cello concerto

PROGRAM NOTES

My Cello Concerto has a deep sense of brooding and urgency, more so than in other works that I have written. Perhaps it is because the cello is so close to the human voice and capable of such a wide range of emotion. Perhaps it’s the amazing range of the cello–from its deep sonorous bass tones to its plaintive projecting high register- that has brought out a very deep piece from my creative psyche.

The form of the concerto is in three movements. The first movement is slow and brooding. The motivic ideas are presented at the onset. The movement builds using the motivic material towards a passionate climactic outpouring from the cello. The second movement is nine minutes of propulsive energy, building higher and higher, until it explodes into a recapitulation of the original thematic material. A contemplative and introspective cadenza releases this energy and serves as a link to a brief, final movement that uses the thematic material of the first movement. However, in Movement 3, the brooding thematic material is recontextualized: instead of dark tones, a hopeful and subdued closing ends on sustained harmonics in the strings as the cello looks forward to a brighter day.

This work makes considerable demands upon the soloist not only in the technical realm but also emotionally, forcing her to cover a wide range of emotions and colors within the scope of one piece.