Adrian Sutton: Violin Concerto

by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Overview

This 2024 Chandos release comes with a compelling backstory that may have helped propel it onto classical best-seller charts in the autumn of that year. Composer Adrian Sutton -- after receiving a diagnosis of an incurable cancer (but one that can be treated to extend his life) -- switched from writing theatrical incidental music to abstract concert music that presumably may have a better chance of the immortality that all crave. However, the music also deserves to be heard on its own terms, and here, the news is good. There is a certain knack to making the switch, one that composer John Williams doubtless has, for example. It consists of being stylistically recognizable -- audiences have less interest in a whole new idiom -- but in convincingly incorporating the soundtrack idiom into extended classical forms. Sutton is an interesting case of a modern composer who has worked primarily in theater, writing incidental music rather than in films. An extended sample of his theatrical style is included in the form of his War Horse Suite, taken from his music from the play War Horse, an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's World War I novel War Horse. The new works are a short (programless) orchestral work called Short Story, which presents Sutton's new ideas in a concise form, and an energetic piece called A Fist Full of Fives; preceding these is the main attraction, Sutton's Violin Concerto. Violinist Fenella Humphreys, backed by the BBC Philharmonic under conductor Michael Seal, is an ideal choice for this work, with her lyrical, winding tone putting across material that was intended as a counterpart (or concert pairing) with Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending and took direct inspiration from Richard Bach's inspirational novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull in its three movements. (Did those who were around when that novel appeared suspect that it would last long enough to become common knowledge in a different country 55 years on?) Sutton's language is of the tonal crossover sort but with strands of earlier English music (Walton, Vaughan Williams, and a bit of Erich Korngold as well) connecting it with tradition. Will this concerto become part of the repertory? Time will tell, but the music is highly listenable right now. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	10/04/2024
Label:	CHANDOS
UPC:	0095115234921

Tracks

1. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra~1. Thermals. Dream-like, oceanic - Grazioso - Vivace - (Cadenza) -
2. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra~2. Far Cliffs. Quiet, contemplative -
3. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra~3. Life Force. Vivace - Dream-like, oceanic - Tempo I
4. Short Story for Orchestra
5. A Fist Full of Fives With huge fire and rhythmic energy
6. War Horse Orchestral Suite~1. Devon at Peace. Tentative - Slightly slower -
7. War Horse Orchestral Suite~2. First Gallop. Agitato -
8. War Horse Orchestral Suite~3. Crossing the Channel. Adagio -
9. War Horse Orchestral Suite~4. Emilie's Theme. Graceful, delicate -
10. War Horse Orchestral Suite~5. The Charge. Urgent, incisive -
11. War Horse Orchestral Suite~6. Joey and Albert Reunited. Lento - Andante
12. Five Theatre Miniatures~I. The Departure (from 'Murder on the Orient Express'). Molto pesante - Allegro - Molto pesante
13. Five Theatre Miniatures~II. Intermezzo (from 'Husbands and Sons'). Adagio
14. Five Theatre Miniatures~III. Gigue (from 'Coram Boy'). Allegro
15. Five Theatre Miniatures~IV. Polperro Beach (from 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'). Tranquillo
16. Five Theatre Miniatures~V. Contagion (from 'Dr Semmelweis'). Tormented

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fenella Humphreys   Primary Artist,Violin
Michael Seal   Primary Artist,Conductor
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Matthew Gough   Photography
Ralph Couzens   Executive Producer
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
Yuri Torchinsky   Leader
Mike George   Recording Producer
Cass Cassidy   Design,Typesetting
Matthew Bennett   Editing
Robert Taylor   Photography
Alejandro Tamagno   Photography
Robin Clewley   Photography
Alexander James   Mastering
Karen Marchlik   A&R
Jonathan James   Liner Notes
Eric Richmond   Photography
John Cole   Assistant Engineer
Laurence Aston   Executive Producer
Stephen Rinker   Engineer
Adrian Sutton   Composer,Executive Producer,Recording Producer
Finn S. Gundersen   Booklet Editor
Andreas Klatt   Liner Note Translation