Thomas Adès

Cadenza to the Violin Concerto by György Ligeti

In a conversation with the violinist Peter Herresthal, we touched on the “invitation' in the score of Ligeti's Violin concerto to provide a cadenza for the work. Peter suggested that I answer this invitation and I was happy to accept. I followed all the composer's directions exactly: the cadenza may use material from all five movements, and should be of “hectic' character throughout. I also aimed to write a cadenza of which the closing orchestral coda would be an inevitable result. (Thomas Adès)