The violin, the violoncello and the piano are blessed with an immense wealth of concertante works from all eras. Originally a cellist, and married to a marvellous cellist, it was only natural that many concertante works for strings were also written over the years.
However, writing for unusual instrumentations and instruments always seems to have had an appeal for me. Concertante works for vibraphone, saxophone and even snare drum ("Clatterclank" - homage to Jean Tinguely) bear witness to this. There are instruments which, despite their great potential in terms of expressiveness and tonal possibilities, have not been able to establish themselves in the classical concert repertoire. It is particularly surprising that, despite the great and worldwide popularity of the pan flute, there are hardly any concertante works for this instrument in a classical context.
The heckelphone, on the other hand, is still little known. With just over a hundred instruments in existence worldwide, it has its place above all in the great opera houses, where it shines with wonderful solos in operas by Richard Strauss, but also in his Alpine Symphony. In the 20th century it was used in the orchestra by Hans Werner Henze. Apart from a unique piece of chamber music by Paul Hindemith, a trio for viola, heckelphone and piano, the literature is quickly exhausted.
