Caught in Treetops

solo violin & ensemble
2010

“in the daring flights of the opening solo cadenza, deftly shaping and recharging the work’s energies; in the beautifully imagined shimmerings, trillings and pulsings with woodwind, harp and percussion; and in the dying fall of the work as it slowly unwinds to stillness.”
The Times

Duration 16’
Instrumentation 1.1.1.0-1.1.1.0-perc(1)-harp-pno-solo vln.vla.vcl
First Performance 14 November 2010, CBSO Centre, Birmingham; Alexandra Wood and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group under Oliver Knussen
Commissioned by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Sound and Music
Recording Debut Disc At the Speed of Stillness Download the album from iTunes here

Further Performances
26.6.11 Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Malting Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, Alexandra Wood violin, Oliver Knussen conductor, BCMG
6.02.16  US Première The North Door, 502 Brushy Street, Austin, Texas; Fast Forward Austin, Sarah Silver violin
16.09.16 German Première Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Germany; Wibert Aerts violin, notabu.ensemble neue musik, Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen conductor
15.02.18 St Michael’s, Manchester, M4 5DG; Psappha Ensemble, Benedict Holland violin

Charlotte has a worldwide, exclusive publishing agreement with Birdsong
Request Materials

Dedicated to Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

An explosive cadenza throws open Caught in Treetops; inspired by Sonny Rollins’ ‘Autumn Nocturne’, the composer wanted to capture the same kind of relentless energy. The concerto is continuous but in two parts, responding to the poems that were a central muse: A Match with the Moon by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and The Moon Sails Out by Federico García Lorca. A sense of mystery pervades both poems; the figurative language of the first has a fun and playful nature, while Lorca encapsulates a subtle but profound sense of loss.