Niels Rønsholdt's Western, Cello Concerto no. 2 is commissioned by cellist Jakob Kullberg, who also premiered Rønsholdt's first cello concerto, Country (2020).
Niels Rønsholdt writes about his new work, the relation between the two concertos and his sources of inspiration - from Schumann to Western movies:
“My second cello concerto Western is a work of its own, but also a relative to my first, which is called Country. In very different ways, they both deal with identity, authenticity and belonging and with America seen from the point of view of a European. Where Country is an outspoken work about the human relation to where we grow up and arrogance towards nature and others, Western is a more introverted and subtle reflection.
From the beginning, I set out to build this music in a classical framework. To move into the house that is the classical concerto and make it my home. I knew the piece was to be programmed with Robert Schumanns iconic concerto. In some ways, Schumann to me is like the forest. Something beautiful that has been there for a long time, a kind of message from the past. Sometimes I ignore it, sometimes I give it my full attention. Also, Schumann is connected to the forest through his famous piece Waldszenen. One of the movements - Vogel als Prophet - has particularly meant a lot to me. The irregular rhythm of the melody and the way it jumps the octaves to allude the bird song has always attracted me very much. That fascination has turned into a way of writing melodies - very fast, irregular melodies that flicker by. A lot of the cello music in Western is like that.
Western is a reflection on - or maybe a result of - my own place in the world musically and culturally. The heritage of European classical music is deeply rooted in me and an integral part of my daily life. On the other hand the extreme cultural influence of American music throughout my life. I think I share this with cellist Jakob Kullberg who commissioned Western: Even though we are classically trained, it is impossible to imagine our musical lives without the American influence from pop, jazz, blues, punk etc.
This concerto is also a container of distant personal memories. The Western movies I watched with my father, the afternoons reading Buddy Longway, the practising of pentatonic scales on the guitar, the novels and stories about those who started new lives in the West, the images of the Midwestern forests where the Scandinavians went, the Native American mythology in the school books, the shame of the colonial consequences, the hope of the emigrants, the brutality, the sand, the oil.”
The first significant registration of Danish immigrants in the USA was in the 1850 census, the same year Schumann wrote his famous cello concerto.
Western has 21 short movements divided into 4 types: Fiddle (10), Song (5), Hymn (2) and Fanfare (4)"
Upcoming performances
Western will be premiered by Kullberg and Varsovia Sinfonia conducted by Christopher Austin on 4 June in Warsaw, Poland. Find more information here.
A version for cello ensemble is performed at Ny Musik i Birkerød in Denmark on 26 May by Jakob Kullberg and an ensemble of students from Royal College of Music in London. Find more information here.
The orchestral version of the concerto will receive its Danish premiere in September 2024, performed by Aarhus Chamber Orchestra.