Concertino for Orchestra

Composer’s Notes

I wrote this work as a vehicle for Sage City Orchestra to demonstrate its skills and have some fun in the process! The opening of the first movement, Prelude, which has a baroque flavour, is followed by lyrical passages featuring woodwind soloists. The second movement is a Passacaglia which is interrupted by a jaunty march theme. The third movement, Canzonetta, is in ternary form, the first melody being marked “dolce”. The last movement is a Rondo with a lively principal theme and two subsidiary themes, of which the first is based on a rhythmical ostinato figure where the timpani are prominent, and the second is of a more lyrical character.

John Addison

Press Notices

“The piece reflects Addison’s gift for writing visually descriptive music. Throughout, it maintained a warm and capricious tone which readily conjured whimsical visual images. The concertino also reflected Addison’s gift for instrumental interplay, as meandering themes wove their way from one orchestral section to another.

Addison’s harmonies are distinctly contemporary, but undeniably accessible, warm and eminently enjoyable to listen to. A lovely, quite romantic theme in the third movement, which started with the flutes and wound its way throughout the orchestra, was a tuneful highlight of the piece, performed with great warmth and elegance.” - Arts & Entertainment, October 7, 1993