Piano concerto

Performance of a piano concerto involves a piano on stage with the orchestra.

Apiano concerto,a type ofconcerto,is a solo composition in theclassical musicgenre which is composed forpianoaccompanied by anorchestraor other largeensemble.Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advanced level of technique. Piano concertos are typically written out inmusic notation,including sheet music for the pianist (which is typically memorized for a more virtuosic performance), orchestral parts, and a full score for theconductor.

The standard practice in the Baroque and Classical eras (together spanning from circa 1600 to circa 1800), was for the orchestra to provide subordinate accompaniment over which the piano plays solo parts. However, at the end of the classical era, the orchestra had an equal role to the pianist and frequently had “dialogue” or “conversation” between the two. When music students and music competition auditionees play piano concertos, the orchestra part may be performed in anorchestral reduction,a conversion of the orchestra parts into a part for anaccompanistplaying piano orpipe organ,as it is very expensive to hire a full orchestra. Keyboard concerti were common in the time ofJohann Sebastian Bachin the Baroque music era, during the Classical period and during theRomantic musicera (1800–1910). Keyboard concertos are also written bycontemporary classical musiccomposers. Twentieth- and 21st-century piano concertos may include experimental or unusual performance techniques. In the 20th and 21st centuries, J. S. Bach'sharpsichord concertosare sometimes played on piano. There are variant types of piano concertos, including double piano concertos, for two solo pianists and orchestra, and double or triple (or larger solo groups) concertos in which the piano soloist is joined by a violinist, cellist, or another instrumentalist.

History

See also:Harpsichord concerto

The earliest piano concertos were composed in London. Inspired by instrument makerJohannes Zumpe,composers such asJohann Sebastian Bach,Georg Friedrich HändelandCarl Friedrich Abelbegan writing concertos for piano and string ensemble in about 1770.

During the Classical era, the form quickly took hold across Europe, especially Germany and Austria, becoming established with works especially byMozart,along with lesser-known examples byHaydn,Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach,Carl Stamitz,andJoseph Wölfl.In the earlyRomantic periodthe piano concerto repertoire was added to most notably byBeethoven,Schumann,Mendelssohn,Chopin,Hummel,Ferdinand Ries,andJohn Field.

Well-known examples from the middle to lateRomanticera include concertos byEdvard Grieg,Johannes Brahms,Camille Saint-Saëns,Franz Liszt,Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,andSergei Rachmaninoff.Alexander Scriabin,Antonín Dvořák,Edward MacDowell,andFranz Xaver Scharwenkawrote some lesser-known concertos during this time. In 1899,Amy Beachcompleted herPiano Concerto in C-sharp minor,the first piano concerto composed by a female American composer.Edward Elgarmade sketches for a piano concerto but never completed it. In the 19th century,Henry Litolffblurred the boundary between piano concerto and symphony in his five works entitledConcerto Symphonique,andFerruccio Busoniadded a male choir in the last movement of his hour-longconcerto.Wilhelm Furtwänglerwrote hisSymphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,which lasts more than one hour, in 1924–1937. In a more general sense, the term "piano concerto" could extend to the numerous often programmatic concerted works for piano and orchestra from the era – Beethoven'sChoral Fantasy.Liszt'sTotentanzandRuins of AthensVariations, andRichard Strauss'sBurleskeare only a few of the hundreds of such works. The few well-known piano concertos that dominate 20th-century and 21st-century concert programs and discographies are only a small part of the repertoire that proliferated on the European music scene during the 19th century.

20th century and contemporary

The piano concerto form survived through the20th centuryintothe 21st,with examples being written byLeroy Anderson,Milton Babbitt,Samuel Barber,Béla Bartók,Arthur Bliss,Edwin York Bowen,Benjamin Britten,Elliott Carter,Carlos Chávez,Aaron Copland,Peter Maxwell Davies,Emma Lou Diemer,Keith Emerson,George Gershwin,Alberto Ginastera,Philip Glass,Ferde Grofé,Yalil Guerra,Airat Ichmouratov,Aram Khachaturian,György Ligeti,Magnus Lindberg,Witold Lutosławski,Gian Francesco Malipiero,Frank Martin,Bohuslav Martinů,Nikolai Medtner,Peter Mennin,Peter Mieg,Selim Palmgren,Dora Pejačević,Willem Pijper,Francis Poulenc,Sergei Prokofiev,Behzad Ranjbaran,Einojuhani Rautavaara,Maurice Ravel,Alfred Schnittke,Arnold Schoenberg,Peter Sculthorpe,Peter Seabourne,Dmitri Shostakovich,Roger Smalley,Arthur Somervell,Igor Stravinsky,Heinrich Sutermeister,Alexander Tcherepnin,Michael Tippett,Ralph Vaughan Williams,Heitor Villa-Lobos,Pancho Vladigerov,Charles Wuorinen,and others.

Works for piano left-hand and orchestra

The AustrianPaul Wittgensteinlost his right arm duringWorld War I,and on resuming his musical career asked a number of composers to write pieces for him that required the left hand only. The CzechOtakar Hollmann,whose right arm was injured in the war, did likewise but to a lesser degree. The results of these commissions includeconcertante pieces for orchestra and piano left handbyBortkiewicz,Britten,Hindemith,Janáček,Korngold,Martinů,Prokofiev,Ravel,Franz Schmidt,Richard Strauss,and others.

Works for two or more pianists and orchestra

Concertos and concert works for two solo pianos have been written byJohann Sebastian Bach(two to four pianos,BWV 1060–65,actually harpsichord concertos, but often performed on pianos),Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(two,K 242(originally for three pianos and orchestra) andK 365),Felix Mendelssohn(two, 1823–4),Max Bruch(1912),Béla Bartók(1927/1932, a reworking of his Sonata for two pianos and percussion),Francis Poulenc(1932),Arthur Bliss(1924),Arthur Benjamin(1938),Peter Mieg(1939–41),Darius Milhaud(1941 and 1951),Bohuslav Martinů(1943),Ralph Vaughan Williams(c. 1946),Roy Harris(1946),Gian Francesco Malipiero(two works, both 1957),Walter Piston(1959),Luciano Berio(1973), andHarald Genzmer(1990). Apart from the Bach and Mozart examples, works for more than two pianos and orchestra are considerably rarer, but have been written byMorton Gould(Inventionsfor four pianos and orchestra, 1954),Peter Racine Fricker(Concertantefor three pianos, timpani, and strings, 1951),Wolfgang Fortner(Triplumfor three pianos and orchestra, 1966)andGeorg Friedrich Haas(limited approximationsfor six microtonally tuned pianos and orchestra, 2010).

The concerto forpiano four handsis a rare genre, butLeopold Koželuch(1747–1818) wrote one (in B flat major, P IV: 8), andAlfred Schnittke(1934–1998) wrote another (in 1988).

Characteristics

Form

A classical piano concerto is often in three movements.

1. A moderately quick opening movement insonata allegro formoften including a virtuosocadenza(which may beimprovisedby the soloist).
2. A slow movement that is freer and more expressive and lyrical. Usually inTernary form.
3. A fasterrondo.

Examples byMozartandBeethovenfollow this model, but many others do not. Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No. 4includes a last-movement cadenza, and many other composers introduced innovations. For example,Liszt'ssecondandthirdconcertos are played without breaks between the different sections,Brahms'sPiano Concerto No. 2and Liszt'sPiano Concerto No. 1have 4 movements andTchaikovsky'sPiano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat majorhas only one (Allegro brillante).

See also

• List of compositions for piano and orchestra
• List of piano concertos by key
• List of works for piano left-hand and orchestra
• Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (disambiguation)
• Concerto for solo piano

External links

• Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto Series(a commercial website selling recordings on CD)
• Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and OrchestraAn analysis of Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and Orchestra including the Piano Concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody.
• Classical and Romantic Piano Concertos,an extensive list of Classical and Romantic piano concertos, and other music for piano and orchestra from the same period.
• Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded Repertory,An exhaustive list of recorded works for piano and orchestra.