Thomas Modrej  (b. 1973) is professor of applied composition at the Gustav Mahler Private University of Carinthia. The 10th International Johannes Brahms Competition took place in Pörtschach am Wörthersee, in the southern Austrian region of Carinthia, in 2003. One of the set pieces in the violin category was this solo Capriccio, which the composer was commissioned to write specially for the occasion. Its musical material is partly inspired by the 3rd movement of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 — an appropriate choice, as Brahms composed most of this work in Pörtschach.

 Music example (pdf)