SKU: BR.PB-5434

ISBN 9790004212813. 10.5 x 14 inches.

My first violin concerto, The Psalms of Taciturnity, describes the inner feelings that cannot be expressed verbally, but that also cannot remain unexpressed. There is the human spirit's pain, sorrow and fortitude in the face of this big quandry. The Psalms stand for the praise of humanity and of life. And so in this concerto, the Psalms are lacking in words, but are full of music. (Ye Shen)

World premiere: Tokyo, August 21, 2018.

SKU: BT.EMBZ14893

The concerto was inspired by István Várdai's play and is dedicated to him. The triple movement structure and the character of the movements follow the patterns of classical concertos, while the thematic connections spanning the movements rather reflect the structural principles of Romantic symphonies. In the first movement, which resembles the form of a sonata, the characters of the themes are spectacularly separated. The motif of the main theme, constructed with glissandos, is supplemented by a theme the composer refers to as a motif of fate, and the two together form a significant contrast with the minor theme with its lyrical tone and the playful, ending themeresembling a children's song. The contrasts between depth and height, as well as darkness and light, have a significant role in all three movements. The music of the first movement gradually rises to increasingly bright and higher regions, the gloomy atmosphere of the marginal parts in the second movement is offset by the tune's transcendental light in its central part, while the rondo theme of the third movement with its 6/8 metre dance-like character is supplemented with motifs of a contrasting nature from the earlier movements.