sleep (concerto for violin and chamber orchestra)

SLEEP (Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra; 1995-7) Purchase Online

Premiere: March 29, 1997, Baird Dodge, violin and Festival Orchestra, Cornell University Duration: 25’

Instrumentation: Violin and Chamber orchestra

Sleep is in three movements, the third proceeding from the second without pause. The first movement, Twitching, is dramatic in character, full of contrasts, and pits the violin against the orchestra in more or less romantic fashion. The second, Breathing, is comprised of overlapping layers of simple harmonies (almost entirely major 6-4 chords), which accompany a freely evolving, lyrical melody in the violin. In the third movement, Sweating, the soloist and ensemble initially work together to create a rising line. They soon diverge, and an increasing layering of multiple lines throughout the ensemble leads to a very high point of density which is then abruptly cut off by the virtuosic frenzy in the violin which ends the work.

Sleep was written for violinist Baird Dodge.

– James Matheson