A flawless walrus chorus? Lawrence Power on performing a new Beatles-inspired viola concerto with the SCO

“It’s a piece full of endless surprises,” says Power, who is both literally and figuratively a giant among today’s viola virtuosi, and whose passion for commissioning fresh and challenging repertoire for this much-maligned instrument knows no bounds. James MacMillan dedicated his Viola Concerto to him in 2013, and only last year, Power performed the UK premiere - also with the SCO - of a beguiling new concerto by Canadian-born Cassandra Miller. “A mesmerising performance of a valuable new addition to the viola repertory,” was The Scotsman’s verdict.

As for Hillborg, why invoke The Beatles? “Anders has a fascinating musical background that cuts across classical and pop,” Power explains, hinting at the Swedish composer’s early experience as an improvising keyboardist with a Scandinavian pop band. “This is a real firework of a piece, heroic and abrasive, that doesn’t lean into the usual melancholic preconceptions of the viola.

“When we were discussing it early on, I mentioned that Berio’s Sequenza [No VI for solo viola] is a fantastic piece which, with one persistent tremolando gesture, makes a powerful dramatic statement.” That influence is hard to ignore in the feverish rage that opens and closes Hillborg’s concerto, complete with slap bass and punchy rock rhythms.

But it’s when things go quieter - an elegiac central lull culminating in an upward sweep of swirling glissandi - that a certain weeping walrus surreptitiously appears (the composer wryly labels the moment “odobenus lachrymae”). Hillborg skilfully captures the oscillating theme and weird instrumental distortion of The Beatles’ original. “It’s beautifully done when it emerges through the mist”, says Power.

As to the actual pretext for the Merseyside connection: “we were premiering the work in Liverpool, so Anders immediately thought this might be fun to include,” Power recalls.

The context for the upcoming performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh is twofold. Firstly, they form part of the SCO’s New Dimensions series, an audience development initiative intended to present contemporary sound worlds to curious listeners in a less formal format, including pre-and-post concert DJs. Second, they slot neatly into Nordic Music Days, a predominantly Glasgow-based festival combining Nordic and Scottish music, running from 30 October until 3 November, to which many of the national performing bodies are contributing. Thus this programme’s title, Borealis.

Besides the Hillborg, the concerts will also feature another Scottish premiere, Flows (Tornio) by fellow Swede Madeleine Isaksson (now based in France), which captures the bleak ethereal landscape of northern Sweden. Representing Scotland, meanwhile, are Ayrshire-born SCO associate composer Jay Capperauld’s madcap Death in a Nutshell, inspired by the true-crime dioramas contained in forensic scientist Frances Glessner Lee’s “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death”, and James MacMillan’s Second Symphony, premiered by the SCO 25 years ago. DJ/composer Rowan McIlvride will light up the foyer atmosphere before and after with her own electronic recipe of sonic landscapes.

Bringing all this together is the irrepressible Andrew Manze, newly installed as the SCO’s principal guest conductor and party to the success so far of Hillborg’s concerto. “It’s very special working with Andrew,” says Power. “We premiered the concerto together [with the Liverpool Philharmonic] and have played it a lot together since. It’s beautiful to see how the piece has evolved over time. His musical enthusiasm is so infectious.”

Power’s own crusade to gift the viola a repertoire it rightly deserves is equally passion-driven, and goes well beyond commissioning a mere handful of new pieces. He’s in awe of the great viola ambassadors of the past: players such as Lionel Tertis and Glasgow-born William Primrose, who between them inspired landmark pieces from the likes of Vaughan Williams, Holst and Bartók. “I find their legacies so inspiring,” sayss Power. “In my own small way I’m trying to do what I can for the viola.”

Which is a massive understatement. Six years ago, Power established an initiative called the Viola Commissioning Circle, through which he has both encouraged and accelerated the writing of new music for his instrument. “James MacMillan’s concerto was the catalyst for this,” he says, “because when you talk to a composer and they say ‘Yes, I’d love to write you a new piece’, the time from that conversation to the premiere can be frustratingly long. In Jimmy’s case that took about seven years,” he recalls.

“I thought it would be lovely to find a way of speeding that up, so we established a model where we could immediately underwrite things, meaning a composer could start putting pen to paper much earlier in the process rather than waiting for orchestral partners to come on board. We’ve had an amazing time with it. Thomas Adès wrote our first piece, then there was Cassandra’s, Anders’ and now Magnus Lindberg’s.” Other commissioned composers include Esa-Pekka Salonen, Garth Knox and Erkki-Sven Tüür. The project aims to commission ten new viola concertos by 2030.

Lindberg’s concerto receives its UK premiere next month as part of Power’s 2024/25 artist residency at London’s South Bank, for which he teams up with Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra. But before that, his imminent return to the SCO represents a personal pleasure.

“There’s something very special about the collegiate intimacy of smaller chamber ensembles,” he says. “Like all the best chamber orchestras - and the SCO is definitely one of them - everybody has a voice. You don’t feel there’s a dictatorship in play where no-one wants to say anything, which is almost inevitable with a big symphony orchestra. In the SCO everyone talks; they’re in a very good place.”

Lawrence Power performs the UK premiere of Hillborg’s Viola Concerto at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 31 October and at the City Halls, Glasgow, 1 November. Fore more information, and to book tickets, visit www.sco.org.uk

The Scotsman is the official media partner of the SCO’s 2024-25 Season. For a 20% discount on tickets, use the code TSMSCO20 when booking – available via venue box offices