Product Description
Electric Candlelight
Program Notes
A long time ago in a land far away I met one of the best musicians Ive ever known, the violist Ralph Farris. Weve been friends for thirty years. In the mid 2010s Ralph asked me if Id be interested in writing a viola concerto for him. I thought it was a great idea. For a few years, life got in the way, but in 2021 I called Ralph and asked if he was still interested in a concerto. He was enthusiastic.
When I started composing the concerto, I realized that a standard orchestra with a full string section wouldnt work. The strings kept getting in the way of the solo viola. I did what any good composer does when something doesnt work. I threw everything out and started over. I looked through the concerto repertoire for solutions to the problem I was facing. After looking at Alban Bergs Kammerkonzert for piano, violin, and 13 winds, I found a solution, just eliminate the strings. It worked.
Musically the inspiration for the piece comes from Ralphs and my musical background. While weve both been trained as classical musicians, we have played a lot of Rock, Pop, Jazz, and World music. For example, I grew up playing in garage bands in Detroit, (it was usually so cold we practiced in the basement not the garage).
The title Electric Candlelight comes from the 1970 song Lola written by Ray Davies and performed by the Kinks. The fifth verse starts with we drank champagne and danced all night under electric candlelight. I thought this was a fitting title for a piece which uses traditional instruments (nothing amplified or electric), but grooves in a Pop/Rock style.
Theres a lot of Rock and some Be-Bop influence in this piece. A strong element is the drummer. Using a drum set allowed me to only have one additional percussionist, plus it kept in my mind that I wanted this piece to groove. I think it turned out well!
KW
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