SCHERZO FOR BAND

In musical notation, the word Scherzo corresponds to a usually instrumental composition of a lively and imaginative nature. At first, from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries, we find the word “scherzando” and then the explicit title “scherzo” at the beginning of compositions of various genres and forms, such as the Canzonetta or the Capriccio. A decisive change in the use of the word Scherzo occurred in the compositions of J. S. Bach, where this term, now appearing only in instrumental wroks, became an integral part of the composition to the extent that Bach named some movements of his sonatas “scherzando”. Soon thereafter, with Haydn and Beethoven, the Scherzo becomes a movement that replaces the minuet in larger four-movement works. Self-standing compositions titled Scherzo, not so much for the formal structure as for various stylized characterization and formal freedom, are then often found in works by Chopin, Richard Strauss, and Paul Dukas. Angelo Sormani's Scherzo approaches this last formal conception linked to a self-standing composition and alternates moments of purely rhythmic character with great melodic impulses. The first performance of this piece took place with the version for horn ensemble at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in October 2015.