263:. Then something happens. A piano plays, but the soloist is motionless. It's been there all the time, of course – an orchestral piano, up on the percussion risers. But now it's turned threatening: upstaging the soloist with its full two-handed range and stealing his musical voice, his very identity. And although it doesn't really intervene again until the last movement, you're continually aware of its sinister gloss black presence crouching there in the background – a quiet doppelganger, waiting to make its move. The concerto becomes a dark fairy tale.
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Alexandre
Tharaud, bringing a miraculous range of tone and expression to a score which at times has him playing no more than a single note suspended in silence, or picking his way between a pair of claves. It's rare to hear a new work in which every note has been so carefully chosen and so perfectly placed.
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Am I going too far? To be fair, Abrahamsen (...) actually describes the last of the concerto's six short movements as 'in flying time, Fairy Tale Time', and, himself unable to play the piano with his right hand, clearly identifies with his soloist. For this UK premiere that was the work's dedicatee,
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described it as "weightless and otherworldly, as stark, soft, radiant and magical as fresh snow." She added, "Even its composer, who took his bows after the flawless UK premiere with the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the soloist Alexandre Tharaud and the conductor Ilan Volkov, had the air
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was written for piano left-hand and horn (Abrahamsen's principal instrument and the only instrument that can be played with the left hand only). Abrahamsen performed the work himself in the autumn of 1969 and the idea of composing a large-scale work for piano left-hand had remained with him since.
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6. In a tempo from another time – In a time of slow motion – Suddenly in flying time, "Fairy Tale Time"
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contains all kinds of references, not only to the obvious fact that the left hand is playing alone."
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The concerto has a duration of roughly 18 minutes and is cast in two parts divided into six smaller
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The work is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of two
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of a magician with access to unimagined realms." Richard Bratby of
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January 29, 2016. The piece is dedicated to Alexandre Tharaud.
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Music commissioned by the City of
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and others. This repertoire has been with me since my youth."
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Music commissioned by the Danish
National Symphony Orchestra
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3. Presto fluente (like a gentle rain, light and bubbly)
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has been praised by music critics. Rebecca Franks of
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283:List of works for piano left-hand and orchestra
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52:. Its world premiere was given by the pianist
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629:Concertos for piano left-hand and orchestra
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619:Compositions by Hans Abrahamsen
529:Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
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16:Composition by Hans Abrahamse
40:and co-commissioned by the
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148:5. Prestissimo tempestuoso
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28:for the left hand and
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132:2. Slowly walking
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522:Left, alone
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68:Composition
62:Ilan Volkov
21:Left, alone
613:Categories
318:Retrieved
289:References
73:Background
48:, and the
396:The Times
257:Prokofiev
238:The Times
228:Reception
206:bass tuba
202:trombones
192:), three
174:clarinets
145:4. Slowly
118:movements
112:Structure
30:orchestra
564:Category
309:(2015).
277:See also
198:trumpets
186:bassoons
56:and the
577:Portals
539:Related
430:July 6,
402:July 6,
374:July 6,
346:July 6,
320:July 6,
222:strings
220:), and
218:celesta
210:timpani
184:), two
168:), two
166:piccolo
140:Part II
94:October
531:(2019)
525:(2016)
517:(2013)
509:(2011)
492:(2019)
248:wrote:
200:, two
196:, two
172:, two
162:flutes
124:Part I
44:, the
603:Music
481:Opera
261:Ravel
194:horns
170:oboes
87:Ravel
24:is a
432:2016
404:2016
376:2016
348:2016
322:2016
259:and
214:harp
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296:^
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208:,
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466:e
459:t
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