When we think of concertos, except in very special cases, we think of an individual instrument (violin, flute, piano) and orchestra. In the case of Catalan composer Marc Timón, he’s replaced the orchestra with a cobla.
Marc Timón
The cobla is a music ensemble from Catalonia with a normal membership of 11 players, mainly wind and brass players, plus double bass.
Wind instruments:
- One flabiol, a pipe and tabor: a flute played with the left hand while a tamborí, a small drum attached to the left arm of the player, is played with the other hand.
- Four Catalan shawms – double-reed woodwinds
- Two tibles – a tible is like an oboe, but with a louder sound
- Two tenores – a tenora is a larger version of the tible
Brass instruments:
- Two trumpets
- A trombone – often a valve-trombone
- Two fiscorns – a rotary-valved baritone saxhorn with the bell facing forward, similar in appearance to a large flugelhorn
A string bass – originally and still often a three-string double bass
Cobla Sant Jordi, 2020 (Photo by Òmnium Cultural)
The sound of the shawms is somewhat nasal and nothing like anything in a modern orchestral timbre.
The Concerto for Piano and Cobla No. 1 opens inside the piano, with crashes and sweeps of the open strings. The entry of the cobla is our next indication that this work is not a normal concert – the falbiol sweeps above the sound and the Catalan shawms give us a unique timbre. The brass sound can be quite thin, but is effective when combined with the piano.
Marc Timón: Concerto for Piano and Cobla No. 1 – I. Scuro (Albert Guinovart, piano; Cobla Sant Jordi; Xavier Pages, cond.)
The piano has the ability to bring us to the modern age with its normalized sound but then the nasal shawms cast us back through the centuries.
The slow movement opens with a focus on the piano – low held notes and high soft chords. The entry of the cobla is also held to a low volume. The theme passes between the piano and the cobla and timpani is added for low rhythmic emphasis.
Marc Timón: Concerto for Piano and Cobla No. 1 – II. Adagio con tenerezza (Albert Guinovart, piano; Cobla Sant Jordi; Xavier Pages, cond.)
The final movement is not only fast, but devilish: Presto infernale!
Marc Timón: Concerto for Piano and Cobla No. 1 – III. Presto infernale (Albert Guinovart, piano; Cobla Sant Jordi; Xavier Pages, cond.)
One of the problems with the ensemble is the lack of bass voices, as none of the wind or brass instruments have significant low voices. The single double bass can only do so much. Including the piano as the extra member of the ensemble helps with this lack.
Timon’s writing for the cobla is aided by the fact that he’s a tible player, playing with the Cobla Sant Jordi.
It’s interesting to hear a piano concerto for a new kind of ensemble. The Catalan elements come through clearly, particularly in the wind timbres. There’s something very cinematic in the writing, especially for piano.
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