Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1

Philip Glass employs cutting-edge Minimalist techniques in his First Violin Concerto, but creates highly expressive and accessible music. The concerto was composed in 1987 (his Second Violin Concerto followed in 2009) and was Glass’ first concert work for orchestra. In previous decades, Glass had developed techniques based on repeating note patterns and rhythmic layers moving against each other. In the Violin Concerto, the soloist often performs fast, repeating motifs that complement the emphatic chord patterns in the orchestra. The concerto was originally conceived in five movements, and violinist Paul Zukofsky, for whom it was written, had requested a slow, peaceful finale. The final work has three movements, identified only by metronome mark. The first is dominated by a pulsating rhythmic figure in the orchestra, over which the soloist sometimes plays beguiling rhythmic figures and at other times sings out in long, steady phrases. The slow second is a passacaglia, a Baroque form based on a repeating bass pattern, here a sombre descending scale. The violin plays countermelodies above, reaching high into its ethereal upper register. The finale is another catchy, upbeat movement, with pulsating rhythms from the percussion creating a South American dance feel. The violin swirls and dives above the orchestra’s propulsive textures. Glass remembered Zukofsky’s request, and the work ends with a reflective, quiet coda, a gentle contemplation on the music’s earlier drama.