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Piano Concerto No. 1 (Rautavaara)

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Piano Concerto No. 1
by Einojuhani Rautavaara
Photo of Einojuhani Rautavaara in the 1950s
Opus45
Composed1969
Movements3
ScoringPiano concerto

Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote his Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 45, in 1969.

The piece contains many innovative uses of polytonality, cluster chords and extended uses of form.[1] It was during this time that Rautavaara had become disenchanted with the serialist and twelve-tone techniques of his previous works, and abandoned them in favor of a more idiosyncratic, romantic, and avant-garde style.[2]

Movements

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The concerto is in three movements.

I. Con grandezza

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The first movement, Con grandezza, begins with a piano solo. For the first thirteen bars, there are octave clusters in the right hand, outlining a melody in E phrygian, and harmonizing with a D major/minor arpeggio in the left hand. The orchestra joins abruptly after, imitating the piano intro. The piano and orchestra bounce themes off of each other, before a large climax, where the pianist is instructed to slam their arm on the keyboard to simulate a 3-octave wide cluster chord.

II. Andante

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The second movement starts with a C drone in the strings, and ends with more tone clusters that lead into the beginning of the next movement.

III. Molto vivace

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The third movement provides a strong climax with themes from the first movement, and a short French horn solo.

Instrumentation

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Woodwinds
2 Flutes (second doubling piccolo)
2 Clarinets
Brass
4 Horns
2 Trumpets
2 Trombones
Percussion
Timpani
Unpitched percussion (triangle, snare drum, tam-tam, cymbal, woodblocks)
Piano
Strings
16 Violins
8 Violas
8 Cellos
4 Basses

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Judd, Timothy (2019). "Einojuhani Rautavaara’s First Piano Concerto: Twentieth Century Finnish Neo-Romanticism". The Listener's Club. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. ^ Rickards, Guy (2016). "Einojuhani Rautavaara obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2020.