John Casken: Orion over Farne Sophia Jaffé, violin Hallé Markus Stenz, conductor NMC D189 • Celebrating 25 years of NMC Recordings. Discover — Connect — Challenge — Inspire • Casken's opera Golem (on NMC D113) won a Gramophone Award in 1991 and was winner of the first Britten Award for Composition. • Composer John Casken celebrates his 65th birthday in 2014. Casken’s work is often inspired by the Northumberland countryside and coastline where he lives and in the symphonic poem Orion Over Farne (1984-86) he conjures up the magical atmosphere of the Farne Islands, drawing on the myth, landscape and poetry of the area using rich orchestral sonorities.   The Violin Concerto received its premiere at the BBC Proms in 1995 and is performed by the young German violinist Sophia Jaffé.   It loosely takes its narrative from Tolstoy's Father Sergius, a story refl ecting some of the turmoil of human experience and the dilemmas arising from the decisions we make. Concerto for Orchestra (2007) is Casken’s most recent orchestral work, which was written for the Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim and continues the composer's interest in two-movement forms that began with his Cello Concerto (1991), a recording of which is available on NMC D086. Violin Concerto     30'44   1. I. appassionato     11'06   2. II. cantabile     12'24   3. III. marcato e ritmico     7'14 Concerto for Orchestra     19'33   4. I. i. dramatic and sudden     4'04   5. I. ii. resolute     6'00   6. II. iii. calm and unhurried     3'13   7. II. iv. intyse and energetic     6'16 Orion over Farne     23'34   8. I.     6'57   9. II.     6'44 10. III.     3'28 11. IV.     6'25 Total Time     74'40 NMC Recordings are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading, P.O.Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone (03) 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile (03) 9444 6879