Review of Analytic Tales of Mechanical Movement

A review of the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra’s recent performance of Analytic Tales of Mechanical Movement, a concerto for double bass and string orchestra, from Uppsala Nya Tidning.

    “But in the concert’s second work, Daniel Nelson’s brand new concerto for double bass and string orchestra, we were brought into a world of creative imagination in which the listener must be co-creative. The tension between play or fantasy objects and the mechanics that drive them required both contrast and interaction between soloist and orchestra. Glissandi, harmonics, and “slap-effects” of the strings against the fingerboard were some of the effects the soloist/orchestra performed. All four movements were brilliant, both in composition and execution. I liked the third movement best, The scribe in the forbidden city, wherein the orchestra’s delicate, breathless sound was complemented by a more introspective and sad recitative [in the solo part], presented ever higher and higher in pitch, interwoven with [orchestral] string chords. Ulla Ryman interpreted the difficult solo part -for a seemingly most unwieldy instruments as the double bass- in a dazzling elegant and expressive way. The soloist, conductor, and composer received a deservedly lengthy acknowledgement  from the audience. The [double bass] concerto was undoubtedly the most stimulating work of the concert.”

Anders Bragsjö, Uppsala Nya Tidning