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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:

Murder Follows the Muse



Follow these links to our main subject categories


CLASSICAL PIANISTS

INTERPRETATION

PIANO CONCERTO

MASTERCLASS

CONTACT US

ABOUT US




WOMEN PIANISTS

THE LEFT HAND

FOUR HANDS

ACCOMPANISTS

IS IT MUSIC

INDULGE ME

HOME PAGE


COMPOSERS PLAY

CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

CHAMBER MUSIC

GUEST PAGES

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PRIVACY



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