Mark Simpson's new violin concerto

[Rach3]

World premiere in April,2021, of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto written for Nicola Benedetti, violinist, she playing here with the LSO under Noseda at LSO St.Luke’s,London.

A stunning virtuosic display requiring immense stamina and concentration, a “ perpetuum mobile”, tonal, but ultimately, to my ears and taste, too much "perpetuum", a bit undifferentiated,lacking sufficient lyrical and emotional appeal , thus failing to communicate much to me beyond a one-time appreciation of the effects and efforts of all concerned. I suspect the technical challenges may limit its distribution ? Worth a hearing, though, as I’ve often been wrong ( so I’ve been told ).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000wyst

Simpson’s website : https://marksimpsonmusic.com

[diegobueno]

I'm enjoying it quite a lot. It's dramatic and colorful. I know he spends a lot of time wringing changes out of a single scale. There's a lot of that going around in contemporary composition. But the piece sounds good and has a variety of moods.

The last few minutes threaten to jump the shark as far as winding up to a big finish is concerned and I found myself saying "have done with it already!", and when the end did come, it seemed like it needed one more good whack to really put the seal on it.

(Kind of like the way the scherzo of the 1915 Sibelius 5th ends just a bar short of where you want it to end)

I'm annoyed that his name could be so easily confused with mine (Mark Simon). Maybe I should want people to think I'm him. He's also a clarinetist, and good enough to be able to play the Magnus Lindberg Clarinet Concerto.

[Rach3]

He's also a clarinetist, and good enough to be able to play the Magnus Lindberg Clarinet Concerto.

Glad you enjoyed , thanks for having a listen. I should probably give it another hearing myself.