Monday 25 February sees the world premiere of Alastair Greig’s Fora for solo violin and orchestra by New Music Orchestra of Polish National Radio conducted by Szymon Bywalec. The commission follows on from the 2015 premiere performance of Greig’s El monte y el rio in Warsaw, also conducted by Bywalec.
A reworking of an old piece originally composed for solo violin and 21 individual string parts called A Social Contract, Greig says:
“One of the interesting facets of re-working older material was to remain true to my earlier self and not simply create a more playable version of the original piece. Pragmatism and ageing seem to go hand in hand but I wanted the idea of all the instruments being “soloists” at times to feature prominently, after all the title “Fora” (the plural of forum) refers to the violin solo travelling through a number of debating chambers populated by a variety of ensembles drawn from within the orchestra. The framework of the original is still there but new textures and timbral combinations could be explored in greater detail and aurally become much more explicit.”
Tags: Alastair Greig, Fora, New Music Orchestra of Polish National Radio, Szymon Bywalec