Mark-Anthony Turnage: Premieres in Toronto & St. Louis

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(October 2008)

Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new violin concerto for Christian Tetzlaff, Mambo, Blues and Tarantella, receives its North American premiere performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on November 12 and 15.

Mambo, Blues and Tarantella received its world premiere with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on September 24 before traveling to Stockholm on October 8 and 9. The piece was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with support from the Michael Marks Charitable Trust, and by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Turnage's opening movement, Mambo, leads us onto the dance floor with a distinctly Latin flavor, while the central Blues offers some cool, reflective respite. The Tarantella was originally a manic dance, associated with the poisonous bite of a tarantula spider, and the final movement grows in dangerous energy as the frenzy gathers momentum.

“..…highly accomplished…”
–The Independent (UK)

“..…a notable addition to the concerto repertory.”
–The Times (UK)

“..…fulfils the traditional role of a violin concerto…as seen through the eyes of 20th century composers such as Stravinsky, Bartok, Prokofiev, or Shostakovich. ...

“...melds a strong rhythmic charge with a beguiling lyricism, exuding a personality that is distinctively Turnage's own.”
–Daily Telegraph (UK)

Listen to an LPO audio podcast with Turnage talking about Mambo, Blues and Tarantella.

Turnage’s concertante for double bass (doubling bass guitar) and string orchestra, A Prayer Out of Stillness, receives its U.S. premiere performances on November 14-15 with David Robertson leading soloist John Patitucci and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The same forces will travel to Chicago for a third performance on November 16. St. Louis joins a number of cities which have enjoyed premieres of Turnage’s works in recent years such as Chicago, where he has served as Composer-in-Residence, as well as San Francisco, New York, and Boston.

A Prayer Out of Stillness was first premiered by John Patitucci and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, led by conductor Martin Yates on October 18, 2007. The soloist’s religious nature led Turnage to create a sequence of prayers, extending melodic material from a set of choral carols, though the third movement, Call and Response, is a contrasting duel between solo bass guitar and the lead double bass from the orchestra. This piece marks Turnage's latest in a series of successful collaborations with leading jazz performers including John Scofield, Peter Erskine and Joe Lovano.

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