Lontano doloroso

Over the course of a life as a composer, the compositional ideal ‘less is more’ resurfaces intermittently. Some works are not at all interested in this maxim and others are magically attracted by the concept of paring down to bare essentials. My Lontano doloroso for cor anglais and orchestra is one of these works in which even the solo instrument only represents a vision of the solo concerto genre, being composed exclusively for its expressivity rather than virtuosity. The orchestral forces featuring two horns, two clarinets, strings and a vibraphone also speak a highly concentrated language. Expressivity is entirely focused on somewhere far away. This is music with a focus on melancholic grief and an essence of extended, empathetic lines leading to a point of contact with the cumulative orchestral harmonies.
Christian Jost