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BBC Proms Features Thomas Larcher and Gabriel Prokofiev

Jun. 28, 2011

Thomas Larcher’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchesta debuts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on August 18 at the BBC Proms, conducted by Ilan Volkov. A co-commissioned work by BBC Radio 3 and the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Austrian premiere is scheduled for October 20 with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Cornelius Meister. The concerto, scored for violin, cello and orchestra, features Viktoria Mullova on violin and Matthew Barley on cello. Prior to the world premiere concert at the Proms, audience members will have a chance to hear Thomas Larcher discuss his concerto with Andrew McGregor at the Royal College of Music.

About the concerto in the words of the composer:

An enormous round space, an empty dark space…a moment in which the flow of time has been halted…noises emerge from the silence: a crackling and flickering which could form the preliminary stage of a sound…a high continuous tone. Suddenly the silence has transformed itself into a continuous, all-embracing tonal space…the space contracts around me and begins to exert pressure on my lungs; the air is squeezed out, waves of unconsciousness seep through my head and the space transforms itself into a single, incomprehensively large wave.

The BBC Proms also plays host to the debut of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables in its newly revised version on August 6. Pioneering composer, producer, label-owner Gabriel Prokofiev is renowned for combining electronic and club music with classical forms and instrumentation to inimitable effect. The new version for large orchestra is commissioned by the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and the original chamber orchestra version has been described as “a future classic” and features a DJ “scribbling,” “crabbing,” “cutting,” and “scratching” alongside the orchestra. The recording of the work released on Nonclassical, featuring DJ Yoda and the Heritage Orchestra and including the five-movement concerto alongside eleven remixes by various well-known DJs, was named the best Contemporary Classical CD of 2010 at the Independent Music Awards and was given a five-star review by Musical Opinion’s Robert Matthew-Walker:

The Concerto is a terrific piece: inventive, inherently musical and so provocative I am sure Gabriel's artist father and composer grandfather would have approved of the sheer originality that infuses this young man's latest work.

Vladimir Jurowski leads the National Youth Orchestra, featuring DJ Switch, through Concerto for Turntables at Royal Albert Hall on August 6, with additional performances this summer at Symphony Hall in Birmingham (August 3) and Snape Maltings (August 4).

Learn more on Gabriel Prokofiev and his music at www.fabermusic.com.

Check out the Nonclassical recording of the concerto by visiting www.nonclassical.co.uk.

To learn more about Thomas Larcher visit www.schott-music.com.

For details on the BBC Proms visit www.bbc.co.uk/proms.

Thomas Larcher
Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra (2011)
2.2.3 (3.Bcl).2 – 2.2.2.1 – 2perc – string (8.6.5.4.3)
22’

Gabriel Prokofiev
Concerto for Turntables (2010, rev. 2011)
for turntables and large orchestra
2(1.pic).afl.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn-4.3.2.btrbn.1-timp.4perc-hp-str
21’

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