Piano Concerti

[ktack]

Hi, I recently was given the third movement Rachmaninoff Concerto no. 2, op. 18. I am thinking about starting another concerto. Which piano concertos would be close to this level of technicality?

Thanks!

[49410enrique]

can't fig out if you want a single movement or full complete work.

i think it is probably harder in many ways but it's relatively 'short' nature i guess might make it more manageable (a term i use loosely) in certain pianists' hands

note program notes are not my own. i copied from one of my musicology/notes sources for background info.-

mvnts i and ii are on yt

Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto (1960-1962) served as the composer's final masterpiece, and arguably the zenith of his professional life. For its composition he received his second Pulitzer Prize (1963) and, one year later, the Music Critics' Circle Award; during this period, Barber was among the most honored and respected living American composers, both at home and abroad.

The concerto was commissioned in 1959 by G. Schirmer, Inc.—Barber's publisher for most of his career—in honor of the company's upcoming 100th anniversary. The work was to be among the first performed at Lincoln Center's new Philharmonic Hall, which was under construction at the time; John Browning, Barber's favorite pianist at the time, would be the soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Leinsdorf.

The concerto is notable as an instance of the composer's self-borrowing; for the work's second movement, he orchestrated and elaborated upon the Elegy for Flute and Piano (1959). This movement, as well as the concerto's first, was complete by 1960, but the last movement was not completed until two weeks prior to the premiere, on September 24, 1962. Work was partly delayed by Barber's lengthy depression following the death of his sister; also, in the spring of 1962, Barber became the first American composer to attend the Congress of Soviet Composers.

As he had done in previous compositions intended for a soloist, Barber worked closely with Browning to shape the work around his style and technical skills—apparently listening to three days worth of the pianist's repertoire in the process (similar partnerships were formed during the composition of the Cello Concerto (1945), with Raya Garbousova, and the Piano Sonata (1949), with Vladimir Horowitz).

The resulting masterwork incorporates Barber's natural affinity for flowing melody and rather traditional compositional demeanor into an imposing structure. Eschewing any need for an orchestral introduction, the first movement ends with a declamatory recitative for the soloist—substantial enough to accommodate three distinct themes—that gradually gives way to a more lyrical strain in the full orchestra. Over the course of the movement, which is roughly in sonata form, these two elements—declamation and impassioned lyricism—are ever more intricately entwined.

The previously mentioned second movement is considerably calmer in mood, very much like a song; true to its origins, it features the solo flute as a main protagonist, while the piano occasionally assumes an accompanimental role. The finale, much more rhythmic and active, seizes obsessively on an ostinato figure in the piano that, within the movement's persistent 5/8 meter, takes on a sinuous, ambiguous quality.


something more "Russian" maybe?

Dmitry Kabalevsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 23, originally written in 1935 (just a few years after he joined the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory) and then revised a bit in 1973, is considered in some quarters to be the composer's masterpiece. It has all the characteristics by which we recognize Kabalevsky: sharp, bouncy rhythms and concise thematic building blocks, a well-spun, clever lyricism when the music turns from activity to melody, a clear-cut tonal scheme that nevertheless has room for more surprises and dramatic turns than one might at first suspect, and of course utterly idiomatic keyboard writing. The work demands a player with formidable technique.

The concerto is in three movements: 1. Allegro moderato, 2. Andante semplice, and 3. Allegro molto. At the start of the opening movement, the soloist enters with the colorful, lightly chromatic main tune after almost no orchestral introduction (the orchestra is limited here to just two bars, during which they do no more than set up the punctuated eighth-note feel of the accompaniment). A second subject appears in D major, offered at first by the piano without the help of the orchestra; this thin-textured, mostly two-voice idea sweeps gently up and down the keyboard. A driving episode in 3/4 time allows for some energetic cross rhythms, and an impassioned Adagio molto sostenuto for orchestra alone paves the way to the inevitable cadenza—written out in full by Kabalevsky.

The cor anglais invites us into the second movement, pianissimo, cantando, and undergirded with the hushed support of the brass instruments. When the piano enters a few bars later it does so with a completely different thought—a totally smooth melodic strand, that forms a striking contrast with the constant dotted rhythms of the cor anglais. Only at the end of the movement, after a swirling, triple-forte climax has been drawn, does the soloist take up the plaintive E minor idea that the cor anglais offered at the beginning.

The main theme of the finale is, in fact, the main theme of the first movement reorganized and freshly adorned to suit a new, marcato context. Kabalevsky indulges in one last più mosso plunge before the ultimate arrival at G major draws the curtain down.

[ktack]

Thank You very much. I would like a single movement. 20 minutes is the time limit for the movement. It is for a concerto competition in November, and I have until September to actually memorize the work and get most of it up to speed.

[49410enrique]

Thank You very much. I would like a single movement. 20 minutes is the time limit for the movement. It is for a concerto competition in November, and I have until September to actually memorize the work and get most of it up to speed.

how about the Nicolas Flagello Piano Concerto No 1, the first mvmnt perhaps?

score order form
https://www.flagello.com/orders.htm
might also look into the York Bowen concertos' too. they're super nice. none of them are on yt though so i couldn't link (just the fantasia for piano and orchestra but i don't know if you're limited to tranditional concerto/sonata form)