Three violin concertos
written during the last two decades.
All three are linked by their common
though varyingly-slanted embrace of
tonality.
Arutiunian is
a prolific Armenian-born composer with
a Arnold-like reputation for profuse
production of concertos. Here is his
four movement 1988 Violin Concerto written
in response to the Spitak earthquake
of that year. Arutiunian sheds his tears
through a carefully ordered mesh: part
Baroque - part Classical. There is little
of the nationalistic flavour we came
to expect from Khachaturian. This is
not music of obvious torment. Instead
the approach is spiritual, serious,
even stern on occasions, emotional but
dignified, never surrendering to Tchaikovskian
'excess'. At various times I thought
of Vaughan Williams (Flos Campi and
the Violin Concerto), Vivaldi (Four
Seasons), Corelli, Schnittke (in
the finale) and even Elgar in the more
sentimental musings of the first two
movements. Things become more up-tempo
in the skittering finale complete with
its use of pizzicato.
Vasks' Violin
Concerto has been recorded at least
three times. It is in a single andante
movement of approaching half an
hour duration. Vasks' idiom has a crepuscular
spirituality with the violin trilling
off into the heights. The reference
points are Berg, Kancheli and Penderecki.
The music is deeply serious, deeply
probing and Ambartsumiam is fully in
touch with this. The central section
from about 10:00 onwards is much more
animated with questing cadenza-like
decoration (Bach Partitas and Sonatas)
and dancing activity of the vibrant
temple devotional type adopted in many
of Hovhaness's works. For the final
third of the work the music gravitates
to the pilgrimage of spirituality which
dominated the opening. This slow-fast-slow
triptychal approach can be compared
with a small band of other such concertos
(Moeran and Delius violin concertos)
though neither of my examples has the
profound unblinking gravitas of the
Vasks which bids farewell with a trilling
ascent into a silent firmament.
Mikhail Bronner
graduated from the Moscow Conservatory
having studied with Tikhon Khrennikov.
His twenty minute concerto is dedicated
to Ambartsumian. This is a softer and
more sentimental work than the Vasks.
Bronner's style parallels that of Prokofiev
in his early romantic phase. The instrument
and orchestra sing and tremble; they
are unafraid of melody and direct speech.
The tempo marking for this movement
is, most appropriately, cantabile.
The music has a new-minted innocence
- a tenderly amorous song without erotic
tension and an unblushing sentimental
proclivity. We'll leave to one side
that the end of the Bronner is surely
a tribute to the Vasks Concerto; it
too trills off into the stratosphere.
Intriguingly this disc
documents three violin concertos all
of which are rooted in tonality. Within
that broad highway the Vasks is the
most original and prone to use of avant-garde
technique, the Arutiunian the most emotionally
ordered and controlled and the Bronner
unashamed of a heart worn prominently
on the sleeve.
The notes are reasonably
good on the composers but, except in
one case, have little to say about the
concertos.
This is a good collection
and will suit the listener who would
like to explore rather than place all
their eggs in one basket. It is the
only way to hear the Bronner but the
Arutiunian can be had on Chandos (a
single composer collection). The Vasks
concerto can be had on Warner and on
Bis.
Rob Barnett
see also review
by Tim Mahon
Levon Ambartsumian (violin)