On March 6, the New York Philarmonic. will present the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Violin Concerto, performed by Renaud Capuçon under the baton of Marin Alsop. The concert also features Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird (1919 version).
A composer who cooks—and recycles
Muhly, known for his distinctive approach to composition, often describes his creative process as similar to cooking. He compares his handling of musical ideas to reserving broth from previous meals to enhance future dishes. His Violin Concerto reflects this approach, incorporating elements from his earlier violin compositions while introducing new material.
The 2024–25 season has been a particularly active one for Muhly, with four major works for soloist and orchestra. His Piano Concerto, inspired by the keyboard miniatures of Jean-Philippe Rameau, premiered in September with Alexandre Tharaud and the San Francisco Symphony. His Concerto Grosso, featuring flute, trombone, cello, and percussion, was introduced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in January. Just a week after the Violin Concerto premiere, his Trumpet Concerto will debut with Tine Thing Helseth.
A culmination of violin writing
Though Muhly has explored a variety of instrumental combinations, the violin has played a significant role in his work. His 2007 Seeing Is Believing was written for six-string electric violin and chamber orchestra, while his 2019 work Shrink, composed for Pekka Kuusisto, explored different melodic intervals. His song cycle Impossible Things (2009) also featured the violin prominently.
The new Violin Concerto appears to bring together elements of these earlier works while incorporating new features. The first movement includes celesta accompaniments, the middle movement (Of Two Minds) contrasts fast and slow elements, and the finale involves an interaction between the violin and percussion. Muhly has cited influences ranging from minimalism and electronic music to Renaissance polyphony in his compositions.
Theatricality and the role of the violin
Muhly has described concertos as inherently theatrical, centered on the relationship between a soloist and an ensemble. “The fundamental question of a concerto is: what is the relationship between this one person and a bunch of other people?” he has said. While this work maintains a mostly traditional soloist-orchestra dynamic, there are also moments where the orchestra leads the violin, creating a varied interplay.
One notable aspect of this concerto is the inclusion of solos for musicians at the back of the violin section. Muhly describes this as an unusual feature that shifts the audience’s attention and explores the sonic possibilities of distance and echo within the orchestra.
With Capuçon as the soloist and Alsop conducting, this premiere will introduce audiences to Muhly’s latest contribution to the violin concerto repertoire.
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