Impromptu núm. 17

In the extensive chamber music oeuvre of Francisco Fleta Polo there are various works entitled Impromptu, Capricho and Fantasia, all of which stem from the same impulse: pieces written from top to bottom, just as they emerge, with no other pretension than to express the composer’s need to make music for the instrumental combination proposed and, above all, to please the musicians to whom the music is dedicated.
Most of the more than twenty impromptus in Fleta Polo’s catalogue are dedicated to string instruments. In this case, the protagonists of the duet are a viola and a double bass. We should not forget that Fleta himself was an excellent viola player and a teacher of this instrument at the Barcelona Conservatory, so it goes without saying that he is entirely familiar with the instruments for which he writes.
The work is structured in two movements: the first has a serene character with large arpeggios that seek the extreme notes of the instruments, while the second is very rhythmic in the mode of perpetual movement. Both instruments are treated on an absolutely equal basis; neither is allowed to become the protagonist. Without being a particularly virtuoso work, it is very demanding, especially in terms of chamber music performers.

David Puertas