Stefan Heucke: Woodwind Sonatas op. 144 Daniela Koch, Ramón Ortega Quero, Simon Degenkolbe, Kimiko Imani, Guy-tae Ha, Tobias Haunhorst

• Stefan Heucke (b. 1959): Sonata for Flute and Piano, op. 114.1:
• 1Heucke: Sonata for Flute and Piano, op. 114.1: 1. Allegretto grazioso05:55
• 2Heucke: Sonata for Flute and Piano, op. 114.1: 2. Minuetto antico con variazioni.08:54
• 3Heucke: Sonata for Flute and Piano, op. 114.1: 3. Rondo. Allegro brioso04:34
• Sonata for Oboe and Piano, op. 114.2:
• 4Heucke: Sonata for Oboe and Piano, op. 114.2: 1. Andante05:24
• 5Heucke: Sonata for Oboe and Piano, op. 114.2: 2. Allegro agitato – Più lento – Tempo I07:25
• 6Heucke: Sonata for Oboe and Piano, op. 114.2: 3. Largo – Allegro moderato – Tempo di valtzer – Tempo I – Presto – Tempo II – Tempo I – Più lento – Largo07:52
• Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 114.3:
• 7Heucke: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 114.3: 1. Allegro molto appassionato07:41
• 8Heucke: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 114.3: 2. Andante tranquillo. Variationen über "O du stille Zeit" von C. Bresgen08:12
• 9Heucke: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 114.3: 3. Quasi un Minuetto, ma con gravità05:34
• 10Heucke: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op. 114.3: 4. Presto possibile04:57
• Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, op. 114.4:
• 11Heucke: Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, op. 114.4: 1. Tempo moderato, ma con maestosità04:11
• 12Heucke: Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, op. 114.4: 2. Presto leggiero05:49
• 13Heucke: Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, op. 114.4: 3. Largo06:06
• Total Runtime01:22:34

Info for Stefan Heucke: Woodwind Sonatas op. 144

GWK RECORDS presents four new sonatas by Stefan Heucke, each for a woodwind instrument and piano, which were created during the Corona lockdown in 2020 and immensely enrich the relatively narrow repertoire of the genre, in the first recording with internationally leading soloists and promising newcomers. With his Opus 114, Stefan Heucke (*1959; Germany/Italy) has composed a sonata cycle that captures the different characteristics of the four most prominent European woodwind instruments and, reinforced by highly demanding, complex and virtuoso piano parts, plays them off in a rousing way. In his “integrative tonal” (Heucke), subjective-emotional and at the same time intellectual-constructive musical language, Heucke dissolves the boundaries between the classical European tonal system and new music and further develops the traditional forms. The flute sonata, which Daniela Koch (flute) and Kimiko Imani (piano) interpret in a highly musical manner, breathtakingly expresses the flexible, bright, brilliant character of the flute. Expressively recorded by Ramón Ortega Quero (oboe) and GyuTae Ha (piano), the oboe sonata is deeply touching in its succinct melancholy and its piercing, sometimes cartoonish intensity. In the expressive interpretation of the bassoon sonata by Marceau Lefèvre (bassoon) and Kimiko Imani (piano), the extremes of the bassoon, the elegiac and bizarre, the majestic, and its poetry fascinate. An exception is the clarinet sonata in the sonata cycle as well as in Heucke's oeuvre, insofar as the composer incorporated biographical circumstances into it: the second pandemic lockdown. For Heucke, this found its excellent symbol in the video of the song “O du stille Zeit” by C. Bresgen, which the composer's fellow singers posted in November 2020. The quiet drama and turmoil, gloom, heaviness and shadows, even a tarantella-like dance of death develop around Bresgen's folk song-like, simple, innocent theme. Simon Degenkolbe (clarinet) and Tobias Haunhorst (piano) express the drama of the sonata and the time it was written in a profound and compelling way.

Daniela Koch, flute
Ramón Ortega Quero, oboe
Simon Degenkolbe, clarinet
Marceau Lefevre, bassoon
Kimiko Imani, piano
GyuTae Ha, piano
Tobias Haunhorst, piano

Stefan Heucke
The catalog of works of the German composer Stefan Heucke (*1959) comprises more than 120 works of all genres, operas, oratorios, symphonies, concertos, sacred music, chamber music and songs. His works are performed throughout the world by prominent orchestras and soloists. Many of his works are available as CDs and radio productions.

Quite a sensation caused his great opera about „The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz“ (2006). Heucke was composer-in-residence at several orchestras and international festivals. In 2016, the new Bochum concert hall opened its doors with Heucke’s cantata „Baruch ata Adonaij – Blessed be you Lord.“ Also since 2016, Heucke regularly works as composer-in- residence at the Staunton Music Festival in the USA every two years. 2017 a feature-length „German Mass“ for soloists, chorus and orchestra was premiered at the Luther anniversary in Berlin by the Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester and the Berliner Rundfunkchor. 2021 Heucke has got three commissions for two new operas and a Markus-Passion for soloists, chorus and orchestra for the Bach-Fest Münster in 2024.

Since 1996 Heucke works are published by Schott Music International. He lives as a freelance composer alternately in Germany and in Italy.

Booklet for Stefan Heucke: Woodwind Sonatas op. 144