Northern Lights by Jonathan Dove is a 23-minute concerto for accordion and chamber orchestra. Written for the soloist Owen Murray, the work showcases the classical side of the instrument, rather than its folk aspect with wide melodic range and polyphonic possibilities. Owen Murray approached Jonathan Dove for the commission following the death of the composer Peter Maxwell Davies, who was originally going to write Owen a work. Peter Maxwell Davies spent much of his life in Orkney (Scotland) where you can see the Northern Lights. Towards the end of the concerto, a familiar tune is carried on the night air: Farewell to Stromness, by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, to whose memory the concerto is dedicated.

Northern Lights was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with generous support from Mr Roland Williams, PRS for Music Foundation and the Royal Academy of Music, and was premiered by Owen Murray and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Clemens Schuldt at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on 2 May 2019.

The full score (EP 73298) is available for sale as part of the Peters Contemporary Library. The performance material can be hired. The solo part and a piano reduction for rehearsal (EP 73298a) can be purchased separately.

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