Piano Concerto (Blitzstein)

The Piano Concerto is a piano concerto written for piano and orchestra by Marc Blitzstein in 1931 when the composer was 25 years old.[1] The concerto was not premiered until 22 years after Blitzstein had passed away, on January 1,1986 by the Brooklyn Philharmonic.[2] Prior to the premiere, it had only been heard publically twice and once in a two-piano version.[3] It is known that Blitzstein had hoped to premiere the work as the piano soloist but this turned out to be frustrated by the prolonged pause between finishing the work and its premiere.[4]

The work totals 24 to 30 minutes in length[2][5] and is dedicated to musical patron Alene Erlanger.[6]

Form

The concerto has three movements:

  1. Moderato molto-allegro
  2. Largo assai
  3. Allegro non troppo

Orchestration

The concerto features twelve instrument types and 19 instrumentalists at least:

  • Piano
  • 2 flutes
  • 2 oboes
  • 2 clarinets
  • 2 bassoons
  • Contrabassoon
  • 4 French horns
  • 2 trombones
  • Bass trombone
  • Tuba
  • String

Recording

No full recording of the work exists. However, two recordings were made of parts of the work:[2]

  • First movement: Gay American Composers, vol. 2 (CRI CD 750, 2007)
  • Part of third movement: “Lollapalooza USA" (Boosey and Hawk, 2005)

References
  1. "Picker & Blitzstein: Works for Piano and Orchestra". New World Records. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  2. "Piano Concerto". Marc Blitzstein. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  3. "Classical Music: Piano Concertos - Marc Blitzstein, Lee Hoiby, Robert Ward". kritzerland.com. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  4. Niederkorn, William S. (2012-12-14). "Rocking the Cradle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  5. "Marc Blitzstein - Piano Concerto". www.boosey.com. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  6. Pollock, Howard (October 2012). "Marc Blitzstein: His Life, His Work, His World". academic.oup.com. Oxford University Press. p. 502. Retrieved 2023-03-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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