• Theodor Grigoriu
  • Infinite Melody (To The Great Shadows Of Bayreuth) (1969)
    (Melodie infinită (Marilor umbre de la Bayreuth) )

  • Editions Musicales Transatlantiques (World)
  • 4.3.2.2.1
  • 8 min

Programme Note

The piece for string orchestra Infinite Melody is dedicated to the great shadows in Bayreuth, Wagner and Liszt. An evocative miniature, like a style study, it was requested by youth ensembles participating in the artistic festival in this city.

A polyphonic technique involving immanent sounds is used, which was also used in The Modal Column. The passage of the melodic relief from one group of instruments to another induces a feeling of perpetual quest.

From Wagner and Liszt’s infinite melody a few external, characteristic aspects are employed:
1. the grupetto, which tends to amplify the importance of a sound, and
2. the Auftakt from the beginning of each phrase, as in Tristan and Isolde

At the climax of the piece an impact with a few authentic themes takes place, cited from Wagner (Siegfried-Idylle) and Liszt respectively (Faust-Symphonie).

- Theodor Grigoriu

Discography