolbox of the classical sonata,” the composer contrives to link the four sections with recurring themes and rhythmic motives.

Most of the basic material is presented in the opening Calmo e sereno, the longest and most serious of the four sections of a generally happy (“springlike” according to the composer) inspiration. Of the first importance, following the initial unison E emphatically proclaimed by all but double basses, is the melody introduced by first and second violins in octaves and taken up in serene polyphony by third violins, violas and cellos. Another melodic idea appears on first violins, then an ostinato of even crotchets on cellos and a more assertive theme with prominent dotted rhythms on an oboe. They are woven together and worked to a climax before they are accelerated into an animated approach to another, quicker climax, the main theme shining through on muted trumpets.

Much of the Allegretto tranquillo, a gently paced scherzo with a dramatic episode in the middle, is founded on a version of the ostinato motif. It is first heard on violins as a solo flute introduces a graceful new theme, a variant of which passes to lightly articulated cellos and basses and which in one way or another permeates the whole section. The Molto calmo, which begins with a brief cadenza for the two clarinets, is a pastoral kind of slow movement. Although it has its own thematic material, including a siciliano melody introduced by woodwind and later taken up by muted strings, the main theme of the work is recalled on a solo bassoon just before the agitated climax of the section.

An emphatically proclaimed unison E on woodwind and brass signals the beginning of the Presto finale, one function of which is to confirm E as a tonal centre. Another function, although Petrassi would reject the term, is to “recapitulate” earlier material alongside the lightly scurrying figuration that characterises this section - fragments of the scherzo on violins and woodwind, the main theme on piccolo, the siciliano rhythm on brass. With thematic integration complete and the dynamic tension at its height, the work ends on an emphatic E.