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PIANO CONCERTO
the ultimate musical confection
The piano concerto may well be the most comprehensive of musical forms.
It has everything one could want with the possible exception of the
voice, and both Beethoven and Busoni included vocal parts in works for
piano and orchestra. In such works, there is music for piano solo,
the piano in duet with individual orchestral instruments, in chamber-like
ensembles with various other instruments, piano with string or full
orchestral accompaniment, in raging battle against the orchestra, and
thundering passages of glorious orchestral tutti.
Most of the
great composers succumbed to the temptation to write at least one piano concerto, and
in the case of Mozart, twenty-seven. The glaring exceptions who were
not essentially opera composers or itinerant violinists are Berlioz,
Bruckner, Mahler, Sibelius and Nielsen. (If you think of other
important examples, do let me know and I will be happy to add them to
the list.)
My end and my beginning is the music for piano and
orchestra as conceived by Brahms and Rachmaninoff which I find to be the
most perfect of the species, the music I would want to have with me
were I to find myself stranded on a desert island. These two composers
managed to create monuments of pianistic and orchestral glory, giving
both piano and orchestra equality of importance, beauty, and power.
Brahms and Rachmaninoff have inspired many pianists to take specialized
private piano lessons
to be able to play these difficult pieces.
There will also be pages devoted to the piano concerto composed in the 20th century,
consisting of works for piano and orchestra that you are unlikely ever
to hear in the concert hall, or ever hear of at all.
The links below will take you to pages in which you will find performances of music designed to ensnare the senses.
Arensky F minor, Op 2
Beach in C♯ minor
Beethoven 3 in C minor, Op 37
Beethoven 4 in G major, Op 58
Beethoven 5 in E♭ major, Op 73
Bliss in B♭ major, Op 58
Brahms 1 in D minor, Op 15
Brahms 2 in B♭ major, Op 83
Britten Piano Concerto in D major, Op 13
Britten Diversions For piano (left hand) and orchestra, Op 21
Busoni C major, Op 39
Chopin 1 in E minor, Op 11
Chopin 2 in F minor, Op 21
de Greef 1 in C minor / 2 in B♭ minor
D'indy Symphony on a French Mountain Air in G major, Op 25
Dvořák G minor, Op 33
Franck Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra
Gershwin Concerto in F
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Grieg A minor, Op 16
Ireland E♭ major (1930) & Legend (1933)
Khachaturian D♭ major, Op 38
Liszt 1 in E♭ major
Liszt 2 in A major
Liszt Hungarian Fantasy
Medtner 1 in C minor, Op 33 / 2 in C minor, Op 50 / 3 in E minor, Op 60
Mendelssohn 1 in G minor, Op 25
Mendelssohn 2 in D minor, Op 40
Paderewski A minor, Op 17 & Fantaisie Polonaise, Op 19
Prokofiev 2 in G minor, Op 16
Prokofiev 3 in C major, Op 26
Prokofiev 4 in B♭ major, Op 53 for the left hand alone
Rachmaninov 1 in F♯ minor, Op 1
Rachmaninov 2 in C minor, Op 19
Rachmaninov 3 in D minor, Op 30
Rachmaninov 4 in G minor, Op 40
Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op 43
Ravel G major
Ravel G major II
Ravel for the left hand in D major
Ravel for the left hand in D major II
Roussel G major, Op 36
Rubinstein 4 in D minor, Op 70
Rubinstein 1 in E minor, Op 25 / 2 in F major, Op 35 / 3 in G major, Op 45 / 5 in E♭ major, Op 94
Saint-Saëns 2 in G minor, Op 22
Saint-Saëns 4 in C minor, Op 44
Saint-Saëns 5 in F major, Op 103
Schumann A minor, Op 54
Scriabin F♯ minor, Op 20
R Strauss Burleske in D minor
R Strauss for the left hand, Op 73
Tchaikovsky 1 in B♭ minor, Op 23
Vladigerov 1 in A minor, Op 6 / 2 in C minor / 3 in B♭ minor, Op 31 / 4 Op 48 / 5 Op 58
Rarely, if ever, probably never, performed Piano Concerti by 19th Century composers
Rarely, if ever, probably never, performed Piano Concerti by 20th Century composers
For those of you who enjoy murder mysteries, here is my first with a strong musical polemic as background
Murder in the House of the Muse
which is also available as an audiobook.
And this is the more recently published second mystery in the series:
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