Aria No. 20 – for Basset Horn

With this work, as is suggested programmatically by its title, the composer has presented a brilliant piece for an instrument that has a special status in music history. In Viennese Classicism, the basset horn was important both in the wind ensemble and in concert performances, but it was not before the 20th century that it played a major role in works again. Bernd Richard Deutsch combines both aspects by contrasting deep cantabile lines or operatic tripping figurations with modern playing techniques like multiphonics or quarter-tone trills. The nine-minute solo number explores all registers and characters of the instrument sensitively and effectively.