About Virko Baley

Review of Virko Baley’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as seen in the Village Voice article “The Uptown Continent” by Kyle Gann from May 16, 1995

Baley’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with 17 players accompanying committed soloist Tom Chiu, had something of the same spirituality as Part and Gor- ecki, but with more subtle complexity and less literal repetition. The opening-movement’s mournful violin melody kept bleeding into the orchestra, whose delicate sonorities were dotted with vibraphone, marimba, harp, harpsichord, and piano. Baley conceived the work as a requiem, writing the second movement as a “Dies Irae” with galloping rhythms on unison bass drums setting an internal mood for trumpet fanfares and some devilish folk- style fiddling. Though European in its polish and complexity, the work provided the very feature that audiences listen for desperately and that the other composers so prudishly withheld: sonic images memorable enough to take home.

Kyle Gann, The Village Voice