Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Priaulx Rainier - Due Canti e Finale, for violin and orchestra (1976 - 1977)
0:00 Presenter introduction
2:07 I: Cantos I
11:20 II: Interlude I
13:37 III:Cantos II
23:13 IV and V: Recitative and Finale
Yehudi Menuhin (violin)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves (conductor)
“Priaulx was asked by Yehudi Menuhin to write a violin concerto. She did not answer immediately; having been a violinist, she felt it would be difficult to invent fresh ideas for the instrument. However, she decided to accept, calling the piece ‘Due Canti e Finale’ (Two Songs and Finale) because, as she explained, the violin is essentially a singing voice. The work also differed from a classical concerto in that there were no heavy orchestral sections, the orchestra taking part in a kind of dialogue with the solo violin. Menuhin wrote about the concerto in a ‘Radio Times’ comment:
‘I owe Priaulx Rainier’s delightful Concerto my wife who read that this wonderful composer, though a former violinist, had never written a concerto for the instrument and suggested I should commission one. The result is a fascinating work, beautifully suited to the violin sound’.
At a pre-concert talk Priaulx herself described the work as a dual [sic] between the solo violin with its lyrical and decorative writing, and the orchestra, which is more fragmented and incisive. Although the title suggests a three-movement work, it is in fact in five movements—the three main ones are linked by a whimsical interlude and hushed recitative”.
(From ‘Come and Listen to the Stars Singing: Priaulx Rainier - A Pictorial Biography’ (1988), written by Rainier’s partner June Opie.)
Recording taken from radio broadcast of the world premiere recording on September 8, 1977 at the Edinburgh Festival, performed by the piece’s dedicatee, Yehudi Menuhin, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Grove.
Priaulx Rainier - Due Canti e Finale, for violin and orchestra (1976 - 1977)
0:00 Presenter introduction
2:07 I: Cantos I
11:20 II: Interlude I
13:37 III:Cantos II
23:13 IV and V: Recitative and Finale
Yehudi Menuhin (violin)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves (conductor)
“Priaulx was asked by Yehudi Menuhin to write a violin concerto. She did not answer immediately; having been a violinist, she felt it would be difficult to invent fresh ideas for the instrument. However, she decided to accept, calling the piece ‘Due Canti e Finale’ (Two Songs and Finale) because, as she explained, the violin is essentially a singing voice. The work also differed from a classical concerto in that there were no heavy orchestral sections, the orchestra taking part in a kind of dialogue with the solo violin. Menuhin wrote about the concerto in a ‘Radio Times’ comment:
‘I owe Priaulx Rainier’s delightful Concerto my wife who read that this wonderful composer, though a former violinist, had never written a concerto for the instrument and suggested I should commission one. The result is a fascinating work, beautifully suited to the violin sound’.
At a pre-concert talk Priaulx herself described the work as a dual [sic] between the solo violin with its lyrical and decorative writing, and the orchestra, which is more fragmented and incisive. Although the title suggests a three-movement work, it is in fact in five movements—the three main ones are linked by a whimsical interlude and hushed recitative”.
(From ‘Come and Listen to the Stars Singing: Priaulx Rainier - A Pictorial Biography’ (1988), written by Rainier’s partner June Opie.)
Recording taken from radio broadcast of the world premiere recording on September 8, 1977 at the Edinburgh Festival, performed by the piece’s dedicatee, Yehudi Menuhin, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Grove.
![Chinampas #343 [Cecil Taylor]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O3ornWtg8QM/mqdefault.jpg "Chinampas #343 [Cecil Taylor]
The second track from Taylors poetry album, Chinampas. Transcription is my own, and therefore may include a few errors.")
