Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra

SKU: PR.11641145S

ISBN 9781491136553. UPC: 680160689408.

The Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra Op.50 was commissioned by Jan Gippo, principal Piccolo of the St. Louis Symphony, who gave the premiere of the work on August 18th, 1996, in New York City with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra conducted by Glenn Cortese. The occasion was the annual convention of the National Flute Association, who sponsored the commission.Jan Gippo had enthusiastically pursued the idea of commissioning a Piccolo concerto from me ever since he played orchestral Piccolo in the premiere of my Concerto for Flute with James Galway and the St. Louis Symphony. Won over by his enthusiasm, I agreed to write this work for an instrument which has had virtually no concerto repertoire since the baroque era. In doing so I was eager to stress the lyrical and expressive qualities of an instrument which is too often stereotyped as being useful for only brilliant and ornamental flourishes.The work falls into three movements which are united by thematic and motivic materials, significant among which is a twelve note row which forms the basis of the second movement’s variations. The final movement, which puts the seriousness of the first tow movements aside for an unbridled romp, makes use of three explicit musical quotations at strategic structural moments, one of which is an implicit homage to Shostakovich, who quoted from the same work in his own second Violin Concerto.Orchestration of the Concerto was completed at the Loew’s Hotel in Monte Carlo, where I was situated for the rehearsal period of my opera The Picture of Dorian Gray.The Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra has been recorded for release on the BMG label by James Galway with the London Mozart Players conducted by the composer.