Divertissement!

Featuring

c/o chamber orchestra
Jacques Ibert
Émile Bernard
Béla Bartók
Michael Ippolito

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Composition History

Jacques Ibert's Divertissement was originally composed in 1929 as incidental music for a comic play called 'The Italian Straw Hat' before being reconceived as a concert piece.

Composition History

Béla Bartók composed his 25-minute Divertimento for string orchestra in only fifteen days in the summer of 1939, commissioned by Paul Sacher.

Compositional Technique

Ibert's Divertissement includes a 'Cortège' movement that starts solemnly like a funeral procession but turns into a boisterous galop, twice interrupted by Mendelssohn's Wedding March.

Historical Context

Bartók's Divertimento was composed in the summer of 1939, with a world war looming, and it was his final composition before emigrating to the United States.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The term 'divertimento' implies light entertainment music, but many well-known examples, like those by Mozart and Schubert, are ambitious and profound works.

Recording & Production

The c/o chamber orchestra works without a conductor, taking its name from the idea of stewardship and responsibility, where musicians collaborate to bring the music to life.

Compositional Technique

Émile Bernard's Divertissement, scored for a double wind quintet, has almost symphonic ambitions despite its modest title and scoring, combining the traditional slow movement and finale into three movements.