Piano Concerto (Ligeti)
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| Piano Concerto | |
|---|---|
| by György Ligeti | |
 György Ligeti in 1984 | |
| Form | Piano concerto |
| Composed | 1980–1988 |
| Dedication | Mario di Bonaventura |
| Duration | about 23 minutes |
| Movements | Five |
| Premiere | |
| Date | February 29, 1988 |
| Location | Vienna |
| Conductor | Mario di Bonaventura |
| Performers | Anthony di Bonaventura (piano) Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra |
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by György Ligeti is a five-movement piano concerto. Ligeti wrote:
I present my artistic credo in the Piano Concerto: I demonstrate my independence from criteria of the traditional avantgarde, as well as the fashionable postmodernism. Musical illusions which I consider to be also so important are not a goal in itself for me, but a foundation for my aesthetical attitude. I prefer musical forms which have a more object-like than processual character. Music as "frozen" time, as an object in imaginary space evoked by music in our imagination, as a creation which really develops in time, but in imagination it exists simultaneously in all its moments. The spell of time, the enduring its passing by, closing it in a moment of the present is my main intention as a composer.[1]
It is dedicated to the American conductor Mario di Bonaventura who premiered the work.
Initial sketches of the Concerto began in 1980, but it was not until 1985 that he found a way forward and the work proceeded more quickly.[2] In his book on Ligeti, Richard Steinitz documents the composer's many attempts to begin the piece, noting that it was not until the twenty-first attempt, dated 1985–1986, that he gets the first page right.[2]
The first three movements were premiered in Graz, Austria on October 23, 1986 by pianist Anthony di Bonaventura and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Mario di Bonaventura.[3] The following year, Ligeti added another two movements, the fourth and fifth, and the final autograph of the last movement was ready in January 1988. Ligeti wrote that “[a]fter hearing the work twice [in 1986], I came to the conclusion that the third movement is not an adequate finale; my feeling of form demanded continuation, a supplement.”[1] The five-movement concerto was premiered on February 29, 1988 with Anthony di Bonaventura and the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario di Bonaventura[3] in the Vienna Konzerthaus.
