Capriccio

James Matheson's Capriccio was composed for Jennifer Koh who premiered it as part of the 2016 NY Philharmonic Biennial. Playing against the expectations of flamboyant violin caprices, Matheson's work is dramatically, even eerily quiet throughout its entirety and inspired by the arpeggiated preludes from Bach's suites. As in the Bach preludes, Matheson's study in motivically-phrased 16th notes has no marked tempo, offering performers a vastly broad spectrum to express this quiet exploration. For advanced violinists.