Karl Jenkins: concerto premieres at Welsh festivals
(July 2009)
Two Karl Jenkins concertos receive their premieres at Welsh music festivals in July.The final concert of the Welsh Proms at St David's Hall in Cardiff on 25 July includes the world premiere of Karl Jenkins's new Euphonium Concerto written for virtuoso David Childs and featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes. The concerto was commissioned by Euphonium Foundation UK, an organisation set up by David Childs devoted to commissioning new and diverse repertoire and developing an understanding of the euphonium.
The euphonium is regarded as the 'cello' of the brass band on account of its register within the brass ensemble, and David Childs is one of the leading young exponents of the instrument. His international career has blossomed over the past decade, and part of his mission to widen appreciation of the instrument is the commissioning of new works including the Jenkins concerto. Karl Jenkins has worked with David Childs in the past, including the EMI album This Land of Ours which featured the Cory Band.
The new 25-minute concerto is cast in four movements: The Juggler; Romanza; "It takes two ..."; and A Troika? Tidy. Jenkins comments on composing the work: "It's been a privilege to write a concerto for such a virtuoso performer. I've known David for a few years and was hoping this opportunity would happen. As is my wont, I've endeavoured to make the concerto somewhat quirky and 'off the wall'."
In addition to the orchestral version, arrangements of the Euphonium Concerto are planned for brass band and wind band. The brass band version will be first heard on 29 November at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea in a concert celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Cory Band. The Euphonium Concerto will receive its US premiere in the orchestral version at Carnegie Hall in New York on 6 March 2010. All performances are with David Childs as soloist.
To explore Karl Jenkins's music for brass band visit www.boosey.com/jenkinsbrass
The UK premiere of Jenkins's violin concerto Sarikiz is a highlight of the Fishguard Festival on 30 July, with soloist Marat Bisengaliev and the Bath Philharmonia conducted by the composer. The work was written for the Kazakh violinist, who recorded the work with the London Symphony Orchestra on the EMI Jenkins album 'Quirk' and gave the world premiere at Lincoln Center in New York in January this year.
Sarikiz was commissioned by Sapar Iskakov, a Kazakh philanthropist, in memory of his ancestor, the composer and kobyz player Tlep Aspantaiuly. The kobyz is a violin-like instrument played upright on the knees, and Jenkins employs Kazakh-style melodies in Sarikiz, together with writing for two indigenous percussion instruments, the dabel (hand drum) and kepshek (tambourine). Two sprightly fast movements with folk-driven energy and virtuosic violin writing surround a central lyrical Romance.
Listen to an audio clip of Sarikiz.
Other concertos by Jenkins include Over the Stone for two harps, La Folia which arranges a Corelli violin sonata for solo marimba and strings, and Quirk for flute, piano and percussion concertante soloists which gives the EMI album its name (50999-5002352-3).
> Further information on Work: Euphonium Concerto
Photos: David Childs, euphonium; Marat Bisengaliev, violin (credit: Rustem Rahimzhan)
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