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Luigi Boccherini

Luigi Boccherini Composer

Symphony in D-, G.506, Op.12, No.4 ('La casa del diavolo')   

Performances: 5
Tracks: 15
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Musicology:
  • Symphony in D-, G.506, Op.12, No.4 ('La casa del diavolo')
    Key: D-
    Year: 1771
    Genre: Symphony
    Pr. Instrument: Orchestra
    • 1.Andante sostenuto. Allegro assai
    • 2.Andantino con moto
    • 3.Andante sostenuto. Allegro con moto
The title of this three-movement symphony means "House of the Devil." Its first movement begins with a dramatically purposeful and foreboding andante sostenuto introduction. There follows an Allegro assai in sonata form whose mood is mostly confident, propelled by singing or running string parts with support from the oboes and horns. There is only a slight hint here of the dramatic concern suggested in the introduction.

The subsequent Andantino con moto is scored for strings alone. It features staccato-driven melody lines, and begins with a sneaky feeling, as if walking around in the dark, trying not to be discovered in somebody else's house. As the movement progresses the tone becomes more confident, but still concerned.

The third movement begins with a dramatic and somewhat eerie andante sostenuto introduction. This leads to an Allegro that begins quietly with repeated-note figures on the strings and piercing accents where the oboes join in. Later on the strings unleash an intimidating fury with rushing scalar figures, and the eerieness and edginess of the Devil's House and its inhabitants leap out at us with ghoulish abandon through mordantly extended harmonies, jarring syncopated figures, and cuttingly shrill high notes from the oboes.

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