Violin Concerto (Britten)

Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto, Op. 15, was written from 1938 to 1939 and dedicated to Henry Boys, his former teacher at the Royal College of Music.[1] It was premiered in New York, on 29 March 1940 by the Spanish violinist Antonio Brosa with the New York Philharmonic conducted by John Barbirolli. A revised version of the concerto appeared in the 1950s, including alterations of the solo violin part prepared with the assistance of Manoug Parikian.

Instrumentation

The concerto is scored for solo violin and an orchestra of three flutes (second and third flutes doubling piccolo), two oboes (second oboe doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel, cymbals, triangle, bass drum, side drum, tenor drum), harp and strings.

Structure

The concerto is written in three movements:

1. Moderato con moto – Agitato – Tempo primo –
2. Vivace – Animando – Largamente – Cadenza –
3. Passacaglia: Andante lento (Un poco meno mosso)

This form, although in three movements, is highly unlike that of concertos from the Classical and Romantic eras. First used in the First Violin Concerto of Sergei Prokofiev, this design is also evident in the concertos of William Walton and later in Shostakovich's first violin concerto, that has a structure that clearly recalls Britten's concerto.

Analysis

The work opens with a series of timpani strokes, a reminder perhaps of Beethoven's Violin Concerto. The rhythm is taken up by the bassoon and other instruments, persisting as an ostinato throughout the entire work. The violin enters with a song-like lament, soaring above the orchestra. The music is soon interrupted by a more militaristic and percussive secondary theme.

The ensuing second movement, cast as a wild, moto perpetuo scherzo, unmistakably recalls Prokofiev. The movement culminates in an impressive cadenza which, while recalling musical material from both the first and second movements, acts as an organic link straight into the finale.

As the finale, Britten uses a passacaglia: a set of variations on a ground bass, in the tradition of the Baroque chaconnes by Purcell and Bach. The ground bass, tonally unstable, is initially introduced by the trombone, as the violin recalls its lyrical theme from the first movement. Individual variations unfold, taking up characters of song, dance, capriccio and march. By the end, the ground bass is reduced to chant-like reminiscences; the orchestra leaves hints of an unmistakable D major chord, while the soloist is left undecided in a trill between the notes F-natural and G flat.[2]

Discography

Year	Soloist	Conductor Orchestra	Format: Record label Catalogue Number
1952	Antonio Brosa	Ian Whyte, BBC Scottish Orchestra (9 Apr.1952)	Audio LP: Stereo Records & Tapes Cat: SRT/Custom 009 (private release)
1964	Nora Grumlíková	Peter Maag, Prague Symphony Orchestra (1964)	Audio CD: Supraphon Cat: 1106532 (1991)
1970s	Ruggiero Ricci	G.Brott, SWF Sinfonie Orchester (live - doubtful venue, conductor and orchestra)	Audio CD: One-Eleven Cat: EPR-96020 (1996)
1970	Mark Lubotsky	Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra	Audio CD: Decca Cat: 417 308-2
1974	Rodney Friend	John Pritchard, London Philharmonic Orchestra	Audio LP: EMI Cat: CFP 40250
1977	Ida Haendel	Paavo Berglund, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra	Audio LP: EMI Cat: ASD 3483
1981	Boris Gutnikov	Alexander Dmitriev, Leningrad Academic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra	Audio LP: Melodiya Cat: С10-16521-2
1996	Serguei Azizian	Osmo Vänskä, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra	Audio CD: Alto Cat: BAX3661 (2013)
1997	Rebecca Hirsch	Takuo Yuasa, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Naxos Cat: 8.553882
2001	Lydia Mordkovitch	Richard Hickox, BBC Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Chandos Cat: CHAN 9910
2003	Maxim Vengerov	Mstislav Rostropovich, London Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 0724355751027
2004	Frank Peter Zimmermann	Manfred Honeck, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Sony Cat: S70316C 88697439992
2005	Daniel Hope	Paul Watkins, BBC Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Warner Classics Cat: 2564-60291-2
2009	Janine Jansen	Paavo Järvi, London Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Decca Cat: 000289 478 1530 3
2011	Wanda Wiłkomirska	Witold Rowicki, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra	Audio CD: Orchestral Concert CDs Cat: CD12/2011
2012	Anthony Marwood	Ilan Volkov, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Hyperion Cat: CDA67801
2013	James Ehnes	Kirill Karabits, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Onyx Cat: BBX2835 (2012)
2014	Gil Shaham	Juanjo Mena, Boston Symphony Orchestra	Audio CD: Canary Classics, Cat: CC12
2014	Linus Roth	Mihkel Kütson, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin	Audio CD/SACD: Challenge Classics, Cat: CC 72627
2016	Vilde Frang	James Gaffigan, hr-Sinfonieorchester	Audio CD: Warner Classics Cat: 0825646009213
2017	Arabella Steinbacher	Vladimir Jurowski, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin	Audio CD/SACD: Pentatone Cat: PTC 5186625

References

1. Henry Boys - Musician, teacher, writer on music
2. Paul Kildea, ed. (2008). Britten on Music, p. 365. Oxford University Press, Oxford.