John Casken: Orion over Farne

Composer John Casken celebrates his 65th birthday in 2014. Casken’s Golem (on NMC D113) won a Gramophone Award in 1991 and was Winner of the first Britten Award for Composition. Casken’s work is often inspired by the Northumberland countryside and coastline: symphonic poem Orion Over Farne (1984-86) draws on the myth, landscape and poetry of the Farne Islands using rich orchestral sonorities. The Violin Concerto, premiered at the 1995 BBC Proms and performed by the young German violinist Sophia Jaffé, takes its narrative from Tolstoy’s Father Sergius, a story reflecting some of the turmoil of human experience.

Concerto for Orchestra (2007) is Casken’s most recent orchestral work, written for the Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim and reflecting the composer’s interest in two-movement forms which began with his Cello Concerto (1991).