Created with Dorico, Violin Concerto

Dorico
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CREATED WITH DORICO

The first two movements of this concerto were not written in Dorico, they were actually done in Finale. However, this is the first work I copied into Dorico, it was my “baptism by fire” shall we say. I decided to jump in head first and learn Dorico by transcribing a work with a moderate amount of difficulty from an engraving standpoint. Most of the difficulty was in the solo cadenzas where there were plenty of double stops and slightly tricky multi-string passages.

Introduction aside:

I started the concerto with the 2nd movement after a difficult hospital stay. 5 days in the ICU, then another 4 days in the cardiac unit (though not because of anything wrong with my heart, we were suffering a terrible heatwave at that time, and the cardiac unit was the only part of the hospital with functional A/C.)

I had suffered a massive internal hemorrhage and the ensuing surgery to try and correct the problem. It was unsure whether or not I would make it.
During my stay in the cardiac unit, I shared a room with 3 other people, and during that time, one of them passed away under my very eyes. It was a sobering moment. I began to write the Elegy movement of the violin concerto while in that hospital bed.

It took me years to write the finale to the concerto. While the entire last movement was sketched out a few years ago, in Dorico, it wasn’t actually completed until a few weeks ago. So this is the lone movement of the concerto that was composed in Dorico.

So here is that rather virtuosic last movement, demanding for the soloist, and while not lyrical for the orchestra, it is highly demanding rhythmically for the orchestra.

Yes, there’s a graphic glitch in the cadenza of the last movement with a stacked fermata (since corrected.. I just didn’t feel like going back and reprinting that half a page for the youtube video.)

Direct link to my Youtube channel and the 3rd movement of the concerto. Youi are, of course, free to listen to other parts of the concerto as well if the mood so moves you.

The 1st movement has been performed with orchestra once before, and well received by the audience. The 2nd movement has been performed 3 times, twice with orchestra (once here and once in Seattle) and once with piano accompaniment. The only movement that has never seen a live performance is the finale.

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That’s wonderful, and a serious piece of music.

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Thank-you very much.
I’m hoping that the entire concerto finally gets a performance some time in the next few years. But at the same time, I’m trying not to impede the performance of my viola concerto.

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Very impressive. Congratulations! Wonderful piece.

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Thanks for sharing this fantastic piece of music. I’m very impressed, and I wish the concerto many great live performances. I have a funeral tomorrow. Your Elegy fits the mood perfectly, it’s touching, beautiful and very emotional.

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I wish the “live” performances that I did get of those first two movements were worthy of posting.
The first movement was the very first version, and the performance was done on about 20 minutes’ worth of rehearsal.

as for the two live performances of the slow movements, one of them was an excellent performance but poorly recorded (I was on the wrong side of the hall, and the balance is completely wrong, you barely hear the 1st violins, soloist, and 2nd violins.
As for the other recording, neither the soloist nor orchestra were of the calibre required, and there are far too many wrong notes, poor tunings, and wrong entrances.

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I don’t normally like violin concertos – most of them are full of the sort of vacuous virtuosity which gets on my nerves. The Elegy at any rate is a notable exception to this – it’s not only beautiful but genuinely inspired as well (even if that part wasn’t actually written in Dorico :grinning_face:), Would love to hear this live!

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