Lange-Műller Violin Concerto

Something very special is featured in our concert in April.  As part of the programme of music influenced by the bleak, beautiful scenery and artistic soul of Scandinavia, we are presenting a work which is to have its first UK performance in this new version.

Peter Erasmus Lange-Műller was a Danish composer and concert pianist who was much influenced by Danish folk music as well as by the Germanic musical giants Schumann and Brahms.

In 1904, Peter Lange-Műller wrote his only violin concerto.  This work is one of the most accessible, tuneful and delightful of the entire violin repertoire.

Until 2017, the printed material for this concerto has been largely unobtainable.  Fortunately, our conductor  Edward Peak has completely re-worked a hand-written full score of this work found in an archive version.

Using this archive score as the baseline, Edward has painstakingly reconstructed the concerto into a performable version with a new edition of the score and individual parts for the orchestral players.

This process entailed the removal of many inaccuracies and inconsistencies from the archive score.  The final version is now a clean, accurate set of material which can be used by soloists and orchestras for many years to come.

The concerto is in the usual three movements.  The first movement starts with a bold statement of the main theme.  The short middle movement is reflective and gentle.  The third movement is a romp from the very beginning.  With a short quiet moment in the middle, we are soon off again and rush headlong to its most satisfying finale.

This concerto is now all set to take its belated place in the standard concert repertoire.  We are very honoured to be performing it in its new premiere.