Piano Concerto No. 1 (Rautavaara)
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| Piano Concerto No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| by Einojuhani Rautavaara | |
 Photo of Einojuhani Rautavaara in the 1950s | |
| Opus | 45 |
| Composed | 1969 |
| Movements | 3 |
| Scoring | Piano concerto |
Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote his Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 45, in 1969.
The piece contains many innovative uses of polytonality, cluster chords and extended uses of form.[1] It was during this time that Rautavaara had become disenchanted with the serialist and twelve-tone techniques of his previous works, and abandoned them in favor of a more idiosyncratic, romantic, and avant-garde style.[2]
I. Con grandezza
The concerto is in three movements.
The first movement, Con grandezza, begins with a piano solo. For the first thirteen bars, there are octave clusters in the right hand, outlining a melody in D dorian, and harmonizing with a D major/minor arpeggio in the left hand. The orchestra joins abruptly after, imitating the piano intro. The piano and orchestra bounce themes off of each other, before a large climax, where the pianist is instructed to slam their arm on the keyboard to simulate a 3-octave wide cluster chord.
II. Andante
The second movement starts with a C drone in the strings, and ends with more tone clusters that lead into the beginning of the next movement.
III. Molto vivace
The third movement provides a strong climax with themes from the first movement with prominent brass parts.
