Violinist Anthony Marwood is one of the world’s leading soloists and chamber musicians, celebrated for the sensitivity and intensity of his playing. April 2005 will see his debut with the acclaimed Scottish Ensemble when he will direct a six-concert tour and perform as soloist in works by Vivaldi and Vasks. The ‘Distant Light” tour runs from 9 – 15 April 2005 with concerts in Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow and Dundee.

Heather Duncan, General Manager of the Scottish Ensemble, said:

“Anthony Marwood is both a remarkable soloist and sensitive chamber musician. The members of the Scottish Ensemble are delighted that he is to work with them and are particularly looking forward to performing Vasks’ Distant Light, a work with which Anthony has a very special relationship.”

Long time leader of the internationally acclaimed Florestan Trio, Marwood is set to bring to the Scottish Ensemble performances a collaborative approach to music making which has been honed over many years “I see the role of director as being somewhere between soloist and chamber musician” (The Guardian).

The concert programme begins with Vivaldi’s virtuoso violin concerto Op. 8 no. 5, La Tempesta di Mare and features Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings Op.48. It culminates in the one-movement violin concerto, Distant Light, by Latvian composer, Peteris Vasks. Marwood gave the UK premiere of this work in 1998 and has since performed it several times.

Born in 1946, Peteris Vasks has been described as “quintessentially Latvian”: to understand his music is to understand the Latvian language and spirit, and like that of his contemporaries Pert and Gorecki, Vasks’ music is imbued with the history Eastern Europe. The single-movement violin concerto Distant Light

('Tala gaisma') is an ardent and technically exacting piece “with plenty of chordal work and soaring melodic lines” (Gramophone Magazine). In it Vasks uses solo cadenzas rather as Shostakovich does in his First Violin Concerto, as a way to accumulate tension.

Speaking of the piece Marwood said:

“Distant Light never fails to make an astonishing impact. It lasts an unbroken 30 minutes and combines searing lyricism with folk dance elements. The solo line charts some kind of spiritual journey, and includes three cadenzas of increasing intensity, which lead to a crisis and a final, touching conclusion, the kind of resolution that is all the more affecting because it has been hard-won.”

Following the UK premiere Marwood was personally invited by Vasks to perform the work in the composer’s home city, Riga, in the lovingly restored opera house. For Marwood this was both “a remarkable experience, and also a special honour”, as the piece was originally written for Vasks’ fellow Latvian, violinist Gidon Kremer.

Music has been part of Marwood’s life since childhood and indeed his first experience of performing chamber music was with his three siblings, all of whom are now professional musicians. The Marwood family went on to tour together as an ensemble for many years, and the forthcoming concerts with the Scottish Ensemble reunite two of its members: Catherine Marwood is the Scottish Ensemble’s acclaimed principal viola.

Anthony Marwood’s collaborative work does not only include chamber music, but he has worked on a number of multi-art form, projects including choreographed pieces with classical Indian dancer Mayuri Boonham. He has also appeared as the Soldier in a staged version of The Soldier's Tale, Stravinsky's work for speakers and instrumentalists. His interest in drama might well be traced back to the contacts he made whilst studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama including his great friend, actor Sam West. Indeed Marwood lodged with West’s parents Prunella Scales and Timothy West for over 12 years.

Tour Dates

• Saturday 9 April 2005 at 7.45pm
  Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
  Tickets from £3 - £13.50 with full range of concessions
  Box Office: 0131 668 2019
  
• Wednesday 13 April 2005 at 7.30pm
  St John’s Kirk, Perth
  Tickets priced £13.50, £9.50 (Senior Citizens), £6 (Students), £3 (Children
  Box Office: 01738 621 031
  
• Monday 11 April 2005 at 8pm
  Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
  Tickets priced £13.50, £9.50 (Senior Citizens), £6 (Students), £3 (Children).
  Box Office: 01463 234 234
  
• Thursday 14 April 2005 at 7.45pm
  Strathclyde Suite, GRCH
  Tickets from £3 - £13.50 with full range of concessions
  Box Office: 0141 353 8000
  
• Tuesday 12 April 2005 at 7.30pm
  The Sanctuary, Queen’s Cross Church, Aberdeen
  Tickets priced £13.50, £9.50 (Senior Citizens), £6 (Students), £3 (Children
  Box Office: 01224 641 122
  
• Friday 15 April 2005 at 7.30pm
  Marryat Hall, Dundee
  Tickets priced £13.50, £9.50 (Senior Citizens), £6 (Students), £3 (Children
  Box Office: 01382 434 941