A new cello concerto, Before we fall by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, will have its world premiere performances on May 15, 16 and 17 with soloist Johannes Moser and the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Dalia Stasevska. It is a co-commission by the San Francisco Symphony, BBC Radio 3 (for the Proms), Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Odense Symphony Orchestra, on a programme to include Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Sibelius Symphony No. 5.
Thorvaldsdottir’s large orchestral works are well-known to concert halls around the world and Before we fall promises to be special among them, particularly as the cello is the composer’s own instrument. She writes of the piece:
“The core inspiration behind Before we fall centres around the notion of teetering on the edge, of balancing on the verge of a multitude of opposites. The musical structure flows between lyricism and a sense of distorted energy – two main forces that stabilise this entropic pull. Driven by the strong sense of lyricism that permeates the piece, the work also orbits a forward-moving energy that connects and balances the opposites in different ways. The stable fundament – a grounding power of sustained harmonic presence – communicates with ethereal and distorted sounds, together providing the earth for the essence of the solo cello, the structure upon which it stands and within which it moves. The cello, both alone and deeply connected to the orchestral elements in its expression, generates the atmospheric progression of the world it inhabits, yet continuously on the verge of falling outside the reality it is building for itself.”
Last week it was announced that Thorvaldsdottir will join the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as Composer-in-Residence for the 2025-26 season. Jukka-Pekka Saraste will conduct the Finnish Premieres of Before we fall and AERIALITY, in addition to CATAMORPHOSIS conducted by Pekka Kuusisto and AIŌN conducted by Eva Ollikainen.
Find out more and get tickets to the premiere here.
