Cello Concerto (Thomson)
{{Short description|Concerto by Virgil Thomson}}
The Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra is a composition for cello and orchestra by the American composer Virgil Thomson. The piece was given its world premiere by the cellist Paul Olefsky and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on March 24, 1950.Thomson, Virgil (1952). [https://www.virgilthomson.org/works/concerto-for-violoncello-and-orchestra/
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra]. Casa Ricordi. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
Composition
The Cello Concerto has a performance duration of approximately 20 minutes and is cast in three movements:
- Rider on the Plains
- Variations on a Southern Hymn
- Children's Games
=Instrumentation=
Reception
Reviewing the New York City premiere at Carnegie Hall, Olin Downes of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Thomson writes gaily, tunefully, and in an unpretentious manner. He has taken care to write as idiomatically as possible for the solo instrument. He avoids lengthy developments or over-extensions of his ideas. Sometimes the connective tissue between the main ideas is thin, sometimes the developments sag a trifle. But the evolutionary symphonic style is not here the composer's intention. He is entertaining us."{{cite web |last=Downes |first=Olin |authorlink=Olin Downes |title=WORK BY THOMSON INTRODUCED HERE; 'Cello Concerto Is Presented by Ormandy and Philadelphia Group at Carnegie Hall |work=The New York Times |date=March 29, 1950 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/29/archives/work-by-thomson-introduced-here-cello-concerto-is-presented-by.html |accessdate=July 25, 2020}} The concerto is frequently cited by the music critic Tim Page as one of his favorite Thomson works.{{cite web |last=Page |first=Tim |authorlink=Tim Page (music critic) |title=Early Start for Thomson Celebrations |work=The New York Times |date=November 11, 1983 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/11/arts/early-start-for-thomson-celebrations.html |accessdate=July 25, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Page |first=Tim |title=Virgil Thomson: The Composer in Review |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 7, 1996 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1996/04/07/virgil-thomson-the-composer-in-review/b3eee2eb-b423-41c1-96ac-f050346ef83f/ |accessdate=July 25, 2020}}{{cite web |last=Huizenga |first=Tom |title=Critical Condition: Revisiting Composer Virgil Thomson's Masterful Prose |work=Deceptive Cadence |publisher=NPR |date=September 15, 2016 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2016/09/15/493094115/critical-condition-revisiting-composer-virgil-thomsons-masterful-prose |accessdate=July 25, 2020}}