Double Concerto (Delius)
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The Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra by Frederick Delius is a double concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra in C minor, composed between April and June 1915 while Delius lived in Watford, England. The work is dedicated to the sister duo of violinist May Harrison and cellist Beatrice Harrison, who premiered the piece under conductor Henry Wood on February 21, 1920 in Queen's Hall, London.[1]
Delius was inspired to compose the Double Concerto after attending a December 1914 performance of the Hallé Orchestra under conductor Thomas Beecham in Manchester. The concert featured Johannes Brahms's Double Concerto in A minor performed by sisters May and Beatrice Harrison, to whom Delius was introduced after the concert by music critic Samuel Langford. Though his opinion of Brahms's Double Concerto was never recorded, Delius agreed to write a concerto for the Harrison sisters and began work on the composition by April 1915, frequently consulting the sisters during its creation.[1]
The piece was completed in June 1915 during a relatively dry creative period for Delius (the only other composition he'd finished in a year's time was Air and Dance for string orchestra). After its completion, Delius, in ailing health, and his wife Jelka returned to Grez-sur-Loing, France. Delius later described any time spent away from his work in Watford as "an unpleasant dream."[1]
Composition
A performance of the Double Concerto lasts approximately twenty minutes and, similar to his subsequent violin and cello concertos, the work is composed in one continuous movement.[1][2]
Instrumentation
The work is scored for solo violin and cello accompanied by an orchestra comprising two flutes, oboe, two clarinets, English horn, two bassoons, four French horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, and strings.
