With his “sinfonia concertante”, Beat Furrer pursues one of the central ideas of his clarinet quintet “intorno al bianco” and reinterprets it within the orchestral soundscape. The first performance takes place in Basel on 7 November 2026.

In his clarinet quintet “intorno al bianco”, premiered in 2016, Beat Furrer was inspired by light, by sudden changes in light, and he explored the temporal consolidation and dissociation of the sounds. Ten years later, Furrer has built on this and found a completely new approach in his “sinfonia concertante” composed for the Basel Chamber Orchestra. In the clarinet quintet “intorno al bianco” the clarinet is initially embedded in the sound of the strings, but is then successively freed from this and contrasted with the sound of the string quartet. In the “sinfonia concertante” the fundamental tension between a shared soundscape and the emergence of individual forms is retained, but is experienced in more complex ways, with the possibilities of the orchestra opening up a new dimension.

The harmonic concept of the work is based on the vision of an imaginary key note sequence and overtone constellations displaced into groups. In slow and continual alterations, the harmonic space is traversed by barely perceptible, minute glissandi in the strings. Subtle transitions are created which recall gradual changes in light. From this harmonic space, expressive shapes repeatedly emerge in the form of a vibrato, crescendo/diminuendo or sul ponticello bowing in the strings. They detach themselves from the background, enter into a dialogue and after a speeding up of the harmonic movement, successively mutate into a juxtaposition of contrasting figures in the orchestral tutti. Towards the end, a radically transformed soundscape finally opens up. Contours disappear and fleeting, whispering forms appear.

“The form of ‘intorno al bianco’ seems to be exemplary to me”, says Beat Furrer of the orchestral version. “The circling around a centre – specific forms are created: dialogue-like gestures, or melodic gestures. These can be made even more colourful in performance by the means of the orchestra. In the process, the spatiality of the sound and its alteration can be made even clearer. This version thus achieves a further step in the same direction.”

Tessa Singer
(from [t]akte 2/2026)
(translation: Elizabeth Robinson)