Andrew Glover : the 'death of angels' for violin and orchestra

Kanno, M.

Abstract

The work, a large-scale three-movement violin concerto lasting 33 minutes, explores the tradition and rhetoric of Romantic violin concerto. The poetic impetus is derived from Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and each movement is prefaced by lines from the poem. Large-scale violin concertos of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries have an established performance style, which is directly linked with our understanding of the instrument and its expressive range. The work therefore raised the following issues: 1) the extent to which the established performance style could be incorporated in contemporary composition, 2) the extent to which the contemporary performance techniques could strengthen the work’s expressive power, and 3) the handling of the balance between the solo violin and the large-scale orchestra. Research centred around two points: 1) understanding of the composer’s intentions which were and weren’t evident in notation, and 2) understanding the range of expressive mechanisms that had been explored by other violin concertos of the past and present, and evaluating the appropriateness of introducing and developing them – at times in consultation with the composer – in order to create a new style that is built upon the tradition.

Citation

Kanno, M. (2003). Andrew Glover : the 'death of angels' for violin and orchestra. [broadcast]. 24 January 2003. (Unpublished)

• Exhibition Performance Type: Performance
• Start Date: Jan 24, 2003
• Online Publication Date: Jan 24, 2003
• Publication Date: Jan 24, 2003
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2006
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1683139