Composed in 2020 for Nicolas Altstaedt, Anders Hillborg’s first Cello Concerto is characterised by the intimacy of its scoring, and a direct and paired-back simplicity of expression. Much of the work’s 27-minute span is scored for strings alone, with dazzling virtuosity eschewed in favour of long, soaring cantabile lines – the soloist’s rich and resonant low C string is only utilised at a few key moments. This ravishingly beautiful, glacial, soundscape occasionally ruptures – we hear a fragment of renaissance polyphony as if through gauze, and later a frenzied, surreal outburst for full orchestra leads to a moment of crisis – but the prevailing mood is one of vast space, loneliness and longing.

 

Faber Music