DESCRIPTION:
Geoffrey Gordon: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra - based on Thomas Mann's novel "Doktor Faustus"
Copenhagen Phil conducted by Rory MacDonald
Toke Møldrup, Cello
Live recording from the world premiere at the Concert Hall of The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen on January 31, 2014.

Geoffrey Gordon’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (after Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus) began as a conversation with Copenhagen Philharmonic’s principle cellist, Toke Møldrup. Both artists realized they shared an interest in Thomas Mann’s stunning 1943 novel, Doktor Faustus (Doktor Faustus. Das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkühn, erzählt von einem Freunde). This startling retelling of the Faust legend, set in the context of the first part of the 20th century (and reflecting the turmoil in Germany during that time), is shot through with musical references, from Bach and Beethoven to Schoenberg (not to mention literary references from Shakespeare to Dante, Blake, and Verlaine)—a kind of Apollonian (reason, progress) and Dionysian (passion, tragedy, fate) struggle for the soul of the (fictitious) composer Adrian Leverkühn, as told by his friend, Serenus Zeitblom. The twenty-four years of genius granted the composer through a Faustian bargain with a (real or imagined) devil are directly reflected in the 24 minutes of Mr. Gordon’s score.
The rich narrative and deeply textured allusive and symbolic elements of the Mann novel provide the inspiration for this work, but this is not intended as a literal, blow by blow retelling of the story. Rather, the spirit of the novel, and the general arc of the storyline—from innocence to madness—provide the creative blueprint. Organized into a Prologue and Seven Episodes, the concerto traces Leverkühn’s
journey in broad (and specific) terms, with the cello both embodying and (occasionally) commenting on the proceedings.
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Comment by Toke Møldrup
“When music performers study a new work, we usually try to understand the basic of the music. Does the work have a basic idea? On which foundation is the thematic substance build? What is the composer trying to tell us? In this cello concerto I have been part of the conception of the idea and fully aware of the composer's basic thought:
A cello concerto composed over the perhaps most central music philosophical work: Thomas Mann's "Doktor Faustus". Second after Richard Strauss’s staging of Cervante’s "Don Quixote" for large orchestra with obligato cello and viola, Thomas Mann’s “Doktor Faustus” must be the best literary lay up to an instrumental concert ever! Since we (composer and cellist) were quite separated geographically (Denmark and Wisconsin) during the creation of the work, a steady flow of emails characterized the creation process. Almost like pen pals we outlined parts of the concert together, at places even down to the smallest details.For instance, I asked Gordon to start of the story in D-major, to resemble the rural idyll of Adrian Leverkühn’s birthplace of Buchelhof near Saale. I didn’t hear a word back on the subject before I received the score: Yes, a D-major chord is the first thing you hear in the concerto, but it has been mixed with a terrible F, played by the brass. The idyll is disturbed already from the first moment.
In the novel, the reader encounters complete descriptions of the main character, Adrian Leverkühn’s works. Spurred by the Mann’s detailed harmonic analysis and the excellent described musical atmosphere, we are led to guess how this music sounds! In Geoffrey Gordon's Concerto we hear thematic material from the actual, real music history woven along with the idea of Adrian Leverkühns music, while one of history's most important myths - in Thomas Mann's gripping adaptation – is portrayed musically.”