Viola Concerto (A Hut in Toyama)

Viola Concerto

For solo viola
bass clarinet
bassoon
contrabassoon
2 French horns
piano
strings (minimum 6.5.4.4.2)

With the composition of the viola concerto I have now written concertos for each string instrument. It was commissioned by the Dark Mofo festival in Hobart, Tasmania, for the violist Morgan Goff with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to Morgan. The viola is one of the loveliest instruments. Its dark sonorities and warm expressive range accord with my general preference for low strings. The overall instrumentation reinforces this and the combination of  low instruments has a resonance with the work’s planned premiere at the time of the long dark nights of the Southern Winter Solstice, something that has strongly influenced its composition. The work was written during lockdown in 2020 and the subtitle, ‘A Hut in Toyama’, reflects this. In Hojoki, the twelfth-century Japanese monk Kamo-no-Chomei wrote about living in an isolated ten-foot square hut he had built in the forest after earthquakes, storms and fires devastated Kyoto.

It is a substantial work, lasting just under 30 minutes and, unusually for me, some of it is very fast. There is also a lot of quite complex string divisi in the orchestra which a number of instruments supplementing the solo part.

Morgan Goff is a truly great viola player, a virtuoso with a rich lyrical sound. Although born in the UK he was raised in Australia and, as well as having been in my ensemble for 19 years, is a close personal friend.

The piece was completed on June 4 2020, which would have been my mother’s 113th birthday…

Viola Concerto, penultimate page mss

Viola Concerto, last page

Morgan Goff

Viola Concerto first page of published score