Sentimental Work: Simone Lamsma on Britten’s Violin Concerto

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For me, Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto is the most important concerto of the 20th century. I think the enormous depth of expression it embodies is unique, along with its ability to engrave feelings into our souls. It has a special place in my life and my heart, and it certainly helped me find my own freedom as a musician. 

The concerto has been with me for half my life. I first encountered it when I entered the Britten International Violin Competition in 2004. We were asked to perform two concertos in the final, one of which had to be the Britten. This was the first time I played it with orchestra in front of an audience, and the experience was a revelation for me. For the first time I felt completely connected to Britten’s musical language: the live experience, especially the deep impact it had on the audience, was almost overwhelming. Performing it as the first prize winner, in the laureates’ concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, gave me a similar feeling.

I somehow feel naturally connected to Britten’s sound world. I first felt it as a student at the Menuhin School, when I played his Third String Quartet. What struck me from the very first moment was how the musical language and expression need to be communicated from a place deep within yourself – it contains a kind of nobility without any sentimentality, and it requires the player to dig deep to find it. Technically the concerto is a very demanding piece as well, but it’s always at the service of the music.

This concerto grabs the listener from the start and never lets go. The first two movements are very powerful but the third-movement Passacaglia is longer than the first  two put together and the build-up of tension is incredible. The final coda ends in an unresolved chord between major and minor, followed by a silence. For me that silence is the defining moment of the whole concerto: it’s both heart-wrenching and draining, yet I can still feel a slight glimmer of hope. The moment is all-encompassing and brings multiple conflicting emotions. I think it’s one of the most powerful moments in the whole violin repertoire. I treasure it every time I play the concerto.

Because I have such strong feelings about the concerto, I’ve offered it several times to orchestras and it’s been my debut performance many times: the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland and Chicago Symphony to name a few. New York in 2018 was particularly special because the conductor was Jaap van Zweden, who’s known me and supported my career since I was young. Music making is so personal that it really matters who you collaborate with, and whether you feel a connection to that person. So it was a big moment for me to bring everything together in New York. 

Even though I’ve performed the concerto so many times, I still have a similar vision of it as I did when I first learnt it. But since I’ve developed, it’s changed with my life experiences. Every time I play it is different, simply because the orchestra, audience, conductor and I have all come together at various points in our lives and connect with the piece in different ways. This is the most wonderful thing about making music: as we all mature and bring more of ourselves to the piece, it becomes more layered than it ever has been before.

INTERVIEW BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD

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