Alexander Goehr - Piano Concerto (1972) [Score Video]

Alexander Goehr - Piano Concerto, Op. 33 (1972)

Pianist: Daniel Barenboim
Conductor: Lawrence Foster
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Performance Audio (premiere):    • Alexander Goehr   Piano Concerto Op 33 1972  

0:00 I
16:19 II

The Piano Concerto was composed in 1972. It is not an easy piece, but it is a rewarding one. The music is, of course, atonal and not only its melodies but the constant and delicate interplay between piano and orchestra sound very post-Schoenbergian, with the orchestra treated chamber-like and rarely used for mass. The ear is constantly aroused by unexpected and interesting twists of instrumental writing. Formally Goehr says he tried to combine the variation technique (his principal means for creating large forms in those years), with the traditional sonata form. It is a constant state of flux, with new musical events drifting in and out, not at random but with an underlying sense of logic and unfolding. An additional factor that makes Goehr's Concerto very effective is that he has avoided that pitfall, keeping his piano writing very coherent with the orchestra, always dry, lucid, crystalline, and very whimsical in mood.