Violin Concerto (Zwilich)

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The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra is violin concerto by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the violinist Pamela Frank. It was completed on May 25, 1997, and was first performed by Pamela Frank and the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by Hugh Wolff in Carnegie Hall on March 26, 1998. [1]

Contents

Composition

The Violin Concerto has a duration of approximately 26 minutes in performance and is cast in three numbered movements. In the score program note, Zwilich described the piece as "a very personal and deeply felt contemporary response to the instrument I have been closest to throughout my musical life." [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo violin and an orchestra consisting of piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, harp, and strings. [1]

Reception

Reviewing the world premiere, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote, "Mainly, the concerto is Ms. Zwilich's love song to the violin, the instrument she studied and played before her composing career got under way. Writing with the young violinist Pamela Frank in mind, she filled the violin line with music that suits her and temperament: lyricism and warmth are more central to the work than overt virtuosity, but the piece demands vitality and agility as well. Ms. Frank made the solo line sing beautifully." [2] Peter Dickinson of Gramophone remarked, "There's a kind of Prokofiev/Walton flavour to the rising figure that opens the work and recurs with adaptations throughout. The second movement is based on Bach's magisterial Chaconne for solo violin, which is elaborated to an almost sinister climax over the firm basis of its rhythm. The finale contains jazzy rhythms but ends quietly." [3]

Reflecting on the work in 2009, the music critic Lawrence A. Johnson of the Chicago Classical Review described it as "a brooding, darkly impassioned landscape" and an "inexplicably neglected" concerto. [4]

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The Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra is a double concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra for the violinist Jaime Laredo and the cellist Sharon Robinson and in memory of the sculpture Albert Wein. It was first performed by Laredo, Robinson, and the Louisville Orchestra under the direction of Lawrence Leighton Smith on December 5, 1991. The piece is dedicated to Lawrence Leighton Smith and the Louisville Orchestra.

The Concerto Grosso 1985 is a composition for chamber orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Washington Friends of Handel in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of George Frideric Handel. It was given its world premiere by Handel Festival Orchestra conducted by Stephen Simon on May 9, 1986.

The Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is a composition for oboe solo and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra in honor of their principal oboist John Mack's 25th year with the orchestra. It was first performed by Mack and the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi on January 17, 1991. The piece is dedicated "with affection" to John Mack.

The Clarinet Concerto is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. It was commissioned by the Arlene and Dr. Milton D. Berkman Philanthropic Fund for the clarinetist David Shifrin, to whom the piece is dedicated. The concerto was first performed by Shifrin and twelve members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall on September 12, 2003.

The Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra is a bassoon concerto written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for their principal bassoonist Nancy Goeres. It was given its world premiere by Goeres and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel in Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh, on May 13, 1993. The piece is dedicated to Maazel, Goeres, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The American Concerto is a trumpet concerto written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, the San Diego Symphony, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the trumpeter Doc Severinsen, to whom it is dedicated. The piece was completed in New York on June 12, 1994, and was given its world premiere by Doc Severinsen and the San Diego Symphony under the direction of JoAnn Falletta in Escondido, California, on September 24, 1994.

Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra is a piano concerto written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the pianist Jeffrey Biegel in association with the Adele Marcus Foundation, the Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation, the South Florida Council of the Chopin Foundation of the United States, Isa and Marvin Leibowitz, the American Music Center, and a consortium of 27 American orchestras. It was first performed by Jeffrey Biegel and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jesús López Cobos in Cincinnati on September 22, 2000.

Peanuts Gallery is a piano concerto by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, inspired by the characters of the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was a friend of Zwilich. It was commissioned for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra by the Carnegie Hall Corporation, and first performed by the pianist Albert Kim and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on March 22, 1997.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe (1998). "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra". Theodore Presser Company . Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  2. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (March 31, 1998). "Music Review; With Warmth and Lyricism, A Love Song to the Violin". The New York Times . Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ Dickinson, Peter (October 2005). "Zwilich Rituals; Violin Concerto". Gramophone . Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Lawrence A. (May 5, 2009). "At 70 (no, really), Ellen Taaffe Zwilich remains as energetic and youthful as her music". Chicago Classical Review. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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