Frank Martin
(b. Geneva, 15 September 1890; d. Naarden, Netherlands, 21 November 1974)

Trois Dances for oboe, harp, string quintet and string orchestra (1970)

Frank Martin and Arthur Honegger are the towering figures among Swiss composers of the twentieth century. Both hailed from Francophone Switzerland, both espoused a seriousness of purposes rooted in their Calvinist surroundings, and both excelled in large-scale works for chorus and orchestra that owed much to the example of Bach. At a time when Schoenberg's dodecaphonic method was known only to a few close disciples and initiates, Martin undertook a deep study of the technique in the early 1930s and adapted it to his own compositional needs. The results were triumphantly presented in his oratorio Le Vin herbé on the Tristan legend (1938-41), the work which first brought him to international attention. If his fame today mainly resides in this and other large-scale vocal works, especially the oratorio Golgotha (1945-8), he nevertheless brought forth a large body of superior instrumental music, of which the Petite symphonie concertante (1945), a work commissioned and premièred by Paul Sacher that has become perhaps his best-known piece altogether, may serve as a supreme example.

Martin's Trois Dances for oboe, harp, string quintet and string orchestra was written for the husband-and-wife team of Heinz and Ursula Holliger, both of whom are recognized virtuosos on their respective instrument (oboe and harp). The "dances" of the title refers in particular to the Spanish flamenco, and the piece consequently makes elaborate use of flamenco rhythms, especially the subdivision of a 6/4 bar into various groupings of three quarter-notes and two dotted quarters (2+2+3+3+2 and permutations). The possibilities inherent in this distinctive rhythm were further explored in Martin's piano piece Fantaisie sur des rythmes Flamenco for Paul Badura-Skoda (1973). The Trois Dances were premièred in Zurich on 9 October 1970, with the Holligers taking the solo parts and the orchestra conducted by Paul Sacher.

Bradford Robinson, 2005

For performance material please contact Universal Edition, Vienna. Reprint of a copy from Universal Edition, Vienna.