Modern Violin, Viola and Cello Concertos

This is the studio recording of composer Geoffrey Gordon's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, after the Thomas Mann novel, Doktor Faustus, featuring cellist Toke Moldrup, conductor Lan Shui, and the Copenhagen Philharmonic (which commissioned the work in 2014).

GORDON - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (studio)

Commissioned by the Manhattan Sinfonia and violist Karen Dreyfus. Premiered at Alice Tully Hall in 1993. Recorded here with the Warsaw Philharmonic under the direction of George Manahan and Karen Dreyfus as soloist.

Program Notes:
"I have had the good fortune to have worked with and composed for some of America's finest violists, among whom several stand out: James Dunham of the Cleveland Quartet, Marcus Thompson, Walter Trampler, Sol Greitzer, and, most recently, Karen Dreyfus, who will give the world premiere of my Viola Concerto No. 3.
"It is to the many lessons and experiences taught me by these wonderful violists that my new concerto owes its creative and spiritual stimulus. My third concerto seeks to compress the most resonant tonal areas inherent in the viola, and at the same time, expand these areas into a romantic weave of dialogue and argument.
"Cast in three movements, there are strong Baroque and Classical reminiscences which nourish the musical narrative in traditional fashion.
"Throughout the Concerto's extended development, the intrinsic difficulties of balance and compatibility between the solo viola and the orchestra are compensated for in several ways. There are many interspersed cadenzas of varying length, as well as antiphonal passages between solo and tutti and strong orchestral developments which allow the viola to remain silent from time to time.    
"I was not content with 'baby-fied' accompaniments behind the soloist. Rather, I sought a rich and texturally interesting orchestral backdrop, giving the orchestra players an interactive role in the narrative. At the same time, I hoped to preserve and showcase the richness of the viola's most sonorous properties, or dramatis personae if you will.
"Beyond all explanation, the Concerto strives for direct and visceral communication, so as to draw the listener into its action and emotional drama."
—William Thomas McKinley (© 1993), from 22 Feb 1993 and 23 Feb 1993 programs.

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): III. Prestissimo e diabolico

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): II. Largo

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): I. Lamento

Commissioned by Sol Greitzer and premiered with Greitzer as soloist with Jorge Mester conducting the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra in 1987. Recorded here with Karen Dreyfus and the Silesian Philharmonic under the direction of Jerzy Swoboda.

Program Notes:
"Composing in a neo-tonal, euphonious, contemporary language, I owe much to the achievements of the American romantic composers such as George Gershwin and William Schuman filtered and synthesized through my own personal experiences in American jazz. Although this new concerto is not meant to be an overtly jazzy work, the listener who is familiar with certain modern tonalities of jazz and popular music will hear the expansion of these tonalities along with modernist rhythmic elements, cast within a wide palette of orchestral color.
"I envisioned Sol Greitzer's role in the manner of Harold in Italy. (We have occasionally teased with the idea of 'Sol in Los Angeles' or 'Sol in NewYork'). The viola part is quite continuous, seldom resting, and moves in and out of phase with the orchestra. Its presence is usually dominant, but sometimes the viola is meant to be heard only as part of the total fabric. This allows me to indulge occasionally in the large sound of the orchestra and, due to intrinsic problems of balance when the viola is used as a concerto solo instrument, I was faced with the traditional task of balancing the viola against the orchestra while at the same time justifying and enhancing the orchestral presence and involvement in the musical dialogue. Thus, as in Harold in Italy, my concerto may be viewed as a symphony with the cantus firmus or main thread of continuity throughout the work's entirety centered in the solo part.
"There are three movements, the first cast a la Haydn in a monothematic or distilled sonata form, the second a veritable presto vivo scherzo type, and the finale a chaconne cast in a very large, developing variation form not entirely unlike the form of the passacaglia in Brahms' Fourth Symphony. There are cadenzas in the first and last movements interspersed with smaller quasi-cadenza-like passages. The cadenza in the third movement begins accompanied and gradually evolves into solo. Although I have used principally classical structures for the concerto's architecture, the overall drama does indeed unfold in a long-lined, romantically lyrical manner. Melody is extremely important.  Only in the domain of harmony and color have I consciously sought a modern surface."
— William Thomas McKinley (© 1987), from 13 Mar 1987 program.

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra No. 2 (1985): II. Vivo

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra No. 2 (1985): I. Andante ma non troppo

US/UK composer Geoffrey Gordon’s contributions to the contemporary music repertoire have been and continue to be exceptional.  Intense and luxuriant harmony, passionate melody and superb handling of instrumentation and sonic textures define his music.  His works include orchestral, chamber and vocal works, recognised and performed by the world's top musicians and ensembles.  His music has been called "darkly seductive" (The New York Times), "complex, richly-satisfying " (BBC Music Magazine), “stunning” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “iridescent and glowing” (Chicago Tribune), “taut and exhilarating” (Classical Ear), “haunting” (Strings Magazine), "gripping" (Bachtrack), "fierce and uncompromising" (MusicWeb International) and “magnificent” (Fanfare).  The Philharmonia identifies “his infectious style" and “an ear for melody”; the New York Times his “zest for sonic experimentation”.  

Recently and upcoming, the BBC Philharmonic will premiere Mr. Gordon's new bassoon concerto, Anima Mia, during the 2022-23 concert season; the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta will premiere a jointly commissioned chamber concerto for Bb clarinet and ensemble, Fumee; and the Antwerp Symphony will premiere Mr. Gordon's Mad Song, which they commissioned for soloist Dimitri Mestdag. 

In 2018, the Philharmonia gave the premiere of Geoffrey’s Gordon’s bass clarinet concerto “Prometheus” after the treatment by Franz Kafka, at the RFH, with US and Nordic premieres following in 2019 with the Minnesota Orchestra and Malmo Symphony.   His superb setting of Keats' “Ode to a Nightingale” for choir and cello premiered in May 2018 in Copenhagen by Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir and a new CD of three of his major cello works, Cello Libris,  was released on the BIS label in early 2020, featuring the Copenhagen Philharmonic under Lan Shui.  His song cycles, “Peter Quince at the Clavier” and “Sonnets from Neruda” premiered in March 2018 at the Arnold Schoenberg Center, Vienna, and in October 2017 the Munich Philharmonic under James Gaffigan premiered his trumpet concerto, "CHASE," after the sculptures of Giacometti.  His cello sonata “FATHOMS” premiered at Carnegie Hall in  December 2015  and his “Winterleben” for horn, mezzo and piano (commissioned for Los Angeles Philharmonic principal horn, Andrew Bain), premiered in August 2015 as part of the 47th International Horn Symposium in Los Angeles.  Honoured by a number of residencies internationally, he has twice served as composer-in-residence at the Aaron Copland House and is winner of 2017 Mario Merz Prize for Music Composition. In 2018, he was commissioned by the Curie Institute in Paris, part of the Muse-IC project. A new chamber work, featuring musicians from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, premiered at the  Salle Cortot Theatre in Paris in March, 2019. 

Future performances and commissions include new works for the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic and many others.

Find more links to Geoffrey Gordon's music, as well as bio and reviews etc. at www.geoffreygordoncomposer.com

NEW CD, Cello Libris, out on BIS Records!  
Find it here:
https://bis.se/performers/moldrup-toke/cello-libris-works-by-geoffrey-gordon

GORDON - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (studio)

Geoffrey Gordon Composer