Viola Concerto
for viola and orchestra (1990)

27 minutes

Completed in September 1990, Bracanin’s Concerto for Viola and orchestra was commissioned by and dedicated to Patricia Pollett, who gave an outstanding premiere of the work with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra directed by Vanco Cavdarski. In commissioning the concerto, Patricia Pollett stressed the need for a genuine viola concerto rather than a violin concerto adapted for viola. Much material is therefore written for the C, G and D strings, and the slow cadenza of the first movement marked lusingando e espressivo capitalises on the potential warmth and soulfulness of this tessitura.

Cast in the traditional three movement fast, slow, fast design and conveying an essentially lyrical message, the concerto displays many individual features, both in the nature of the thematic process and the variety of accompanimental figurations. For instance, the first section of the slow movement comprises an extended thematic statement for viola accompanied by a veiled soundscape played by glockenspiel and vibraphone doubled by lower strings in harmonics and shrouded in a sustained halo supplied by the remaining strings. Meanwhile, movement and pulsation is added by the woodwinds to effect moments of climax.

© 2001 Philip Bracanin