Frank Corcoran

irish composer

ccolo Cavour in Bolsena Italy will host a concert by cellist Martin Johnson and pianist Fergal Caulfield, performing a programme that includes two works by Frank Corcoran. The first, titled Im Aonar Seal, was written especially for the duo for this concert, while the second is a chamber version of a new large-scale Cello Concerto by the composer, the full version of which will be premiered by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in March 2015. Martin Johnson, who has performed Corcoran’s works in the past, will also be the soloist of the full premiere, under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery. The composer on his Cello Concerto: ‘Without the success of my Violin Concerto ( 2012 RTÉ NSO , Alan Smale Soloist, Conductor Christopher Warren Green) I couldn’t and wouldn’t have started work on the four mighty movements of the Cello Concerto. The Concerto sways bouyantly between its great forebears, Dvorak’s 1890 Cello Concerto and Lutoslawsky’s powerful work for the soloist Rostrapovitch of the early seventies. I, too, use a huge symphony orchestra . My opening movement uses a motto theme on the trumpets which appears a number of times, using the 7 notes of my Corcoran Scale ( G, A flat, C sharp, D, E flat, F sharp, and A) which has supplied the building-material for most of my recent works (incl. the Violin Concerto). My Slow Movement uses my chromatic version of Dvorak s hymn in his Slow Movement. My Scherzo is the most violent music I have ever composed. Its massed percussion and brass are bent on annihilating the solo cello. But it wins. My final fourth movement gives a tranquil resolution to everything already heard in the three previous movements, a summing up, the solo instrument’s triumph. 12 Oct, 6pm, Piccolo Teatro Cavour, Balseno, Italy

ccolo Cavour in Bolsena Italy will host a concert by cellist Martin Johnson and pianist Fergal Caulfield, performing a programme that includes two works by Frank Corcoran. The first, titled Im Aonar Seal, was written especially for the duo for this concert, while the second is a chamber version of a new large-scale Cello Concerto by the composer, the full version of which will be premiered by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in March 2015. Martin Johnson, who has performed Corcoran’s works in the past, will also be the soloist of the full premiere, under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery. The composer on his Cello Concerto: ‘Without the success of my Violin Concerto ( 2012 RTÉ NSO , Alan Smale Soloist, Conductor Christopher Warren Green) I couldn’t and wouldn’t have started work on the four mighty movements of the Cello Concerto. The Concerto sways bouyantly  between its great forebears, Dvorak’s 1890 Cello Concerto and Lutoslawsky’s powerful work for the soloist Rostrapovitch of the early seventies. I, too, use a huge symphony orchestra . My opening movement uses a motto theme on the trumpets which appears a number of times, using the 7 notes of my Corcoran Scale ( G, A flat, C sharp, D, E flat, F sharp, and A) which has supplied the building-material for most of my recent works (incl. the Violin Concerto). My Slow Movement uses my chromatic version of Dvorak s hymn in his Slow Movement. My Scherzo is the most violent music I have ever composed. Its massed percussion and brass are bent on annihilating the solo cello. But it wins. My final fourth movement gives a tranquil resolution to everything already heard in the three previous movements, a summing up, the solo instrument’s triumph.      12 Oct, 6pm, Piccolo Teatro Cavour, Balseno, Italy

Posted under: Humble Hamburg Musings

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