Violin Concerto No. 1 (Glass)
Philip Glass's Violin Concerto No. 1 was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra for soloist Paul Zukofsky and premiered in New York City on 5 April 1987. The work was composed with Glass's late father in mind.[1] The piece quickly became one of Glass's most popular works.[2] It is usually around 25–30 minutes in duration when performed.
Conception
Following Glass's early
Glass's original concept was for a five-movement work, and Zukofsky requested a slow, high finale.[4] As the composition process developed, however, Glass decided that five movements were too many and settled for a more conventional three-movement format. According to Glass, this traditional structure was not a concession to formality but simply a result of the work finding "a voice of its own" as the first and second movements developed into longer pieces than he had originally conceived.[4] The work was composed with Glass's father, Ben, in mind, despite the latter's death some sixteen years earlier: "I wrote the piece in 1987 thinking, let me write a piece that my father would have liked [...] A very smart nice man who had no education in music whatsoever, but the kind of person who fills up concert halls. [...] It's popular, it's supposed to be — it's for my Dad."[1]
Instrumentation
The concerto is scored for solo
Structure
Metronome indication in quarter notes per minute:[6][7]
Movement I
The first movement is characterized by a series of light, pulsing chords that reappear periodically throughout the movement, with slight variations with each recurrence. The solo violin enters early in the movement playing fairly rapid arpeggios that gradually extend to encompass the full range of the instrument. There follows a brief repeat of the opening chord motif, then the brass section enters with a pattern of tightly harmonized chords from which the violin draws a high melody. The piece then plunges into an intense churning pattern, with full orchestra accompanying the violin into more complex arpeggiated material before returning again to the pulsing chord motif. The movement progresses by revisiting and varying these elements, at the same time introducing an octave-leap motion to the solo violin line that prefigures the main characteristic of the second movement. The movement closes with a diminuendo recapitulation of the violin's opening motif.
Movement II
The second movement opens with a sequence of
Movement III
After lingering on a single chord for a brief period the orchestra breaks into a
Reception
The piece quickly became one of Glass's most popular works,[2] and appears on a number of recordings. Gidon Kremer, the first soloist to record the work, says the concerto "is a work typical of Glass, in which a certain enigmatic drive allows the performer to feel both bound to strict rhythm and free in his fantasy".[8] The success of the concerto inspired Glass to branch out into yet more orchestral writing: his first fully formed work for orchestra alone, The Light, emerged in the same year as the violin concerto and was followed by a proliferation of concertos and symphonies over the following years. Brazilian flautist James Strauss transcribed the piece for flute, with encouragement from Philip Glass.[9]
Legacy
Passages from the concerto feature prominently in the "brooding" soundtrack of
Recordings
Notable recordings of this composition include:
Violin | Conductor | Orchestra | Record Company | Year of Recording | Format |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gidon Kremer | Christoph von Dohnányi | Vienna Philharmonic | Deutsche Grammophon | 1993 | CD |
Robert McDuffie | Christoph Eschenbach | Houston Symphony | Telarc
|
1998 | CD |
Adele Anthony | Takuo Yuasa | Ulster Orchestra | Naxos
|
1999 | CD |
Renaud Capuçon | Dennis Russell Davies | Bruckner Orchester Linz
|
Orange Mountain Music | 2017 | CD |
David Nebel | Kristjan Järvi | London Symphony Orchestra | Sony Classical
|
2018 | CD |
Notes and references
- ^ a b Maycock 2002, p. 105.
- ^ BBC Proms2009 (Prom 37), p. 3.
- ^ Maycock 2002, pp. 70–71.
- ^ a b Maycock 2002, p. 107.
- ^ "Philip Glass: Music: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra". Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ^ a b Liner notes to the 1993 CD with Gidon Kremer, Deutsche Grammophon, 437091-2, booklet p. 1
- ^ Telarc, CD-80494, booklet p. 12.
- ^ Concert programme for BBC Proms 2009 (Prom 37), p. 5.
- ^ "Naxos Music UK: December 2019 Highlights" (PDF). p. 51. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ Romney, Jonathan (31 May 2005). "The Moustache (La Moustache)". screendaily.com. Screen International. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020.
Sources
- Maycock, Robert (2002). Glass: A Portrait. Sanctuary. ISBN 978-1-86074-347-4.