Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rorem)

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The Piano Concerto No. 4 for Left Hand and Orchestra is the fourth piano concerto by the American composer Ned Rorem. It was commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music for the pianist Gary Graffman. The work was first performed by Graffman and the Curtis Institute of Music Orchestra conducted by André Previn at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on February 4, 1993. [1] Its New York City premiere was performed the next day by the same ensemble at Carnegie Hall. [2] [3] A then-unknown Hilary Hahn performed a solo violin section for both performances. [4]

Piano concerto musical composition for piano and orchestra

A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the Classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpieces which require an advanced level of technique on the instrument, including melodic lines interspersed with rapid scales, arpeggios, chords, complex contrapuntal parts and other challenging material. When piano concertos are performed by a professional concert pianist, a large grand piano is almost always used, as the grand piano has a fuller tone and more projection than an upright piano. Piano concertos are typically written out in music notation, including sheet music for the pianist, orchestra parts for the orchestra members, and a full score for the conductor, who leads the orchestra in the accompaniment of the soloist.

Ned Rorem is an American composer and diarist. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976 for his Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra.

Curtis Institute of Music music school

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia that offers courses of study leading to a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, or Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. It is among the most selective institutes of higher education in the world with a 4.8% admissions rate.

Contents

Composition

Background

The composer Ned Rorem and the pianist Gary Graffman first became acquainted as students at the Curtis Institute of Music. They were five years apart in age at the time and only later became close friends due to their mutual pianist friends Eugene Istomin and Julius Katchen. They remained friends for many decades since—which was furthered by Graffman's 1986 appointment as director of the Curtis Institute of Music, where Rorem had been on faculty for six years. Graffman, who had an ailment preventing the use of two fingers in his right hand, thus came to Rorem when the Institute decided to commission a new left-handed piano concerto. Before the premiere, Graffman commented, "I knew he would be just the right person to do this, and he did a terrific piece in eight movements. But when I saw it, I decided that it is really a piece for eight fingers, not five, because it is so difficult and jumps all over the place." [2]

Eugene Istomin American pianist

Eugene George Istomin was an American pianist. He was famous for his work in a piano trio in which he collaborated with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose.

Julius Katchen American concert pianist

Julius Katchen was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano works.

Structure

The concerto has a duration of approximately 25 minutes and is cast in three numbered movements divided into eight subsections:

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

Movement I.

1. Opening Passacaglia
2. Tarantella
3. Conversation

Movement II.

4. Hymn
5. Duet
6. Vignette

Movement III.

7. Medley
8. Closing Passacaglia

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo pianist (left hand only) and an orchestra comprising two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, timpani, three percussionists, celesta, harp, and strings. [1]

Western concert flute transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood

The Western concert flute is a transverse (side-blown) woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, flute player, or (rarely) fluter.

Piccolo small musical instrument of the flute family

The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The modern piccolo has most of the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written. This gave rise to the name ottavino, which the instrument is called in the scores of Italian composers. It is also called flauto piccolo or flautino.

Oboe musical instrument of the woodwind family

Oboes belong to the classification of double reed woodwind instruments. Oboes are usually made of wood, but there are also oboes made of synthetic materials. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A soprano oboe measures roughly 65 cm long, with metal keys, a conical bore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. The distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright". When the word oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the treble instrument rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais, or oboe d'amore

Reception

The concerto has been praised by music critics. A year after the world premiere, James R. Oestreich of The New York Times said the work "seems to grow in stature with each hearing." [5] John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The composer calls it an 'entertainment shaped like a suite,' an apt description for his unusual eight-movement design, which falls into the traditional fast-slow-fast pattern with a delicately lyrical section surrounded by sections of brilliant, spiky caprice." He added, "This is inventive, accessible, cleverly scored, 'profoundly tonal' music (to use Rorem's words)." [6]

James Ruben Oestreich is a classical music critic for The New York Times, where he has written about music since 1989. He grew up in Wisconsin.

<i>The New York Times</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper based in New York City

The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 127 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.

<i>Chicago Tribune</i> major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It is the eighth-largest newspaper in the United States by circulation.

Recording

The February 4, 1993 Carnegie Hall performance was commercially recorded and released by New World Records on March 14, 1994. The album also featured a recording of Rorem's Eleven Studies for Eleven Players. [6]

Carnegie Hall concert hall in New York City

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park.

New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Rorem, Ned (1991). "Piano Concerto No.4 for Left Hand and Orchestra". Boosey & Hawkes . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Brozan, Nadine (January 26, 1993). "Chronicle". The New York Times . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ MacMinn, Aleene (February 4, 1993). "Music". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ Giovetti, Olivia (February 4, 2011). "Interview: Hilary Hahn". Time Out New York . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Oestreich, James R. (April 25, 1994). "Pianist Wins Contest No One Can Enter". The New York Times . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  6. 1 2 von Rhein, John (May 22, 1994). "Ned Rorem: Piano Concerto for Left Hand and Orchestra..." Chicago Tribune . Retrieved November 3, 2016.
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