Richard Blackford, the composer, was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal at the Royal College of Music London and later served as Composer-in-Residence at Balliol College Oxford and the Brno Philharmonic.
Historical Context
The 121-year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert, an all-Dvořák program including the world premiere of his Biblical Songs, Nos. 1-5, conducted by Dvořák himself, on January 4, 1896.
Composition History
Richard Blackford's Niobe was commissioned by the Czech Philharmonic and premiered at the Rudolfinum, Prague on November 11th, 2017.
Compositional Technique
Niobe is a 23-minute single span of symphonic music, structured as an extended, reverse sonata-form, with four movements titled 'The Lover', 'The Blasphemer', 'The Pleader', and 'The Mourner'.
Performer Biography
Tamsin Waley-Cohen, the violinist, is a Signum Classics Artist and a founding member of the Albion string quartet.
Compositional Technique
The composer, Richard Blackford, built much of the material for Niobe on the Phrygian mode, reflecting Niobe's father being King of Phrygia in the myth.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer Richard Blackford discussed with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen the plight of women in modern times who are cruelly punished, seeing Niobe's story as mirroring this wider context.
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