2 mins
PREMIERE of the MONTH
KING’S COLLEGE: The dark form of Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, watches over luthiers Louis S. Peterson and Andrew Atkinson on a violin study day in Lincoln Cathedral, UK, on 30 June. The event saw students, alumni and friends of the Newark School of Violin Making transform the cathedral’s south transept into a workshop for the day, with instruments by Andrea Amati and Gasparo da Salò also in attendance. ‘It was inspiring to work in the extraordinary medieval space of the cathedral,’ said Peterson. The day was part of the cathedral’s ‘Byrd 400’ festival and marked the climax of a year of events celebrating the Newark School’s 50th anniversary.
Photo: Benjamin Hebbert
New traditions
A violin concerto transforms folk tunes from around the world
COMPOSER Anna Clyne
WORK Time and Tides
ARTIST Pekka Kuusisto (violin) Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka Saraste
DATE 8 September 2023
PLACE Musiikkitalo, Helsinki, Finland bitly.ws/LWcC
Anna Clyne
Pekka Kuusisto
CLYNE PHOTO CHRISTINA KERNOHAN. KUUSISTO PHOTO MARK ALLAN/BBC
British composer Anna Clyne’s new violin concerto Time and Tides takes inspiration from folk songs. While the tunes are all centred on the themes of boating and parting from loved ones, they are also representative of the orchestras that commissioned the work: the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The work is written for Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, with whom Clyne has collaborated extensively. ‘He’s such an inspiration, as both a conductor and a performer,’ she says. ‘He’s able to cover a wide range of emotional territory, so I wanted a piece that explores that breadth.’
The five-movement work is full of contrast, with moments of both virtuosity and simplicity. Four of the movements, ‘My True Lover’s Farewell’, ‘Who Can Sail Without Wind?’, ‘My Fair Young Love’ and ‘The Golden Willow Tree’, are based on folk songs from England, Finland, Scotland and America respectively, while the last movement, ‘Farewell’, incorporates all four tunes. Each movement begins with Kuusisto playing the original melody, after which Clyne takes the material in a more contemporary direction with her own harmonies and orchestration. Parts of the work will also see Kuusisto improvise. ‘It was obvious I wanted to leave space for him to express himself,’ she says. The last movement is a layering of the four preceding movements, and ends with a final, fully orchestrated iteration of the first movement’s theme. ‘Melodies are superimposed, and I weave them together until the very end.’ The layering technique is largely inspired by the composer’s electroacoustic work.
Kuusisto has also been involved in the compositional process. ‘We had a couple of Zoom sessions where he showed me new techniques on the violin, sometimes while whistling and singing’ – which she includes in the work – ‘and he would send sections with feedback. His collaboration has made for a stronger piece.’