unknown violin concerto masterworks

[violinconcerto]

After researching on the compositions for concertante violin of the 20th century for so many years, I feel sad and disappointed that so many masterpieces for violin and orchestra are still unknown. In my encyclopedia on the repertoire of the violin concertante I don't rate the compositions, because I find it arrogant to judge on works for other people. But now I felt the responsibility to promote some works and so created a submenu on my website with a list of compositions for violin and orchestra, that I think should get more attention from musicians and listeners! So if you are open-minded, you can check my list at:

http://www.tobias-broeker.de/recommendations/

And yes I know, that this is just my personal opinion. Your personal list is of course different and that is fine!

Best,
Tobias

[Cato]

I picked Bodorova somewhat at random (the Czech name intrigued me) and found a few works on YouTube, but not the Violin Concerto: do you have any recordings for the works in your list?

https://www.youtube.com/v/i98BnFl1QFM

[violinconcerto]

The problem of these compositions is of course that they are not well represented, are missing regular performances and in most cases there are no commercial recordings. That is why I picked especially these works. There are some other violin concertos I value high, but I left them from the list because there are several recordings or the composers are better known (for example Roy Harris, the 2nd VC by Darius Milhaud, Carlos Chavez, Roger Sessions, Henri Dutilleux to name a few).

From the list on my website the following are recorded commercially: Peter Michael Hamel, Frederik van Rossum, Dieter Kaufmann, Philippe Hersant, Egils Straume, Alojz Ajdic, Arno Babadianian, Jan Paul Nagel. I made a short check and found the Rossum, Straume, Ajdic, Babadianian and Yerkanian on youtube.

Best wishes,
Tobias

[arkiv]

The concertos for other instruments suffer more.

[pjme]

But the discovery ( and saving!) of some unknown violinconcerto's would already be a good start.

Future generations of musicians & musiclovers can start comforting all those weeping symphonies, handicapped sonatas, sobbing quartets, opera's and cantatas .... languishing in myriads of libraries.

How about a Musical Red Cross? 

I was happy to rediscover the Van Rossum concerto. Peter Zazofsky and Yuzuko Horigome then played it aswell: in 1980 it was the "imposé" for the Queen Elisabeth competition.

https://www.youtube.com/v/-2xYMa_lXWk

P.

[vandermolen]

Allan Pettersson's Violin Concerto No.2 is one of the greatest ever written IMHO. Another one I greatly admire is by Malcolm Williamson.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I am a huge advocate of a concerto for electric violin, spatialise orchestra and live electronics called 'Immediata' by the great composer Anthony Pateras.

[violinconcerto]

Allan Pettersson's Violin Concerto No.2 is one of the greatest ever written IMHO. Another one I greatly admire is by Malcolm Williamson.

Yes, I also thought about including Pettersson 2 to my list, but it finally just scratched the top list. But nevertheless a marvelous piece! I also like the Williamson. It is not such an outstanding work for me personally, but I see that it is a strong piece with individual characteristics, so I can understand that it ranks that high in your personal list.

Best,
Tobias

[vandermolen]

Yes, I also thought about including Pettersson 2 to my list, but it finally just scratched the top list. But nevertheless a marvelous piece! I also like the Williamson. It is not such an outstanding work for me personally, but I see that it is a strong piece with individual characteristics, so I can understand that it ranks that high in your personal list.

Best,
Tobias

Thanks. The last movement of the Williamson is especially poignant I think although the Pettersson is in a class of its own!
Best wishes,
Jeffrey

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Another violin concerto which is probably better known than the one I mentioned above is Brett Dean's first violin concerto 'The Lost Art of Letter Writing,' possibly the least well known work to have won the Grawemeyer Award (very prestigious, won by such composers as Lutosławski and Ligeti).

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Tubin's VCs and the Boydell?

[Daverz]

A suitably obscure list.  I only recognize one name, William Russo, because Ozawa recorded some of his works for DG.

But there are also a few unfamiliar names on the second list, and I'm not sure that all of those concertos can be taken off the endangered list.

[violinconcerto]

A suitably obscure list.  I only recognize one name, William Russo, because Ozawa recorded some of his works for DG.

But there are also a few unfamiliar names on the second list, and I'm not sure that all of those concertos can be taken off the endangered list.

That is an interesting point! I am so deep into the topic and the names, that I am not that good anymore which works are "little known, but known", "I know the composer at least" or "totally unknown". So can you tell me which works from my "second list" are unfamiliar to you?

Best,
Tobias

[violinconcerto]

Another violin concerto which is probably better known than the one I mentioned above is Brett Dean's first violin concerto 'The Lost Art of Letter Writing,' possibly the least well known work to have won the Grawemeyer Award (very prestigious, won by such composers as Lutosławski and Ligeti).

You are right, I had to check the name "Pateras" and wondered why I did not know him. Then I saw that the violin concerto dates from 2011 (if I remember correctly). And my research only covers the time from 1894 to 2006 (my version of an "expanded 20th century").

For that reason I don't know the Pateras but I know your second choice, the violin concerto by Brett Dean (it was written in 2006, but got the Grawemeyer Award in 2009). I didn't remember the former price winning violin concertos at the Grawemeyer Award at heart, so I looked it up. In my opinion not only the Dean concerto is little known, I also think that Tsontakis VC2 and the one by Unsuk Chin (a good one!) are unknown to nearly all of the audience. So the price doesn't seem to be a real booster for the works.

Best,
Tobias

[violinconcerto]

Tubin's VCs and the Boydell?

Yes, two good ones in my opinion too!

Best,
Tobias

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

You are right, I had to check the name "Pateras" and wondered why I did not know him. Then I saw that the violin concerto dates from 2011 (if I remember correctly). And my research only covers the time from 1894 to 2006 (my version of an "expanded 20th century").

For that reason I don't know the Pateras but I know your second choice, the violin concerto by Brett Dean (it was written in 2006, but got the Grawemeyer Award in 2009). I didn't remember the former price winning violin concertos at the Grawemeyer Award at heart, so I looked it up. In my opinion not only the Dean concerto is little known, I also think that Tsontakis VC2 and the one by Unsuk Chin (a good one!) are unknown to nearly all of the audience. So the price doesn't seem to be a real booster for the works.

Best,
Tobias

Ohhh 20th century, I see now! Well I do enjoy the Chin concerto very much but the other you mention in this post is unknown to me. Thanks for making me aware of it!

[lcbontke]

Robert McBride was one of the foremost film composers of the 1930s and 40s.  He wrote all of the music for The March of Times, which was the weekly news reels that Americans would see at the theater, particularly during WW II.  His violin concerto sounds very 1930s.  I especially love the way the first movement ends and the second begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBr25Npy-Y