Instrumentation
2(=picc).2.2(II=bcl).0 – 2200 –perc(1): crot, t.bells, tam-t, 1 timp – strings (min 8.8.6.6.4)
Availability
Score and parts available for hire from the Hire Library.
Programme Notes
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