Work of the Week - Gavin Bryars: Piano Concerto "The Solway Canal"

On 19 February 2010, Ralph van Raat performs the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’Piano Concerto (The Solway Canal). This is the first time Bryars has written for the genre, up until now almost deliberately avoiding the instrument - as the handful of works in his catalogue attest. The technical brilliance and inquisitive mind of the young Dutch pianist however convinced Bryars to accept his request for a concerto.

The premiere takes place with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic conducted by Otto Tausk in Utrecht’s Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn with a further performance the following night, 20 February, in Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw.

‘The Solway Canal’ is named after one of two poems by Scottish poet Edwin Morgan set within the work for male voice choir, performed by Cappella Amsterdam. This isn’t the first time Bryars has used voices in a concerto: his second Double Bass Concerto ‘Farewell to St Petersburg’ also features a male voice choir in its final section.

Jointly commissioned by the Bortletti-Buitoni Trust, who awarded van Raat a Fellowship in 2005, and Dutch Public Broadcaster NPS, Naxos plans to record the concerto as part of a disc dedicated to Bryars piano music for which the composer is writing further pieces.

• Gavin Bryars - Profile
• Website of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic
• Details on the Work