Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra

Experimental playing techniques, including the use of e-bows and microtonally detuned strings, have fascinated contemporary composers from all over the world with the electric guitar. However, many composers also feel magically attracted by the variety of sounds and the intimacy of the acoustic guitar. The problem with writing for acoustic guitar and orchestra, however, is that the instrument finds it difficult to assert itself against the large orchestral apparatus due to its limited dynamic range. It was precisely this difficulty that inspired the composer Ulrich Leyendecker to write a guitar concerto, which was premiered by Maximilian Mangold and the orchestra of the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern under the direction of Uwe Sandner on 25 November 2011 in Kaiserslautern.
In order to compensate for the restrained dynamics of the instrument, Leyendecker orchestrated his concerto in such a way that the guitar always remains clearly audible without the need for additional amplification. Even outside the tutti passages, the orchestra is almost always present, e.g. in the rapid and colourful changes of the orchestral instruments when they counterpoint the guitar; or in short successive episodes, dialoguing with different solos and chamber music formations up to larger groups of the orchestra.
Leyendecker's guitar writing is multifaceted: chordal, contrapuntal, melodic and monophonic, complex and virtuosic. Leyendecker also commented on his style: ‘My language has developed over four decades, it integrates tonal elements into the fundamentally atonal language, so that ambiguous ways of listening are possible, indeed, they are actually mutually dependent. Of course, it should be noted that the experience is basically left to the listener without ideological bridges.’
The guitar concerto was recorded by the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Romely Pfund's direction and the guitarist and dedicatee Maximilian Mangold on WDR before its premiere at the beginning of September 2007.