(1992)
Duration: 8 minutes
String Ensemble of 11 players (33221)
First performed by the Bristol University New Music Ensemble, 5 May 1993, Wills Building, Bristol
Selected for SPNM shortlist (1992)
First performance of Revised 2001 version, Mikkeli City Orchestra, cond. Alex Walker, 14 February 2001, Mikkeli, Finland.
Listen to an extract of the Concertino (letter M – X) by Alan Charlton performed by the Mikkeli City Orchestra conducted by Alex Walker
Programme Note
‘Concertino’ for string ensemble, written in October 1992 and revised twice, in April 1993 and January 2001, is an expanded version of a string quartet composed on the ‘Hoy Course for Young Composers’, led by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Judith Weir, in July 1992. The latest and hopefully final version of the piece was specially written for the Mikkeli City Orchestra of Finland, which as well as clarifying the orchestration, considerably extends the work. During the course of the piece, the opening tranquillo theme on the violins is gradually transformed, through a series of successively more dramatic climaxes, into a molto espressivo theme heard on the cellos. The lyricism and extensive figuration in the piece allow every player in the ensemble an opportunity to show both their expressive and technical flair.