Red Ink with Leon Bosch

Bristol Ensemble
Leon Bosch director/double bass

Barber Adagio for Strings
Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Elgar Introduction and Allegro
Woodborne Red Ink

Leon Bosch has built an international career as a performer and conductor and is one of the few double bass players to conduct chamber and symphonic ensembles directly from the instrument. A prolific recording artist with fifteen solo albums, he is also a committed advocate for new music, collaborating with contemporary composers to expand and diversify the double bass repertoire.

Red Ink was commissioned by the Matseer Diabelli Sommer festival and is dedicated to the bassist Leon Bosch.

This concerto serves as a musical memorial to the Soweto Uprising of 1976 in South Africa, an event that marked a turning point in the fight against apartheid but which came at a devastating human cost.

The work’s structure follows a clear program, capturing the emotional essence of that day:

1. The Dawn of a Fateful Day
2. Confrontation and Tragedy
3. A Song of Mourning