Concerto for Violin [conductor’s score]

The Concerto for violin and string orchestra, composed in 2017, was commissioned by the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and dedicated to the violinist Jean-Frédéric Molard. Consisting of three movements, the piece requires great technical skill and musical sensitivity from the soloist. The first movement opens with an orchestral ostinato. The soloist then plays a repeated theme, which gradually evolves through various unexpected modulations as the orchestra takes up snatches of the motif in dialogue with the soloist.

This is followed by an intense, expressive and highly contrapuntal middle section in which the solo violinist must fight to maintain control and avoid being overwhelmed by the mass of sound. After this struggle, the rhythmic theme from the beginning returns to lead into a highly virtuosic third section, in which a new, more lyrical theme is developed. The rest of the movement sees the various elements outlined above juxtaposed until the soloist’s luminous conclusion.

The second movement comprises three distinct parts that eventually merge, leading to a short cadenza by the soloist that brings the piece to a meditative conclusion. The final movement alternates between moments of great lyricism and implacable rhythm, with the entire movement performed by the soloist.

The world premiere took place in Brussels on 30 November 2018, as part of the Ars Musica International Festival. Jean-Frédéric Molard was the soloist and Frank Braley conducted the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.