Seven Solos for Orchestra

Seven Solos for Orchestra is an orchestral cycle written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin between 1992 and 2009. As the title suggests, it consists of seven pieces that can be played independently, although they were from the start conceived as a whole. Some of these pieces have been championed by major conductors and orchestras like Simon Rattle (with the Berlin Philharmonic), Mstislav Rostropovich (with the Juilliard School Orchestra), and Myung-whun Chung (with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France). Pascal Rophé has recorded the whole cycle with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège. Origin Seven Solos for Orchestra stems from Dusapin’s ambition to write a large-scale piece at a time when he lacked a commission to realize it. His solution was to write seven independent but interrelated works over a period of 17 years, a process that calls to mind Wolfgang Rihm’s Jagden und Formen. In Dusapin’s own words: Structure * Solo No.1 Go (1992) * Solo No.2 Extenso (1993/1994) * Solo No.3 Apex (1995) * Solo No.4 Clam (1998) * Solo No.5 Exeo (2002) * Solo No.6 Reverso (2005/2006) * Solo No.7 Uncut (2008/2009) Overview The first solo, Go, is predominantly violent and furious al