Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

Margaret Brouwer

2007

Violin, chamber orchestra

The Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra was commissioned for violinist Michi Wiancko by CityMusic Cleveland, James Gaffigan, Conductor, and sponsored in part by Arts and Culture as Economic Development (ACE) Program, The Honorables Jimmy Dimora, Timothy F. Hagan, and Peter Lawson Jones with Co-Sponsors Clurie Bennis, Dr. Victor Ceicys and Mrs. Kathleen Browning Ceicys, the Elyria Musical Art Society, Pamela and Scott Isquick and David Krakowski. Violinist Michi Wiancko, for whom this concerto was written, was a great source of inspiration. Her virtuosic, fiery playing and beautiful, singing sound in all the traditional concertos was in my mind as I wrote, as well as her interest in other forms of musical expression – gypsy bands, pop-folk, and trip-hop. In the first movement, current politics also inspired a short musical quote that supports the message of the movement. Underlying feelings of frustration and sadness haunt this movement. However, the second and third movements lead to brighter and happier moods. The concerto is also an experiment in layering. More and more, my harmonic sound is about the contrasts that occur by juxtaposing or overlaying consonant and dissonant (tonal-type and atonal-type) harmonies. To me this says – “21st century”. After beginning the second, slow movement at least twenty times, trying complex and thick openings, melody with complex harmonies, melody with tonal harmonies, I leaned more and more toward utter simplicity. Somehow a melody, beautiful in its absolutely simplicity that would gradually evolve to more complexity and more layers seemed the most powerful. A request from Michi for a cadenza with optional drum set led to a great deal of experimentation on my part. It was an interesting challenge to see whether I could layer this element into my composition style in a convincing way. Many rewrites occurred before I was satisfied that I had something that worked and also contributed to the overall value of the piece. A note in the part encourages the soloist to improvise during this cadenza if so inclined. When I heard Michi play in a gypsy band at Lincoln Center, I knew the last movement must be gypsy-style music. In the fast music the musicians have so much fun, playing with abandon at break-neck speed! This movement is about high spirits, having fun, playfulness, going fast, sometimes-wild music, and the dazzling violin!