Thea Musgrave

This Concerto was commissioned by the Feeney Trust for the City of Birmingham Orchestra and was written between March and November 1967.It consists of five sections and they are played without a break.

Chamber Concerto No 1 was written in the winter of 1961-62. It is scored for oboe clarinet bassoon horn trumpet trombone violin viola and cello. It is dedicated to Robin and Margaret Orr and was commissioned by theUniversity of Glasgow.

This work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and it was completed in January 2004.First performance by the Boston Symphony conductor Grant Llewellyn April 1 2004.

For Chamber Orchestra (Flute Oboe Cor Anglais Basson Horn in F Trumpet in C Strings: [5.4.3.2.1])Composer's Programme Note:Points of View is a work about the different musical elements which arepersonified by soloists from the orchestra all unifying at the end in a passionateclimax.The first section ‘Mysterious’ features a solo horn and also establishes tonality [Bflat] texture and harmony. The harmonies are often chordal 6-note clusters andthey are an important binding articulating and textual element throughout thework.A solo trumpet joins the solo horn and as the chordal clusters disappearintothe stratosphere initiates the rhythm of a light-hearted scherzo ‘Lively’. Thetrumpet’s rhythmic figure is echoed and developed by the winds.The solo oboe and cor anglais now introduce a very lyrical melody in fallingthirds ‘Sensuous’. The chordal clusters as well as the trumpet’s rhythmic figureeventually reappear to accompany this melodic theme and then the violinspassionately respond by taking it over ‘Passionato’. All the elements thusunifying to culminate in the coda.These elements could also perhaps be described in non-musical terms as‘imagination’ [solo horn] ‘action’ [solo trumpet] ‘emotion’ [solo oboe and coranglais] which eventually combine in the climax [violins].