The violin soloist is like an individual in the middle of a jungle of ideas … seeking answers for the most existential questions.
Erkki-Sven Tüür
Violin Concerto No. 3 'Kõnelused Tundmatuga' (Conversations with the Unknown) composed by Erkki-Sven Tüür receives its European premiere on April 25, performed by hr-Sinfonieorchester, who commissioned the work, and violinist Vadim Gluzman under the direction of Nicholas Collon. Another performance takes place the following day.
The idea of the work is a conversation with an ‘other self’. That could be an inner voice, conscience or divinity as well as a conversation with ‘someone you do not know but wish to have as a close friend.’
Typical for Tüür’s music, he uses polyphonic textures and layered tempi. The movements, performed attacca, maintain a sense of simultaneous tempo variations across different musical layers. The first movement ends with a brief cadenza, leading into a vibrant middle movement marked by its groovy rhythm. Transitioning into the third and final movement, the concerto delves into a mysterious and atmospheric sound world, with the solo violin navigating through shifting acoustic landscapes.
‘At the very end we come to a different light - perhaps this is the moment of full understanding of the qualities that the “Unknown” always tried to gently lead us to’, says the composer.
For more information about the concert, please see the website of hr-Sinfonieorchester.