‘The Seventh Seal’ (2020) was inspired by the famous 1957 Ingmar Bergman film of the same name. When approached by double bassist Malachy Robinson with the idea of writing a concerto for cello, double bass and strings I immediately thought of how the two soloists could engage in a series of musical conversations, and having had the Bergman film in mind for some time for a different project I thought of the many two-handed conversations there are in that work – for instance, between the Knight and Death who play chess with each other, between the Knight and a young woman accused of witchcraft, between the knight's squire and a painter depicting gruesome events on the wall of a church, between the actor and his wife about blissfully domestic affairs, etc. Many of these conversations are about existential ideas - the existence of God versus nothingness; what is Death?; the difficulty of faith; the place of love.

I took a number of these conversations as starting points for this single-movement, multi-sectional, free-flowing work that explores the two solo instruments in terms of colour and expressiveness, exploits the tutti string section in inventive ways, and seeks to present the fear, the love, the tenderness, and the inevitability which mark the film so strongly. A Medieval Swedish melody appears near the end, referencing the simplicity of the Knight’s conversation with his wife when he finally reaches home after years of travel – this melody also reflects the time and place the film is set in. After that we have the final Dance of Death.

‘The Seventh Seal’ was commissioned by the Irish Chamber Orchestra with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland. The performers on the recording are cellist Christian Elliott and double bassist Malachy Robinson with the Irish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Thomas Zehetmair.

The Seventh Seal (double concerto for cello, double bass & strings)

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Ian Wilson (Belfast, 1964) has composed over 200 works in many different genres which have been performed and broadcast on six continents. He is a member of Aosdána, Ireland’s national association of creative artists, and his music is published by G. Ricordi & Co. Ltd and Universal Edition. 
Visit: www.ianwilson.ie

The Seventh Seal (double concerto for cello, double bass & strings)

Ian Wilson, composer