Magnus Lindberg Violin Concerto
Two weeks ago I had the true pleasure of playing Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto. A truly monster horn part for the first and second horn alike. I have always like Lindberg's music. The Clarinet Concerto was performed by our orchestra a couple of years ago and it really blew me away. The violin concerto did the same. Written for small orchestra (2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and strings) the piece has a very intimate feel while be very powerful and grand.
The horn parts (2 horns) are very intense and almost always sustained, loud interventions. The range is high and often very tiring. The second movement opens with a loud declamation with the oboes which ends on a high C in unison with the first oboe and has a diminuendo to pp from f. The second horn has many solos as well, and often shares a solo with the first horn. Lindberg has taken some of the long phrases and broken them in two parts for both horns to share.
It is truly fun to play, but is very dangerous. You are naked for everything, which means that every little nick will be heard like a gun shot. You will also have to be very careful with the dynamics because the violin can be easily covered by the horns. This means a lot of conductor's hand in your face telling you to play softer, which as we all know, makes life so much fun. Having said that our conductor that week did a great job and it was a truly wonderful experience.
I share with you two pages from the score.
