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- Geoffrey Burgon
Concerto for String Orchestra (1963)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
Programme Note
This work was written in 1963 when Geoffrey Burgon was a student at the Guildhall School of Music. The ‘academic’ framework of the piece is explained by the fact that it was written to be submitted in lieu of a thesis for his final examinations, and he tried to make use of as many classical techniques as possible.
The first movement is a French overture – a slow, dotted introduction, followed by a fast angular fugue and then a repeat of the opening.
The second movement is a theme with nine variations plus a short coda. The variations are mostly concerned with the bass of the theme, as in a ground bass, and there is no direct reference to the theme itself until the ninth variation. The variations are grouped in the following way, 1-3, 4-5, 7-8, 9, with a bridge passage leading back to the theme, followed by a coda.
The last movement is, in effect, two linked movements, a sonata movement which is interrupted half way through its recapitulation by a new theme, this is developed fugally and completes the work.
The first movement is a French overture – a slow, dotted introduction, followed by a fast angular fugue and then a repeat of the opening.
The second movement is a theme with nine variations plus a short coda. The variations are mostly concerned with the bass of the theme, as in a ground bass, and there is no direct reference to the theme itself until the ninth variation. The variations are grouped in the following way, 1-3, 4-5, 7-8, 9, with a bridge passage leading back to the theme, followed by a coda.
The last movement is, in effect, two linked movements, a sonata movement which is interrupted half way through its recapitulation by a new theme, this is developed fugally and completes the work.