| composer: |
Nancy Galbraith (2000) |
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| genre: |
piano concerto with wind ensemble |
| length: |
3 movements, 21:00 minutes |
| orchestration: |
solo piano; 2fl, pic, 2ob, 3cl (at least 2 per part),
bs-cl, 2bn; 2a-sax, t-sax, b-sax;
4hn, 3tpt, 2tbn, bs-tbn, euph, tba;
5perc, string-bass |
| publisher: |
Subito Music Publishing (ASCAP)
60 Depot Street, Verona, NJ 07044
mail@subitomusic.com • 973-857-3440 |
| audio/video: |
 |
|
world premiere: |
6 May 2001
Slippery Rock University Wind Ensemble • James Berry, conductor
Nanette Kaplan Solomon, piano • Miller Auditorium • Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania |
| program notes: |
"Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble" was commissioned by Slippery Rock University (Pennsylvania) for pianist Nanette Kaplan Solomon (Professor of Music at SRU) and for the SRU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, James Berry, conductor. The composer dedicates this work with thanks to Dr. Solomon for her commitment to the creation and performance of new music. |
| composer's note: |
Movement I begins softly with a rhythmic ostinato line in the bass clarinet, bassoon, and contrabass. As this ostinato repeats, rhythmic ideas are gradually layered to create a ground over which the main melodic idea of the movement appears in the piano. This melody is repeated and transformed many times as the music slowly builds to a grand climax. A return to another ostinato, this time in quarter notes, follows and moves into a quiet, slower, and more lyrical section in the woodwinds. This section leads to a piano solo followed by a return to the quarter note ostinato, which closes the movement. |
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After a calm pastoral atmosphere is established in the opening of Movement II, a sweet but somewhat mournful melody arises in the piano. Webs of impressionistic texture follow in both the piano and woodwinds, which eventually lead to a resounding climax in the winds. The piano then presents the main theme again, this time building to its own climactic statement. The movement ends quietly as it began. |
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Movement III is fast and energetic. The opening woodwind texture introduces a triplet note figure. The soft piano figure that follows employs this triplet figure, and serves as accompaniment for thematic statements in the woodwinds. The movement concludes with a return to the opening forte piano theme, and a cadenza for piano, accompanied by percussion. — N.G. |
| press bytes: |
The splendid concerto (her second) has a divertingly quirky energy and wit, tinged with the inflections of jazz and blues, framing a soulful slow movement with exuberant studies in sheer musical joie de vivre, tempered with an insistent, driven and at times almost hectic gaiety. — Records International |
