Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (AS0038) - SOLO VIOLIN ONLY

Note - this work is the Solo Violin part ONLY the Full Score is listed elsewhere.

The inspiration for the Violin Concerto came in three guises. From various coastlines, Sutton observed the majestic flight of a gull and imagined its musical counterpart. Then came an invitation to write a response to Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, alongside another suggestion, namely to consider the life-affirming themes from Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

The concerto’s three movements are through-composed to constitute one journey, the violin solo embodying both the flight of the gull and its transcendence. The solo writing is informed by the composer’s intimate knowledge of the instrument. Much of it was essayed on the violin which Sutton played as a teenager.

The work starts with a panorama of the ocean, muted strings and harp suggesting the gentle eddies of thermal currents. The wide intervals in the solo line connote freedom and contentment, before the accompanying rhythms tighten into ‘Scotch snaps’ and the gull gives a more acrobatic display.

After a cadenza, the gull is left to fly high and alone, contemplating the sky and what might lie beyond. This is the second movement. The harmonies beneath shift and pose questions, but a calm pervades.

The final movement is an assertion of power and flow. The gull is transfigured, pure spirit and light, and flies untrammelled while the seas and wind seethe below. The main idea from the first movement is recalled fondly, a memory of a former ocean-bound self, before the bird ascends in triumph.