That Subtle Knot

The title comes from a poem by John Donne, The Ecstasy, in which two lovers sit, their hands entwined and ‘did thread/Our eyes, upon one double string’. This image seemed perfect for my double concerto. The relationship develops between the solo instruments through the exploration of independent lines, lines shared, lines in opposition, always with a sense of being drawn together with one purpose. The dialogue is in the spirit of chamber music, the orchestra taking up fragments of the solo lines, or sustaining notes, and in the faster passages acting as an equal force, driving the music forward. John Casken