David Dalle
Thursday June 17th, 2021 with David Dalle
Constantine Caravassilis' guitar concerto "Saudade"; oud and voice with Cinucen Tanrikorur; Lubomyr Melnyk.

Today we will hear "Saudade", the recent guitar concerto by Canadian composer Constantine Caravassilis. This concerto was commissioned by the guitarist Jakob Bangso, who recorded it in that most musical of countries, Estonia, with the Tallin Chamber Orchestra. "Saudade" is described by Caravassilis as "the deepest of desires for something that cannot exist in the present". Though composed and recorded in 2018, it was released late last year and, as such, exquisitely suits the mood of this global pandemic. The concerto is in four unbroken movements. The first opening with a thunderous rumble, before lonely isolated notes haunt this movement which is built around a lullaby Caravassiliss' grandmother used to sing and a Greek folk song. The second movement recalls militaristic scherzi of Shostakovich with its use of snare drum. The gorgeous third movement is the aching heart of this concerto, where the feeling of Saudade becomes unbearable. A lengthy solo cadenza leads into the fourth movement which brings the work to a hopeful conclusion.