Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Winds, and Percussion

A concerto in three movements written for piano and an ensemble of orchestral winds, brass, percussion, and electric organ (no saxophone or euphonium).

This Concerto written between 1974 and 1976 was my first composition for wind ensemble. It was prompted in part by my Duo for flute and piano (1972), which was written for flutist Leone Buyse and pianist Joseph Dechario. Although he never played the concerto, Dechario’s performance work on the extremely demanding Duo inspired the concerto’s piano part.

This first piano concerto is an explosion contained in a classical form, and showed the nascent tendency in my music for both an objective formal process and a blossoming fantasy. Elements of extreme post-tonal violence are side by side with a sweet tunefulness and a gentle irony.

Mr. Maslanka notes that “things go so much better if the piano is positioned in the ensemble, facing the conductor. Piano lid has to be completely off and piano must be miked properly to achieve a balance with the ensemble with a minimum of distortion of piano tone. I no longer specify what kind of mikes because technology changes so rapidly. I have to rely on the good sense of performers and engineers.”