Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2

“The events of September 11th deeply affected me. I had been living in New York for over 10 years and become a passionate New Yorker. I love this great city which can mirror everyone who is not afraid of seeing his own reflection. I began writing my second violin concerto on Sept 12th. Everything else had to wait. Ever since I was a child I knew that the only way to deal with pain is by transforming it into a work of art – into music – thus elevating from the destructive forces that can be attached to painful experiences. Like the Phoenix, who dies in order to be born, this piece was born from death. All the different emotions I experienced at that time, from shock to sorrow, from mourning to hope, from anger to despair, from reminiscence to questioning, are embodied into its material. This one-movement concerto became a way for me, as an American composer, to be able to cope with the events that scarred our hearts forever. I would like to thank the Ensemble Kanazawa for premiering this concerto in 2004, and Silvia Marcovici and Nicolai Alexeiev for bringing it alive for you this evening.”
(Lera Auerbach)

Following her Violin Concerto No. 1 in 2003, Lera Auerbach returned to the genre in 2004. She was commissioned by the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan to write her second violin concerto, which was premiered in the Japanese metropolis on 21 September 2004. It was conducted by Yukiko Suwanai.
The work was the second commission that the Japanese orchestra had given to Auerbach. The ‘Serenade for a Melancholic Sea’ for violin, cello, piano and strings was composed in 2002. At that time, Gidon Kremer played the violin part. According to Auerbach, the one-movement Violin Concerto No. 2 encompasses a great emotional breadth. However, her experience with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa also allowed her to develop an even more complex rhythm and tonal colour spectrum.