In Exile (2020)

IN EXILE
Concerto for cello, baritone and symphony orchestra

Commissioned by City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as one of its Centenary Commissions,
with funds generously provided by the Rachel Baker Memorial Charity

Dedicated to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch

In Exile moves through a day in the life of an involuntary exile: waking alone in a foreign land; remembering the moment of banishment, the moment of departure, the voyage; remembering the homeland. The Exile feels the pain of being so far away in his country’s time of need, unable to help his own people. He remembers all the names he has been called in this strange land.  He thinks of all he has lost, and longs for home.

The spine of Alasdair Middleton’s libretto is from a 10th Century manuscript, The Wayfarer, by an anonymous old English author. Voices from across the ages flesh out a composite portrait: a single line of Shakespeare recurs among lyrical verses by Dante, Emily Lawless, Kahlil Gibran, Kaveh Bassiri and Douglas Hyde. 

The historical range of the texts, from the Middle Ages to the present day, reflects the timelessness of the condition of exile.  

In Exile fuses elements of operatic scena and concerto, the two soloists expressing complementary aspects of the same character. The solo cello is the alter ego of the baritone, ranging above and below his voice, able to take his song down into the depths and up into the heights. Sometimes the soloists hand over to each other, complete each other’s sentences, so to speak; sometimes they duet and counterpoint. 

A single, somewhat chromatic eight-note scale permeates the score, with the exception of the setting of the final lyric, which has a diatonic simplicity. 

In Exile was written for Raphael Wallfisch, who gave the premiere with Simon Keenlyside and the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau conducted by Jessica Cottis. The same soloists gave the UK premiere, with the the City of Birmingham Symphony Ochestra conducted by Gergely Madaras. The work is is dedicated to Wallfisch’s mother Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, herself both a cellist and an exile.