Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto

Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto was completed in August of 2008 and premiered 6 February 2009 by the work's dedicatee, Hilary Hahn, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (co-commissioner) and Mario Venzago, serving as conductor. The piece stands as a major contribution to the violin concerto repertoire and, although it is impossible to predict so early into the twenty-first century, has the makings of becoming a landmark work for the instrument. Primary source material garnered from interviews with all the musicians most crucial to the work's inception, as well as reflections by the author who attended the premiere rehearsals and the premiere itself are presented. As part of this ethnographic approach, the very evolution of the work (including actual alterations before and after the premiere) is presented offering a distinct look at the processes of composition and performance in classical music. Additionally, a biographical sketch of the composer as well as all known influences on the Concerto are discussed. Performers interested in learning the Concerto will no doubt find many practical suggestions in regards to bowings, fingerings and performance practice contained within this treatise. A theoretical analysis of the work and speculations as to its future complete the study.