Contemporary Classics January 16, 2018 Modern Piano Concerto

Tonight’s  show was inspired by a concert by Edward and Stephanie  Neeman at the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University last Thursday where they did a 4 hand version of the second movement of the Barber Piano Concerto arranged by Edward.  I said to myself “Self – you need to do a show on the modern Piano Concert”  and as you might expect there will be several shows on this them.  But tonight I will start with the Barber.

The Piano Concerto, Op. 38, by Samuel Barber was commissioned by the music publishing company G. Schirmer Inc. in honor of the centenary of their founding. The work's premiere was on September 24, 1962, in the opening festivities of Philharmonic Hall, now David Geffen Hall, the first hall built at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, with John Browning as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. The work is in three movements:   Allegro appassionato, Canzone: Moderato & Allegro molto

I. Allegro appassionato  - opening section contains the expression of the movement's chief melodies. Through inversion, retrograde, and counterpoint variations of these melodies

II. Canzone: Moderato -  based primarily on one sweet but sad melody

III. Allegro molto-  rather devilish sound with piano ostenato and heavy use of the brass instruments

Next is Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-Flat Major for the left hand, Op. 53, was commissioned by the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and completed in 1931, who actually never played it.  And yes we will be doing Ravel’s concerto for the left hand also commissioned for Paul Wittgenstein.  The first and last movement serve as a brief prelude and postlude respectively. The middle two movements comprise the main bulk of the concerto. The andante is more reflective and expands with a romantic greatness. The more sarcastic Moderato is in modified sonata-form.  It ends with the piano running up pianissimo to a very high B-flat.

Nino Rota is most famous for his film scores – particularly those to the Godfather movies, but he also composed serious concert music. The Piano Concerto in E minor, composed in 1978, is subtitled "Piccolo mondo antico," but many of its melodies could have come straight from one of Rota's film scores. The appeal of the work lies not merely in its collection of melodies, but also in Rota's skill at fusing his brand of melodicism with concerto form. In the concerto the cinematic material is artfully batted back and forth between piano and orchestra, resulting in a texture that feels less like a traditional concerto than like an episodic film score, yet balances piano and orchestra in consistently unexpected ways.  It is in 3 movements: Allegro Tranquilo, Andante Sostenuto and Allegro

Composed by Maurice Ravel between 1929 and 1930, concurrently with his Piano Concerto in G, it had its premiere in January 1932, with Wittgenstein as soloist performing with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.  Played continuously although debate whether is was written as a single movement or two linked together – Ravel described it in both ways.  It is notable for its jazz-influenced rhythms and harmonies.