''Aufgang'' (''Ascent'') is a violin concerto written by the French composer

Pascal Dusapin Pascal Georges Dusapin (born 29 May 1955) is a French composer. His music is marked by its microtonality, tension, and energy. A pupil of Iannis Xenakis and Franco Donatoni and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the University of Paris I ...

for Renaud Capuçon between 2008 and 2011. The violinist premièred it in 2013 in Cologne.Musicweb-international CD Review
Michael Cookson, December 2016 He subsequently performed it in Seattle, London and in Switzerland,
The New York Times, Rebecca Schmid, December 22, 2014 before recording it with Myung-whun Chung conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in 2015. Since its première, the concerto has been taken up by other soloists, notably Viktoria Mullova Interview with Renaud Capuçon
Cadences.fr, Laurent Vilarem, January 2015 and

Carolin Widmann Carolin Widmann (born 1976) is a German classical violinist. The sister of composer and clarinetist Jörg Widmann, she focuses mainly on contemporary music. She plays a violin made in 1782 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini. Career Born in Munich ...

.All about Pascal Dusapin
Universal Music Publishing Classical, January 5, 2016

Overview

Dusapin started writing ''Aufgang'' in 2008 but set it aside after a while. A meeting with Capuçon some time later inspired him to pick it up again and finish it in 2011. The work can be seen as a struggle between emerging light (the violin) and menacing shadows (the orchestra). Indeed, according to the composer, "the conflict between darkness and dazzlement becomes the driving force" in the concerto.Gramophone CD Review
David Allen, January 6, 2017 It follows the traditional three-movement concerto structure and lasts about 30 minutes. The piece starts with the violin playing in the extremely high register, in striking contrast with the accompanying low cellos and double basses. Tension increasingly grows as the music progresses and more instruments intervene. The second movement is the longest of the three. Here, the soloist is joined by a quasi-ritualistic flute and the two enter into dialogue. Finally, the brief last movement sees the violin fleeing back to the highest register above wild orchestral outbursts.Classicalsource Concert Review
Richard Whitehouse, May 3, 2014

Reception

''Aufgang'' been described as "a wonderfully coherent work of irresistible sweep" that provides "real substance" and "was composed by Dusapin with enormous finesse".

Discography

* Rihm, Dusapin, Mantovani: Violin Concertos, Renaud Capuçon (violin), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-whun Chung (conductor ), 2016, Erato-2564 602687. * Pascal Dusapin: Concertante Works,

(violin) Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire,

Pascal Rophé Pascal Rophé (born 16 June 1960) is a French conductor. He is currently music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire. Biography Born in Paris, Rophé studied as early as 1974 at the Conservatoire de Paris, first studying the ...

(conductor), 2018, BIS-2262.

References

{{italic title Compositions by Pascal Dusapin 2011 compositions Violin concertos