Composed in 1947-48 but unperformed until 1955, Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto is one of the great concertos of the twentieth century. The wide emotional range of its four-movement structure encompasses an opening of brooding, elegiac melancholy, a manic scherzo, a harrowing and deeply felt passacaglia, and a brilliant, concluding burlesque. Wolfgang Rihm has been described as “one of the most approachable, engaging and profound composers writing music today” (The Guardian). The solo violin in Gesungene Zeit (Time Chant) plays one long fine-spun melody, the work creating a maximum of expression with a minimum of means.
