CSO, Mulcahy debut George S. Clinton’s ‘Rose of Sonora’

Let’s just say that April has been a good month for Holly Mulcahy.

She was named the new concertmaster for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, a position she also holds with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and tonight, April 25, she will perform a brand new concerto for violin composed specifically for her by Chattanooga native George S. Clinton. The debut will be part of the CSO’s Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 concert in the Tivoli Theatre.

The commissioned piece, “The Rose of Sonora,” ticks off several boxes for Mulcahy. She wanted it to be inspired by her love of Western film soundtracks, based on a strong female character and she wanted it to be a memorable piece for the listener.

“I think he [Clinton] captures it perfectly,” she says.

“It’s very tuneful and you can immediately hum it afterward. It’s not like other violin concertos where they throw in everything but the kitchen sink and it’s more about ‘Look what the violinist can do.’ You watch and go, ‘Wow, that was fun to watch, but I can’t hum any of it.’”

Mulcahy said she’s always had a secret passion for Westerns and their soundtracks, but didn’t share that with others, thinking they expected a concert violinist to prefer more “refined” works. Still, she posted a note on her Facebook page wondering if it “wouldn’t be cool if there was a violin concerto based on Westerns, because I shoot then aim.”

She was surprised at the feedback, and while attending one of the film composer symposiums that Clinton hosted in Chattanooga a couple of years ago, she asked him. He was interested, and “The next thing I know, I’m on a plane to LA and we are going through stories.”

Clinton’s past works include composing soundtracks for Cheech and Chong’s “Still Smokin” and “The Corsican Brothers,” “Mortal Combat,” “Wild Things,” “The Santa Clause 2,” “The Santa Clause 3,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”

When composing a film score, Clinton said he has a script, or director’s notes or even segments of the film-in-progress to work from. With this piece, he was essentially composing from scratch, something he hadn’t done in more than 30 years. He was initially reluctant because he didn’t want to do something that was not up to his standards.

“But, she said I want it in the style of an epic Western film, and I said, ‘Oh, OK, now we’re talking.’ She got me. But, because I’m a film composer, I can’t compose in the abstract, I need a story. So we started talking. We knew we wanted it to be about a female heroine. I started reading about women outlaws in the West, which are very interesting stories by the way, so I created my own heroine called ‘The Rose of Sonora.’”

“I knew I wanted a strong woman character,” Mulcahy said. “I always hated when they made a woman submissive and weak. This piece scratches a lot of itches for me.”

The concerto has five scenes and, prior to each, a text describing each scene and the storyline of love and revenge will be displayed behind the musicians.