Violin Concerto (Higdon)
Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was written in 2008. The work was jointly commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute of Music.Higdon, Jennifer (2008). [http://www.jenniferhigdon.com/pdf/program-notes/Violin-Concerto.pdf Violin Concerto: Program Note]. Retrieved August 2, 2015. It was composed for the violinist Hilary Hahn and was given its world premiere by Hahn and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Mario Venzago on February 6, 2009. The piece was later awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music.{{cite web |last=Huizenga |first=Tom |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125872042 |title=Jennifer Higdon Wins Music Pulitzer |date=April 12, 2010 |publisher=NPR |access-date=September 16, 2010}}{{cite web |last=Schweitzer |first=Vivien |title=Despite Anxiety and Naysayers, Composer Wins Her Pulitzer |work=The New York Times |date=April 21, 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/arts/music/22higdon.html |access-date=May 12, 2015}}{{cite web |last=Berger |first=Kevin |title=Composer Jennifer Higdon pursues friendly music |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 25, 2012 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-mar-25-la-ca-jennifer-higdon-20120325-story.html |access-date=May 12, 2015}}
Composition
=Structure=
The concerto has a duration of roughly 33 minutes and is composed in three movements:
- "1726" – named after the address of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, 1726 Locust Street, where Higdon is a professor. The movement features a lot of simultaneous sevenths, seconds, and sixths, allowing the violinist to showcase great manual dexterity
- "Chaconni" – a lyrical movement, it allows the soloist to perform in duets and trios with various instruments
- "Fly Forward" – a fast–paced movement, Higdon imagined violinist Hilary Hahn racing in the Olympics as she was composing the piece
=Instrumentation=
Reception
The Violin Concerto has been praised by music critics. Reviewing the New York City premiere, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote, "Its big, exploratory opening movement is packed with quick, insistent solo lines and dialogues between the violin and either the full orchestra or individual sections or players; its lush, slow movement (here in the form of a chaconne) exploits the violin's lyrical qualities, and its finale is driven by daredevil speediness."{{cite web |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |author-link=Allan Kozinn |title=Sound That's Lush and Slow, Speedy and Precise |work=The New York Times |date=February 16, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/arts/music/17curtis.html |access-date=April 8, 2016}} Duncan Druce of Gramophone similarly described the piece as "an attractive, colourful work, scored most imaginatively and with great finesse." He continued, "I enjoyed the first movement especially, its disparate material so expertly contrasted and integrated. The second movement, entitled 'Chaconni', has a pastoral feel, vaguely reminiscent of Vaughan Williams but with the lark ascending into a more unsettled sky. The finale, a real showpiece for the violin, is less substantial but rhythmically most inventive."{{cite web |last=Druce |first=Duncan |title=HIGDON; TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concertos: Playing of great subtlety from Hilary Hahn in two well-contrasted concert |work=Gramophone |date=April 2011 |url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/higdon-tchaikovsky-violin-concertos |access-date=April 8, 2016}}
See also
References
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{{Jennifer Higdon}}
{{PulitzerPrize Music 2001–2010}}
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Category:Concertos by Jennifer Higdon
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music–winning works
Category:Music commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Category:Music commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Category:Music commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Category:Music commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music