Concerto

for Viola and Orchestra

 Composed:  2009 (revised 2023) The revised version makes only small changes to the first movement
 Commission:  Dallas Symphony Orchestra, dedicated to Ellen Rose
 Premiere:  Ellen Rose, viola, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, January 10, 2010
 Duration:  24 minutes
 Instrumentation: Solo viola 3(3rd dbl. picc) 2 EH 2 1 Cbsn; 422 + BsTbn 0; timp. 3 perc. hp, strings
Reduced instrumentation version: Solo viola, 2222, 4221; timp. 3 perc. hp, strings
Piano reduction: Viola and Piano

PROGRAM NOTES

I. Caritas
II. ...fair as the moon, bright as the sun
III. Blithesome Spirit

The Concerto for Viola and Orchestra was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to violist, Ellen Rose. The concerto musically describes a person (the soloist) who is on an internal journey.   In the first movement the solo part begins in a mood of questioning and anger, contrasted with an orchestral atmosphere of blurred color and melodic fragments that suggest the chant, Ubi Caritas. Under the influence of the orchestra, the passionato mood of the soloist gradually dissolves, turning to a mood of compassion and charity with only occasional references to the opening tensions. Near the end of the movement, the solo viola plays Ubi Caritas, accompanied only by low string harmonics and flute.   This is followed by a melody inspired by Caritas, first in orchestral tutti, and then solo viola.   The second movement, ...fair as the moon, bright as the sun... is simply a love song.  Opening with soft breathless motion in the orchestra, "like a light breeze through white clouds", it quickly goes to a melody in the viola that exudes warmth, pleasure, and delight. The name is taken from the biblical, Song of Songs (6:10).  The same chant, Ubi Caritas, is referred to near the end of the movement in the lower strings.  The last movement, Blithesome Spirit continues the light-hearted mood and becomes buoyantly playful, mischievous, and sometimes a bit jaunty.
Ubi caritas tas et amor, Deus ibi est.   (Where charity and love are, God there is found.)

REVIEWS

"The piece opens edgily. English horn, harp and marimba attempt to calm the viola's anxieties, and eventually the soloist emerges transfigured. The orchestra responds with an ecstatic outpouring, and bell sounds bring the movement to a quiet close. The central movement bears a quotation from the Biblical Song of Songs: "...fair as the moon, bright as the sun..." In pre-performance remarks from the stage, Brouwer described it as a love song. The viola threads its melody through gentle rustles and cascades which gradually grow in richness and complexity. The finale is playful, even mischievous, with slides and scrawny on-the-bridge grunts for the viola, and sharply snapped pluckings for cellos and basses. She has written skillfully and imaginatively for both viola and orchestra, and the music engages start to finish."  -Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News, January 8, 2010

“A melodic secondary theme follows from the violist, which grows in ardency. Much of the movement alternates between this material - angular fragments set against lyrical passages, often with unusual scoring featuring bells and twittering avian winds. A traditional cadenza offers the violist a moment of pyrotechnical display as he surmounts the more jagged music....Brouwer's style is tonal and her melodic writing falls easily on the ear. There are inspired moments and it's hard to resist the big, expansive tune at the end of the opening movement.” - Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review, 2021

“The performance was a showcase for viola soloist Masumi Per Rostad who proved his talent in mastering a series of difficult rhythms and technique that included...an upscale and down passage that called to mind - and this is meant as a compliment - a kazoo. The piece also gave unusual prominence to the orchestra's bells and vibraphone.” - Bob Benenson, Third Coast Review, 2021

“With a recent Naxos release of works performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony under Marin Alsop, American composer Margaret Brouwer’s reputation keeps expanding. Her striking but accessible music is always worth hearing, and this occasion brought a chamber orchestra rescaling of Brouwer’s 2011 Viola Concerto, originally written for Ellen Rose and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The composer adapted it for the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra and had the orchestra’s impressive Eliesha Nelson as soloist.

The work enacts a journey from fury to serenity and onward to joy, powered by fragments of the chant Ubi caritas, which doesn’t make a full appearance until near the end of the first movement, after the soloist’s clipped and aggressive gestures have been diffused by interactions with the orchestra. When the chant does arrive, it is in a breathtaking passage with the ecstatic solo viola accompanied by harmonics on the lower string instruments and a haunting flute.

This gives the piece an interesting trajectory. Where most concertos have either an antagonistic relationship between the solo part and the full tutti passages or a cooperative first-among-equals approach, Brouwer’s work makes a powerful expressive point by starting as one and developing into the other. One thing that remains prominent in the chamber version of the piece is the use of mallet percussion instruments and bells. The reverberant acoustics of Our Lady of Angels Church worked gloriously for the concerto, the percussion instruments’ tintinnabulations becoming a glowing halo of sound that Nelson’s rich tone contrasted with vividly and dramatically.

The slow movement, taking its title ‘… fair as the moon, bright as the sun…’ from the Biblical Song of Songs, was sung with tender elegance by Nelson’s viola. In contrast, the finale, ‘Blithesome Spirit’, showed how nimble Nelson could make the instrument, capering with infectious energy. A passage with swift glissandos passed from viola to the orchestra and back was both completely modern sounding and delightfully witty. The orchestra stayed with Nelson every step of the way under the attentive direction of Lorenzo Lopez, and the performance brought the audience to its feet. Brouwer, who was present and looked delighted with the rendition, took a bow from her spot in the pews after the soloist and conductor insisted.” - Mark S Jordan, Seen and Heard International