Sally Beamish has long admired the artistry of soloists Malin Broman (viola) and Rick Stotijn (double bass) so was delighted to be asked by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra to write them a new work. Both soloists were keen to work with material relating to traditional music, something which Sally returns to time and again in her composition. The resulting work is the double concerto for viola and double bass, Concertante Doubles.
Her starting point is the beautiful song by Robert Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist Ca’ the Yowes (Call in the Sheep). The concerto is a set of variations (or ‘doubles’), each of which references a small part of the original melody. The scoring is for sinfonietta; with single stringed instruments rather than orchestral ‘sections’, and the interaction between players suggests a large chamber ensemble rather than an orchestra.
The premiere is on Wednesday February 11 at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Bleuse.
