For the inaugural concert of the symbolic and newly-rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche, Colin Matthews has been invited to write a work for cello and orchestra.
The commission has come from the Friends of Dresden Music Foundation, who sought a suitable occasion to mark the church so tragically destroyed by Allied bombing in February 13-14, 1945. The concert, on 17 November this year, has special poignancy - with the combination of a British composer, a German cellist (Jan Vogler) and an American orchestra (New York Philharmonic under its music director Lorin Maazel).
Matthews's Berceuse for Dresden lasts 10 minutes, and it will be repeated in Avery Fisher Hall, New York on 25 and 26 November.
Matthews has a special affinity for the cello, having written two earlier works for cello and orchestra, and a host of works for cello and piano.