Been fascinated by this piece for a long time and wrote my Masters thesis on it :) From the sketches in the British Library it's clear that the Concerto gave RVW a heckuva lot of trouble, especially this final part where he toyed with various ideas for trying to unify it, before eventually (in 1946-7) giving up and creating the visionary B-major ending we hear here.
I find the first movement a bit indigestible and the second a bit bleak, but the finale is superb. Using the same motif for a fugue and a mad waltz - brilliant!
(For a good slow movement from another neglected English piano concerto, I'd recommend the Andante from Lennox Berkeley's Piano Concerto in B flat.)
If you like this concerto and Vaughan Williams in general, you might like Joseph Marx' two piano concertos. Again, parts of this remind me of Prokofiev, and even Mahler(!?)
@4candles Agree about the Mahler connection. RVW certainly knew of Mahler, though claiming no particular fondness for his music.. Clearly something of Ravel's "La Valse" in there too (but the waltz is marked "Alla Tedesca" ~ in the German style).
Herbert Howells' 2nd Concerto (1924) seems to have been a direct influence. RVW was present at the (disastrous) premiere, and led support for Howells afterwards.
3:35 reminded me of Agosti's Firebird Suite piano version
Pianista061292 1 month ago in playlist Favorite videos
Been fascinated by this piece for a long time and wrote my Masters thesis on it :) From the sketches in the British Library it's clear that the Concerto gave RVW a heckuva lot of trouble, especially this final part where he toyed with various ideas for trying to unify it, before eventually (in 1946-7) giving up and creating the visionary B-major ending we hear here.
mrspoonofbuttonmoon 4 months ago
I find the first movement a bit indigestible and the second a bit bleak, but the finale is superb. Using the same motif for a fugue and a mad waltz - brilliant!
(For a good slow movement from another neglected English piano concerto, I'd recommend the Andante from Lennox Berkeley's Piano Concerto in B flat.)
JeremyHMarshall 5 months ago
It's moments like the end where you see the quintessential English man in RVW, and I love him for it.
saotomi5102 8 months ago
If you like this concerto and Vaughan Williams in general, you might like Joseph Marx' two piano concertos. Again, parts of this remind me of Prokofiev, and even Mahler(!?)
4candles 1 year ago
@4candles Agree about the Mahler connection. RVW certainly knew of Mahler, though claiming no particular fondness for his music.. Clearly something of Ravel's "La Valse" in there too (but the waltz is marked "Alla Tedesca" ~ in the German style).
Herbert Howells' 2nd Concerto (1924) seems to have been a direct influence. RVW was present at the (disastrous) premiere, and led support for Howells afterwards.
mrspoonofbuttonmoon 4 months ago
A great work, and greatly underplayed in both verions
shnimmuc 1 year ago
Wow, I didn't know RVW had written a Piano Concerto!
AhaBach4Life 1 year ago