Last Month, the newest installment of American composer Michael Torke’s Last was released earlier this week.
Scored for solo violin and string orchestra, the collection of twelve meditative pieces can be performed separately, or as a whole. The titles evoke memories and the passage of time. (Last Fall, Last Year, Last Month, Last Sunday, etc.) Torke comments that they “are almost like second movements of violin concertos.” His program notes for Last are as follows:
The Stoics recommend we live in the present: to fret over the past or stress about the future is counterproductive because these lie beyond our control. But I think there are other ways to respond to the past. We can cherish and even mourn what is no longer present. For me, our past populates our present, whether it be last year, last month, last week, or last Sunday.
Propelled forward by a rhythmic pizzicato “heartbeat” and a descending bass line reminiscent of music from the Baroque period, Last Month is tender, melancholy, and nostalgic. It is the meditative, immediate music of a frenetic world.
The recording features violinist Siwoo Kim and the East Coast Chamber Orchestra:
Recordings
- Torke: Last, Siwoo Kim, East Coast Chamber Orchestra michaeltorke.com