Violin Concerto No. 2

Violin Concerto No. 2, concerto in four movements for solo violin, strings, and synthesizer by Philip Glass that premiered in Toronto on December 9, 2009. The work was written for American violinist Robert McDuffie, who so enjoyed playing Glass’s first violin concerto that he requested another, one that could be imagined as a companion piece to Antonio Vivaldi’s famed The Four Seasons concerto cycle.

A comparison of the Vivaldi and Glass works provides some noteworthy contrasts. For example, where Vivaldi included a harpsichord in the string ensemble, Glass used a synthesizer. Although the synthesizer is capable of producing a harpsichord-like timbre (which Glass specified), it also allows for amplification and has a grittier edge to its voice. Glass’s work reveals the variety of timbres available with the synthesizer, especially in duet passages with the violin soloist.

Additionally, Vivaldi’s concerti have accompanying poems that specify what aspects of each season are being showcased. Glass’s concerto is not linked to text; it has no program. Furthermore, after determining that he and McDuffie differed as to which movement represented which season, Glass opted to leave up to each listener the identification of the seasons with the movements.

One traditional feature of Glass’s concerto is a first movement that is intense and demanding, as if to seize the attention of listeners and performers alike. The second movement is slow and lyrical by contrast. The concerto gains velocity through the third and fourth movements. Glass’s trademark arpeggios, rising and falling, are certainly present, as are richer textures and more varied tone colours than is characteristic of Glass. In addition to the four movements and in place of cadenzas, Glass wrote a prologue and three “songs” (one preceding each of the four movements) for the soloist. In this way he provided music that might be extracted for concert by a solo violinist.