Chamber Concerto No.1 for violin, piano and string quartet Op.28 (1989) c.18'00"

Commissioned by the Spoleto Festival

Dedicated to Scott Nickrenz

First performed on May 28th, 1989 at the Spoleto Festival, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, South Carolina by Joshua Bell, violin and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano with The Ridge Quartet

ABOUT

Chamber Concerto No.1 for Violin, Piano and String Quartet Op. 28 (originally titled Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet) was composed in 1989 as the result of a commission from the Spoleto Festival Chamber Music Series. Following a brilliant performance of Chausson's Concert by Joshua Bell and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Chamber Music Director Scott Nickrenz had the idea of commissioning a work for the same combination to be performed by Bell and Thibaudet at the following Spoleto Festival. The one-movement Concerto is dedicated to Scott Nickrenz and received its first performance at the 1989 Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, with the Ridge Quartet joining Bell and Thibaudet.

The Concerto is in one arc-form movement whos central section is an extended Passacaglia.  The string quartet, as in the Chausson Concert, functions as the orchestra would in a standard concerto, leaving the prominent parts for the violin and piano soloists. The composer later made a version of this work using full string orchestra in place of the string quartet, his Op.28a.

RECORDINGS

REVIEWS

“…it is brilliant, melodious, heartwarming music that soars and shimmers, rises to frenzies and engages in moments of intense dialogue…I suspect it will be finding its way into a lot of chamber music programs in the years ahead. The composer, seated in the balcony, had to take many bows before the audience would stop applauding.”
The Washington Post

“The world premiere of a work by the young American award-winning composer Lowell Liebermann was the highlight of the early chamber music program…truly heavenly music. The audience exploded with tumultuous applause…”
The Evening Post, Charleston SC

“Lowell Liebermann’s “Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet” is simply smashing. The one-movement work is virtuosic, large in scope, and above all utterly accessible without pandering. Its expansiveness is not in its approximately 20-minute length. Rather its expansiveness is in its depth, its matching of spiritual intent to heroic expression and architectural solidity. This special melding of soul, body and mind is the hallmark of great music.”
The Newark Star-Ledger

“But the real interest of the second Chamber Music concert was the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s [Chamber Concerto]. [It] runs some 18 minutes and alternates calm and stress, lyricism and drama to great effect.”
The News and Courier, Charleston, SC

“Looking for something new and wonderful in the field of classical music? Maybe Lowell Liebermann is the answer… The young composer had a major new work given its world premiere at the Spoleto Festival USA…and to judge by first hearings, it is a score that is likely to become a staple of the chamber repertory.”
The State, Columbia, SC