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Mephisto (2006-07) |
for violin and orchestra - c. 5'
Commissioned : Camden Music Service, London , for the Camden Youth Orchestra (Director, John Catlow) with funds provided by the Performing Right Society Foundation. First performance : 2 April, 2007 , St. George’s Church , Bloomsbury , London with Tessa Montague, violin soloist, the Camden Youth Orchestra with Stephen Montague conducting. Programme note : Along with its many benign associations the violin has been often seen as the instrument of the Devil. Works such as Tartini’s Devil’s Trill and Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale perpetuate the instrument in this more sinister role as did Paganini, one of the world’s greatest violinists, who was thought to be possessed by demonic forces. How ever else could a mere mortal play with such inhuman virtuosity? Mephisto is the shortened form of Mephistopheles, the name given to the Devil in Goethe’s Faust.Mephisto was written for my daughter Tessa (a 17 year old angel) who led the Camden Youth Orchestra for three years.
© Copyright Notes 2007- Stephen Montague