Jonathan Tilbrook, conductor
Matthew Crockett, violin

BARBER Violin Concerto
BRUCKNER Symphony No.6 in A

Final year medical student Matthew Crockett is the soloist in Barber's Violin Concerto.

Commissioned for violinist Iso Briselli on his graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1934, the restrained lyrical character of the first two movements was deemed a disappointment owing to the absence of virtuosity. In response, Barber wrote a fiendishly difficult perpetuum mobile finale full of humour and energy which Briselli then declared unplayable! Although less frequently performed than his other symphonies, Bruckner s majestic sixth is suffused with memorable themes. The insistent rhythmic drive and powerful brass interjections that characterise the opening movement, the expansive solemnity of the Adagio, the unusually measured and brooding Scherzo, leavened by bright hunting motifs in the Trio, define a work of great thematic and architectural beauty.

The concert finishes at approximately 9.15pm