Joey Roukens about his Violin Concerto

My Violin Concerto ‘Out of the Deep’, written for violinist Simone Lamsma and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, is actually my second violin concerto. In 2016, I wrote a concerto for violin and chamber ensemble called Roads to Everywhere (for violinist Joseph Puglia). Out of the Deep, however, is scored for much larger forces (solo violin and symphony orchestra) and is therefore heavier and more symphonic in nature. It is one of the darkest and most sombre pieces I have written.

Before I started writing, I spoke to Simone Lamsma, I asked her about her preferences, what repertoire she liked and didn’t like, what she liked about my music, etc. I sensed in her an affinity for darker-hued violin concertos by composers such as Shostakovich and Gubaidulina. This darker side is also increasingly present in my music, so it seemed interesting to me to further explore this side in my violin concerto for Simone. I also knew that I did not have to hold back technically or musically and could write whatever I wanted for her. Although the solo part has certainly not turned out easy, it is neither a solo part with only virtuoso violinistic fireworks (as was often the case in the 19th century violin concerto).

Why the subtitle Out of the Deep? Firstly because the solo violin, when it first enters, literally sounds ‘out of the deep’: just before this entrance the music has fallen into an abyss of deep, dark sounds, from which the solo violin emerges with a plaintive motif in its lowest register. From this starting point, the soloist begins a trajectory that eventually ends in the violin’s very highest register in the final bars of the Epilogue. While writing the piece I often had the image in my mind of a music trying to escape from the depths. Moreover, the concerto had a difficult birth, as if it had to come from deep within…

The work is cast in one large continuous movement that can be divided into four sections and an epilogue (played without interruption). I had originally intended a traditional three-movement concerto form, but after long struggles with the material I decided to reassemble the intended three movements into one continuous whole. In the first section (I.Rage and Lament) vehemently raging chromatic passages in the orchestra alternate with a kind of slow lamento music based on a simple barcarolle-like theme in 6/8 time introduced by the solo violin. This is followed by a highly energetic, rhythmic section in which the music is constantly changing (II. In Flux). Then, a grand orchestral tutti gives way to a quiet, lyrical interlude (III. Sanctuary), in which the barcarolle-like theme reappears, but now much more hopeful in tone, with an almost “devout” character. Baroque (Bach-like) undertones can also be heard in this section, especially in the (quasi-)cadenza with which this section ends. Finally (IV. Upsurge), there’s a return of the vehement energy with which the piece began: solo violin and orchestra seem to be having an increasingly intense argument, giving the music something stubborn or even angry. This leads to a great outburst in the orchestra, after which the ferocity finally gives way to the calm melancholy of the Epilogue.

The work ends rather desolately. I wrote it right after one of my most joyful works, Con Spirito. Both pieces reflect different sides of my musical language and different sides of life.

Photo © 2016 by S. Lamsma

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