CPMusicLibrary's video: Violin Concerto 1-3rd mov t - Gary Kulesha

Solo violin part is for sale through our online store at https://cpmusiclibrary.ca/product/vln-conc1-kulesha-solo-vln/ Program note by the composer: My Violin Concerto was written for Gwen Hoebig, and was commissioned by David Jaeger and the CBC. I began it on August 4 of 1998 and completed it on February 20 of 1999. It was premiered by Gwen with the Winnipeg Symphony conducted by Bramwell Tovey. There are few things more daunting than composing a violin concerto. The symphony and string quartet are probably the only traditional forms which compare in terms of both the intimidating existing repertoire, and the sheer number and complexity of problems involved. Gwen Hoebig had played several of my chamber works before she asked me to consider composing a violin concerto for her. I consider Gwen to be one of the finest musicians I have ever known, and felt quite flattered and honoured to have been asked. I had just completed my Symphony, and felt that the time was right for me to undertake this concerto. This work is cast in four movements, and each is developed in a similar fashion. In a way, this is a “chaconne concerto,” because each movement is essentially a set of variations on a series of sonorities which are first heard in the cadenza-like opening. There is no chaconne theme, just a basic chord progression, which mutates across the course of the work. The sonorities are evolved from the very first sound heard, a rising arpeggio-like figure in the solo violin. The first movement is constructed from chords derived from this figure. It is a moderately slow movement, which I like to think of as being somewhat thoughtful and provocative. The second movement is, rather unexpectedly, a scherzo, in which a brittle, fragmentary theme is contrasted with a more lyrical second idea. I think of the first two movements as being complementary, almost as though the containment of the first movement must be answered with the edginess and hyper-activity of the second. The third movement is a slow movement, which contrasts rather sombre materials with much more lyrical ones. At the climax, the solo violin gradually disappears into the overwhelming orchestral texture. The fourth movement is a clear finale. It is highly rhythmic, based largely on the timpani rhythm which is heard right at the beginning. The ending of the work attempts a resolution of the tonal tensions inherent in the opening figure of the piece.