FEBLAND–Johnstone – Concerto Conciso (2017 and 2024) – CELLO AND STRING ORCHESTRA

Other Identification:
The melodic and rhythmic cells of this work are by the London born (1960) composer Jonathan FeBland, and chiefly dating from the first half of the 1980s. A couple of months before the composer’s death he retook this material with the idea of using it to write a substantial work for cello for me (and possibly a transcription for clarinet too) and piano. I suggested to him the possibility of even extending it to become a cello soloist Concertino, an idea he immediately warmed too. Alas, it was never completed when he passed away in 2017, but was largely sketched out. We were sending to-and-fro ideas to improve it; I had written a substantial cello cadenza which FeBland barely altered, and I had also sounded out with him the idea of my concept of the orchestration; he was by this point very frail, and again agreed to virtually everything. Having been an interpreter and advisor on his music over many years, I believe he had large confidence in my sense of being musically faithful to his intentions. However, for six or seven years, the material was locked away in my drawer. It was always in the back of my head. So, now we arrive to the end of 2024 and I convinced myself that I had to make that definitive version, which I now present to you!