Concerto for Two Pianos (20th century)

[krummholz]

About 40 years ago I had an off-air recording of an early to mid 20th century concerto for two pianos and orchestra. I thought at the time it was announced as being by Martinu. Recently the opening has been going through my head, and I've tried to find a recording of it online. First thing I realized is that it is NOT Martinu, nor does it seem to be by any of the major composers of the era who wrote such a concerto.

I remember the piece as being in B-flat major and beginning with a big striding theme. I've notated what I remember of the opening theme using MuseScore and saved it as a .pdf. It may not be note for note accurate and the time signature is probably wrong; it doesn't seem to be in a regular meter anyway. Can anyone identify it?

[Mirror Image]

Milhaud maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/v/kPs52u6pv_o

[Andante]

Interesting with the meter change but too late at night for me to concentrate, I have two in mind but will check to morrow if no one cracks it first.....now for another red

[krummholz]

Milhaud maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/v/kPs52u6pv_o

Thanks, I actually thought of Milhaud (another "M" maybe)... but it does not seem to be. Definitely not that concerto anyway. It has a bit of a Slavic feel to it which is why I wasn't too skeptical at first that it might be Martinu... but now, 40 years later, with easy access to recordings of most of his works, I can say with confidence that it's clearly not. At least, none of his well-known concertos, and does not seem to be his style. The piece is very diatonic, with noble, striding themes, uses the pianos rather percussively, and has a very tender, lyrical slow movement.

I was hoping someone would recognize the theme, which is played by the violins and opens the concerto straightaway.

[krummholz]

Interesting with the meter change but too late at night for me to concentrate, I have two in mind but will check to morrow if no one cracks it first.....now for another red

It's unclear to me what the meter actually is. There seem to be some bars of 3 and some of 4. Also I think the contour of the the first few bars was a little bit off in my first upload. I revised it - I think the current version (attached to my OP) is much closer to being accurate.

Unfortunately I no longer have the recording, it was on old analog tape, so this is totally from memory. It's been bothering me that I can't seem to figure out what the piece actually is, since it has a big, romantic sound to it and I should think it would be fairly popular.

[pjme]

here &are a few concertos / 19th - 20th century:

Vaughan Williams : https://youtu.be/uaS83931Qxs

Max Bruch : https://youtu.be/Daqzz7Cqevg

Walter Piston : https://youtu.be/slW8Ye8-gtU

Arthur Bliss: https://youtu.be/bL6qwiCP7oM

Malcolm Arnold : https://youtu.be/zMI5WDjvY1c (two pianos, three hands - great fun anyway!)

Malcolm Williamson: https://youtu.be/Wl-nT7qgxv0

Benjamin Britten: https://youtu.be/XxhXEEqa0n0

Jean Françaix: https://youtu.be/IB4fyDlJ3AA

Claude Arrieu: https://youtu.be/inRagQI8Du4

Alexander Tansman : https://youtu.be/XFC5-gQJUW0

Quincy Porter: https://youtu.be/g5_FcDdphvo

Nikolai Lopatnikoff: https://youtu.be/9FOoiaJMxuw

Miklos Rozsa: https://youtu.be/xjd1okCm-Tg

Alan Rawsthorne: https://youtu.be/w74V1bPztoQ





The Poulenc is very famous, of course (many, many recordings), Roy Harris wrote an excellent concerto that was recorded by Joshua Pierce and Dorothy Jonas (not on YT).

[krummholz]

here &are a few concertos / 19th - 20th century:

Vaughan Williams : https://youtu.be/uaS83931Qxs

Max Bruch : https://youtu.be/Daqzz7Cqevg

Walter Piston : https://youtu.be/slW8Ye8-gtU

Arthur Bliss: https://youtu.be/bL6qwiCP7oM

Malcolm Arnold : https://youtu.be/zMI5WDjvY1c (two pianos, three hands - great fun anyway!)

Malcolm Williamson: https://youtu.be/Wl-nT7qgxv0

Benjamin Britten: https://youtu.be/XxhXEEqa0n0

Jean Françaix: https://youtu.be/IB4fyDlJ3AA

Claude Arrieu: https://youtu.be/inRagQI8Du4

Alexander Tansman : https://youtu.be/XFC5-gQJUW0

Quincy Porter: https://youtu.be/g5_FcDdphvo

Nikolai Lopatnikoff: https://youtu.be/9FOoiaJMxuw

Miklos Rozsa: https://youtu.be/xjd1okCm-Tg

Alan Rawsthorne: https://youtu.be/w74V1bPztoQ





The Poulenc is very famous, of course (many, many recordings), Roy Harris wrote an excellent concerto that was recorded by Joshua Pierce and Dorothy Jonas (not on YT).

It is none of the works in that list (and not the Poulenc)... too bad the Harris is not on YT. I found a description of it in a Gramophone review and it sounds like it MIGHT be the one.

Edit: I found excerpts of the Harris on Spotify... and no joy (at least, it is not the piece I had recorded).

[pjme]

On that KLEOS cd (Roy Harris and Pierre Max Dubois) Jonas and Pierce perform also Arthur Benjamin's North American Square Dance Suite for two pianos and orchestra (1. Introduction and "Miller's Reel" 1:19; 2. "The Old Plunk" 0:51; 3. "The Bundle of Straw" 1:22; 4. "He Piped So Sweet" 2:41; 5. "Fill the Bowl" 1:42; 6. "Pigeon on the Pier" 0:49 7. "Calder Fair" 1:49; 8. "Salamanca" 1:39) (1950) [12.12]

Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2004/Mar04/rare_pianos.htm#ixzz6ANakWxtu

https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001W8E3C/musicwebuk

[krummholz]

I agree (based on the excerpts on Spotify), it's all good music and that recording fills a gap in the repertoire.

Still hunting for ideas as to that theme I (clumsily) tried to notate. I'm 99% sure it was a concerto for two pianos. I'm not sure what size of orchestra it was for though... I remember there were at least strings, winds, and timpani, most likely standard brass as well. Probably a standard orchestra, though I couldn't swear to it.

[pjme]

Jonas & Pierce still remain - I think - good candidates for performing unusual repertoire for two pianos.
For KLEOS they recorded also concerti by Paul Creston, Robert Starer and Nikolai Berezowsky. Listen to fragments on Amazon.

I'll try to study your score with my brother who is a good pianist.
Peter

[pjme]

Alas, my brother wasn't able to recognise  it. He was vagueley reminded of a Fauré berceuse....

[krummholz]

Jonas & Pierce still remain - I think - good candidates for performing unusual repertoire for two pianos.
For KLEOS they recorded also concerti by Paul Creston, Robert Starer and Nikolai Berezowsky. Listen to fragments on Amazon.

I'll try to study your score with my brother who is a good pianist.
Peter

Thanks, I shall do that when I get a chance.

Please note: the "score" is just the opening theme of the first movement, which in the concerto is played by the violins. I forget how the pianos enter...

[krummholz]

Alas, my brother wasn't able to recognise  it. He was vagueley reminded of a Fauré berceuse....

Ah, missed this earlier... thanks for trying.

[Daverz]

I haven't seen the Victor Babin concerto mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/v/HBgyiNGABwg


https://www.youtube.com/v/GGZORq95ogU

The last piano duo made an excellent recording of it for CPO.

[krummholz]

I haven't seen the Victor Babin concerto mentioned:


The last piano duo made an excellent recording of it for CPO.

Yet another interesting concerto, thanks! But alas, that's not it either...

[pjme]

And what if it isn't 20th century, but older : Czerny, Mendelssohn....?

[krummholz]

And what if it isn't 20th century, but older : Czerny, Mendelssohn....?

Based on the style of the piece, I'm 100% certain it is 20th century. Probably from the second quarter; it had a 1940s feel to it. (Of course, the narrower the range, the less certain I am of the date. But it is definitely 20th century.)

[krummholz]

Solved! It turns out it IS Martinu after all, but not a concerto for TWO pianos. Rather, it is a concerto for ONE piano, his Piano Concerto #2. I can't find it on YouTube, but it is readily available on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3btrS4ToOzRXujcbCdx83x

Thanks to all who tried to help out... I feel like an idiot now, thinking there were two pianos when in fact it was just an ordinary piano concerto. Apparently not a very well-known one at that. At least I wasn't too far off on the date (1934). But obviously I should not have dismissed Martinu without sampling ALL of his concertos.

[mc ukrneal]

All the concertos can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/v/utqa8JEpDvM

[pjme]

Hurrah! 

It was fun though to browse through my cds and YT and discover some really good music.

P.