Piano Concerto
(1992)
24'
first performance: February 15, 1993
venue: Curtis
Institute, Philadelphia
performer(s): David
Horne, piano- Orchestra of the Curtis Institute- conductor, Rudolfo
Fisher
instrumentation: 2(I=afl,II=picc).2.2(II=bcl).1.dbn-2.2.2.1-perc(2):t.bells/marimba/
vib/xyl/crot/glsp/3susp.cym(small,med,large)/tam-t/2timp-
cel-harp-piano solo-strings
recording on previous page: BBC
Symphony Orchestra, David Horne, piano, David Porcelijn,
conductor. March 12, 2004
programme note:
The Piano
Concerto (1992) is in three movements, roughly adhering to a traditional
fast-slow-fast structure, and lasting around twenty
minutes. The first movement, rhapsodic in nature, alternates between two
contrasting ideas, one lyrical and sustained, the other aggressive and
rhythmically strident. The opening of the work displays an example of the type
of acoustic interplay that occurs throughout the entire piece. The opening
figure in the piano is "sustained" by string harmonics, gently fading
in and out around the piano’s harmonies. In this respect, nearly all of the orchestral material is derived from the piano,
both in terms of pitch, but also in terms of timbre. Similarly, in the more
violent sections, the piano’s rougher attacks are matched and echoed by
more strident orchestral sounds. In addition, the use of simple timbral
modifications in the orchestra, such as harmonics and mutes, is often used to
subtly detune the piano, albeit not in a systematic way.
The role of the orchestra is in a constant state of flux, at times adding
resonance to the piano, and at others, taking the piano’s motivic
suggestions and developing them. The opening of the middle movement is the
exception to this rule, where for once the orchestra (without the string
section in this movement) introduces a thematic idea. In this case, a simple
melody which, although reappearing in various guises through to the end of the
whole piece, is never actually taken up by the piano. The final movement starts
as something of a scherzo, the thematic ideas growing out of repeated notes,
gradually increasing in momentum. This idea is really just
a more energetic manifestation of the opening of the first movement, which is
similarly anchored around repeated notes, and indeed, the work’s opening
is recalled near the end of the piece. It is, however, the movement’s
faster music that takes over as the movement rushes to a close.
David Horne, March 2004
selected press reviews:
"Most remarkable on the
programme was David Horne’s Piano Concerto, written in 1992, when he was
21. A Proms concerto debutant at 19, he was the soloist in this, the
work’s belated British premiere. His cool virtuosity was thrilling, but
so was that of the piece. Though essentially a youthful esprit, it is a lesson
in economical construction. It is not too much to say that all three
(fast-slow-fast) movements are built from three notes — F sharp, G sharp
and A — quietly intoned by the soloist at the start and picked up in
harmonic haloes by vibraphone and strings. The scoring is unyouthfully restrained, but has a sensuousness that is most apparent in
the slow movement’s carillon figurations for piano, harp, celeste and
tuned percussion. The solo writing is at once showy and spare, with a crispness
poised between Scarlatti and Stravinsky. The patent musicality on display was
altogether refreshing."
Paul Driver, The Sunday Times