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
YearSoloistConductor
Orchestra		Format: Record label
Catalogue Number
1952Antonio BrosaIan Whyte,
BBC Scottish Orchestra
(9 Apr.1952)		Audio LP: Stereo Records & Tapes
Cat: SRT/Custom 009
(private release)
1964Nora GrumlíkováPeter Maag,
Prague Symphony Orchestra
(1964)		Audio CD: Supraphon
Cat: 1106532 (1991)
1970sRuggiero RicciG.Brott,
SWF Sinfonie Orchester
(live - doubtful venue, conductor and orchestra)		Audio CD: One-Eleven
Cat: EPR-96020 (1996)
1970Mark LubotskyBenjamin Britten,
English Chamber Orchestra		Audio CD: Decca
Cat: 417 308-2
1974Rodney FriendJohn Pritchard,
London Philharmonic Orchestra		Audio LP: EMI
Cat: CFP 40250
1977Ida HaendelPaavo Berglund,
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Audio LP: EMI
Cat: ASD 3483

1981Boris Gutnikov Alexander Dmitriev,
Leningrad Academic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Audio LP: Melodiya
Cat: С10-16521-2

1996Serguei AzizianOsmo Vänskä,
Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra		Audio CD: Alto
Cat: BAX3661 (2013)
1997Rebecca HirschTakuo Yuasa,
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Naxos
Cat: 8.553882
2001Lydia MordkovitchRichard Hickox,
BBC Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Chandos
Cat: CHAN 9910
2003Maxim VengerovMstislav Rostropovich,
London Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: EMI Classics
Cat: 0724355751027
2004Frank Peter ZimmermannManfred Honeck,
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Sony
Cat: S70316C 88697439992
2005Daniel HopePaul Watkins,
BBC Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Warner Classics
Cat: 2564-60291-2
2009Janine JansenPaavo Järvi,
London Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Decca
Cat: 000289 478 1530 3
2011Wanda WiłkomirskaWitold Rowicki,
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra		Audio CD: Orchestral Concert CDs
Cat: CD12/2011
2012Anthony MarwoodIlan Volkov,
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Hyperion
Cat: CDA67801
2013James EhnesKirill Karabits,
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra		Audio CD: Onyx
Cat: BBX2835 (2012)
2014 Gil Shaham Juanjo Mena,

Boston Symphony Orchestra

 Audio CD: Canary Classics,

Cat: CC12

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


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