Violin Concerto No. 2
by Jörg Widmann
The composer in 2006
PeriodContemporary
GenreConcerto
Commissioned by
Composed2018
Published2018 (2018): Mainz
PublisherSchott Music
Duration35:00[1]
Movements3
Premiere
Date31 August 2018 (2018-08-31)
LocationSuntory Hall, Tokyo
ConductorJörg Widmann
Performers

Jörg Widmann's Violin Concerto No. 2 was composed in 2018 for his younger sister Carolin Widmann. The work premiered on 31 August 2018 with soloist Carolin Widmann and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Widmann) at Suntory Hall, Tokyo.[1] The concerto is dedicated to Carolin Widmann ("für Caro") and was commissioned by Suntory Hall, Orchestre de Paris and Frankfurt Radio Symphony.[1]

History

Carolin and Jörg Widmann played music together as children.[2][3] They re-enacted operas with toys.[4] Widmann was asking his sister to try extended techniques on her violin; her response: "You are crazy!"[5][6] Later Carolin often played standard Classical and Romantic repertoire.[7]

For the composer, the concerto was an "exercise in reduction".[8]

Structure

The concerto has traditional three movements and lasts 35 minutes.[1]

  1. Una ricerca
  2. Romanze
  3. Mobile

The limited thematic material is varied.[1] With the violin as narrator, the work contains personal statements.[1][8] The short first movement Una ricerca is a search of the violin for itself, for its own voice.[1] The extensive second movement Romanze crosses several "emotional zones".[1] This is manifested by the citation of virtuoso Romantic and Late-Romantic violin concertos, the English ballad Scarborough Fair and a French chanson.[8] In the short final movement, Mobile, the former violin singing tends to splinter.[8]

Instrumentation

The concerto employed woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, and a harp and celesta:[1]

  • Woodwinds: 3 flutes (all doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (3rd doubling cor anglais), 3 clarinets in A (2nd doubling bass clarinet in B♭, 3rd doubling contrabass clarinet in B♭), 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contra bassoon)
  • Brass: 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba
  • Percussion: timpani, percussion (3 players)
  • Strings: 12 violins I, 10 violins II, 8 violas, 6 violoncellos, 6 double basses (all with 5 strings with B as lowest string)
  • Harp, celesta

Performances

The premiere took place at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, followed by performances in Europe with Orchestre de Paris and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Alte Oper under Andrés Orozco-Estrada.[9]

Reception

Sofia Nyblom of Svenska Dagbladet wrote: "theatrical premiere that combines existential precociousness with childlike innocence" ("teatralt uruppförande som förenar existentiell brådmognad med barnslig oskuld").[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Violin Concerto No. 2". Schott Music. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Carolin Widmann performs the world premiere of her brother's concerto – Askonas Holt". Askonas Holt. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Reihe: Woher kommt die Energie? "Die Musik macht mich high"". Deutschlandfunk (in German). 10 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Çatı, Irem (9 January 2021). "Lebenswege Carolin Widmann". concerti.de (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "A Composer Finds the Old in the New". The New York Times. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  6. ↑ "Solist, Komponist, Dirigent: Jörg Widmann ist eine Ausnahmeerscheinung der Musik". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 16 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Carolin Widmann: Mendelssohn/Schumann (ECM New Series 2427)". Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond. 23 June 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Weber, Eckhard (9 December 2019). "Jörg Widmann: Violinkonzert Nr. 2". Ultraschall Festival Berlin (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Carolin Widmann". Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB). 8 December 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  10. ↑ Nyblom, Sofia (26 April 2019). "Dödsföraktande saga med mörka undertoner". SvD.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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