Violin Concerto - for violin and strings
2003, 2006, 2012, 2016 duration 35 minutes

I. Appassionato - II. Dolce, Semplice - III. Volante - Furioso

"Completed" in November 2003, this work was originally a two movement romanza for solo violin with strings. In this form (after three revisions) it was performed and recorded by Irina Borissova and the Mainzer Virtuosi. In 2016 conductor Lavard Skou Larsen suggested that a finale might be added to create a full concerto. He and the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss Am Rhein subsequently commissioned this and the premiere was given in November 2016 by Fenella Humphreys.

Both the original movements and the new one drew inspiration from poems by Stefan George - Dies ist ein Lied für dich allein and Gib ein Lied mir weider . At the premiere these (with movements still listed separately) were used as titles but the work now simply stands as a Violin Concerto. With its purely string orchestra it has more the feel of a concertante, or perhaps Baroque concerto than a full-blown Romantic one. It would suit a player/conductor.

The solo part is something of a lone voice struggling to be heard amidst the emotional cross-currents of the outer movements.

The first movement is stormy, and highly charged, but with a calm centre, and even a few moments of dance. in the main the soloist cries out its song amidst the hurly burly. The second offers a serene and song-like oasis, though there is a deep regret and melancholy here rather than inner tranquility. It rises towards to a plateau of redemption/resolution before fading away. The new finale returns to the swirling emotions of the first. Cascades of string figures plunge repeatedly downward. Two lyrical, stiller episodes intervene but the piece ends in an ecstatic torrent.

Scoring: Solo violin, strings (suggest 8.6.4.4.2)

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SCORE of VIOLIN CONCERTO

solo violin