Silver Angel

Silver Angel is a two-movement concerto for solo bassoon and string orchestra, commissioned by the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra (Ottawa) and premiered by soloist Nadina Mackie. The project was initiated by conductor Kevin Mallon, generously supported by an Ontario Arts Council Commissioning Grant.

The title references Archangel Gabriel, an important figure featured in both the Old and New Testaments, also very prominent in the Islamic tradition (referred to as Jibra’il). Both in Christianity and in Islam, Gabriel has the role of the messenger to various prophets and to specific people.

The bassoonist embodies the role of the messenger in the concerto and ‘silver’ refers to one Nadina's extraordinary concert outfits, an element of this artist that is as well-known as her virtuosity.The fast second movement is New Dawn and the message of hope permeates throughout. This movement was completed on the very day that my grandmother’s death was announced, and uses the melody from one of her own songs that she sung to her grandchildren. To celebrate a long life of a very positive, energetic and cheerful person, I turned my grandmother’s melody to a Manheim rocket and used a number of western musical elements including baroque, jazz and a touch of tango, all of which culminate to a joyful dance, just as she would have liked it. A number of sarcastic entrances from the bassoon are in place to lighten the atmosphere created by the first movement. Just before this big feast comes to an end, we are reminded of the struggles of the past through interjections of deeply-felt laments reminiscent of ecclesiastical music from the Byzantine era.

Silver Angel is dedicated in loving memory to Maria Caravassilis (1920-2015).