Chamber Music Corner—Tamberg: Prelude and Metamorphosis
by Layne Anspach
This month, Chamber Music Corner introduces Eino Tamberg’s Prelude and Metamorphosis, Op. 38 for violin, horn, and piano. Eino Tamberg (1930-2010) was an Estonian composer who studied at the Tallinn Conservatory (now renamed the Estonian Academy of Music). Tamberg taught at his alma mater beginning in 1968, becoming Chair of the composition department in 1978, until 2005. Works for orchestra and the stage make up the main body of his oeuvre.
Prelude and Metamorphosis, Op. 38 is a short two-movement work composed in 1970. Tamberg had five self-determined compositional periods, and Op. 38 was composed during the second period, a period defined by experiments with twelve-tone music within a tonal setting. The first movement, Prelude, is marked andante maestoso, and it features all three instruments together. The horn and violin occupy the melodic space while the piano provides primarily chordal support. The movement ends with horn and piano on a D chord without a third which is sustained into the next movement.
The second movement, Metamorphosis, allegro molto, starts with violin pizzicato. The horn joins, and the two play a duet. In the absence of these two, the piano performs a brief faster section which is followed by a second duet without piano. This volley continues with ever-increasing tempo until all members come together at piu mosso. With the full ensemble, the movement continues in intensity towards a caesura. The final section, Andante, returns to the opening material. The movement ends—in contrast to the ambiguous final chord of the first movement—with a complete D major chord.
The reference recording is from the 2023 New York Chamber Music Festival with former New York Philharmonic hornist Howard Wall.
