‘Strikingly original… a disquieting work.’   ​The Guardian

Instrumentation

2(both=picc).afl.2.2.bcl.1.cbsn - 2.flhn.0.2.1 - timp - perc(3): vib/mar/2 siz.cym/tgl/sleigh bells/ metal pipes/lujon/rototoms/4 tom-t/2 gong/tam-t/BD - pno - harp - strings (12 vln.10 vla.8 vlc.6 db)

Availability

Score and parts for hire

Reviews

‘The soloist was Leila Josefowicz, who played at the work’s premiere in 2009. Then it came across as an impressive, unconventionally disquieting work. It seems even more powerful now, partly because of Josefowicz’s fierce commitment to a solo part that never parades virtuosity for its own sake, but also because its challenges always serve a searching and rewardingly complex musical argument.’
The Guardian (Andrew Clements), Monday 16 September 2019

‘Mysteries abound in a new work to savour…. Its tone is strangely evocative. The first of the two movement begins dreamily – with iridescent chatter in the background and a high-lying solo line that shimmers like Szymanowski, whose First Violin Concerto Matthews cites as an inspiration.’
The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 11 October 2009

‘Daring in its anti-heroic quality. The violin floats like an airy spirit over an orchestral haze, only gradually acquiring energy and weight, and the orchestral music, too, darts at shapes and sounds.’
The Telegraph (Ivan Hewett), 29 July 2010

‘A strikingly original work, which never does quite what you expect of a Violin Concerto… it’s a disquieting work.’
​The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 1 October 2009

Violin Concerto

Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre (London, United Kingdom)

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle/Leila Josefowicz

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Violin Concerto

Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre (London, United Kingdom)

Leila Josefowicz/London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle

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Violin Concerto

Palacio de la Ópera (La Coruña, Spain)

Leila Josefowicz/Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia/Daniel Bjarnason

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Violin Concerto

Auditorio Pazo de Congresos Mar de Vigo (Vigo, Spain)

Leila Josefowicz/Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia/Daniel Bjarnason

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Violin Concerto

Afternoon on 3

BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom)

Leila Josefowicz/BBC Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Knussen