Piano Concerto #2 (1889) (30:00)
I. Larghetto calmato
II. Presto giocoso
III. Largo – Molto allegro
The first major piano concerto written by an American, MacDowell’s D minor is one of the finest and most accomplished works of its kind. It has survived its composer’s dwindling reputation, his only large-scale work to remain in the active repertoire and also his most frequently played work in any form. Though traditional in many respects, it is quite distinctive and, in the words of one writer, with this single work ‘ensured his niche in the gallery of immortals’.
The first movement (‘Larghetto calmato’) opens pp and closes ppp. In between, the music surges ecstatically to a series of crescendos in the best Romantic tradition.
The brilliant ‘Presto giocoso’ Scherzo (second movement), sometimes heard separately, was inspired, according to Marian MacDowell, by Ellen Terry’s portrayal of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
The third movement (‘Largo – Molto allegro’), unusually in 3/4 time, makes forceful use of the brass section and harks back to themes from the first movement, with MacDowell’s gorgeous melodies and sparkling writing for the soloist providing a thrilling finale.
MacDowell, as the pianist, premiered the Second Concerto with the New York Philharmonic on March 5, 1889 in New York City. A Tribune critic, asserted that the concerto ‘must be placed at the head of all works of its kind produced by either a native or adopted citizen of America’ confessing that he ‘derived keener pleasure from the work of the young American than from the experienced and famous Russian’ (Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony had received its New York premiere on the same programme).
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