THE STORY BEHIND: Billy Childs' Violin Concerto No.2

Title: Violin Concerto No.2

Composer: Billy Childs (1957- )

Last time performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic: This is a RI Philharmonic Orchestra premiere. In addition to a solo violin, this piece is scored for three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano doubling celesta, harp and strings.

The Story: For Billy Childs, style is a very fluid term. Immersed in everything from jazz to classical to pop from a very young age in his hometown of Los Angeles, his early successes came from being one of the hottest jazz pianists on the scene there. As a result, it didn’t take long for legends of the genre, such as Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and Wynton Marsalis, to discover him and include him on countless tours and award-winning recording projects. But as a composer, he has always looked for ways to blur lines and break down barriers, including social ones. In 2020, when violin virtuoso and champion of Black composers Rachel Barton Pine approached him with a new commission offer, he felt compelled to address the existential threat which COVID presented for humanity, and to use music as a tool for human connection in the midst of the dehumanizing new reality of “social distancing.”

The first musical idea to come to him was the angular language and dense texture that eventually became the third movement. While there is anger here, there is also a resilience that speaks to personal triumph. From there, his mood naturally gravitated towards a sense of grief or sadness, followed by a sense of acceptance and even joy. Stepping back and looking at the entire work objectively, it became clear that the piece had presented itself to him backwards. So he rearranged the order and aptly titled their movements: I. Romance/Rejoice, II. Remorse, III. Resilience.

As Childs describes it, the violin is the voice of the piece, “describing each sentiment through melodic shapes.” The orchestra, on the other hand, is used as a foil that allows for expanded dialogue, sometimes in the form of jazzy interplay, sometimes in the form of heartfelt contemplation. Listen for many wonderful and surprising moments such as a long solo cadenza punctuated by big brass interjections, an impassioned duet between the featured soloist and a solo cello, drum explosions, jazz piano interludes, impossibly florid twists and turns in the solo violin answered by a manic frenzy in the orchestra, and soul-searching moments of near or complete silence.

Program Notes by Jamie Allen © 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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