Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra cover

Kirk O’Riordan
Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra
Kirk O’Riordan
Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra
©Copyright 2007 by Kirk O’Riordan. All rights reserved.
Cover art: Wassily Kandinsky: Yellow, Red, Blue (1925). Oil and Canvas, 127x200cm;
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra
composed July 2006-February 2007
Kirk O’Riordan
b. 1968
Commissioned by and dedicated to the Eaken Piano Trio
John Eaken, violin
Andrew Rammon, cello
Gloria Whitney, piano
I. with great intensity
II. relentless
III. cadenza, espressivo
IV. driving
Instrumentation:
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
English Horn
2 Clarinets in A
Bass Clarinet in B-flat
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C
Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
3 Percussionists (duplicated instruments may be shared)
Perc. 1: large tam tam, vibraphone, crotales, large bass drum, snare drum, triangle,
suspended cymbals (Chinese, small, medium, large, splash, sizzle)
Mallets: soft, medium, hard yarn; medium and hard plastic; metal;
contrabass bow
Perc. 2: tom toms (3, small, medium, large), large tam tam, glockenspiel,
xylophone, crotales, vibraphone, marimba, suspended cymbals (small and
medium, Chinese)
Mallets: hard and soft yarn; hard plastic; medium hard rubber; metal
Perc. 3: large bass drum, snare drum, suspended cymbals (Chinese, small, medium
large, splash)
Mallets: medium soft yarn
Solo Violin
Solo Cello
Solo Piano
Strings (ca. 12.10.8.6.5 preferred)
Performance Notes:
Diminuendos into rests should be performed al niente.
The third movement, cadenza, espressivo, may be performed separately.
Program Notes:
The Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra was begun in July 2006 and completed in
February, 2007. The work, the composer’s most ambitious to date, is approximately 28
minutes in duration. It was commissioned by the Eaken Piano Trio: John Eaken, violin;
Andrew Rammon, cello; and Gloria Whitney, piano.
In many ways, the Concerto is as much symphony as it is concerto: its four movements
closely resemble the four-movement structure associated with the late Romantic
Symphony. The first movement introduces the primary motivic material developed in
movements one, three, and four; the second, a frenzied scherzo-like dance, provides energy
and contrasting melodic ideas; the third movement is a cadenza (without orchestra) for the
Trio; and the fourth is an energetic finale. Although the first movement is not in the
traditional sonata form usually found in Romantic Symphonies, the second and fourth
movements are in a modified ritornello form.
The genre of the Triple Concerto is of course dominated by Beethoven’s op. 56. This work
was conceived as a compliment to Beethoven’s, to exist along side the masterpiece,
learning from it. The orchestras involved in each are of similar size, and the duration of
each is similar. I decided early in the compositional process, though, to treat the trio as one
entity (similar to Bartok’s approach with the entire orchestra in his Concerto for
Orchestra), rather than the more Beethovian three soloists. While there is some solo
passagework for each member of the trio, I was most interested in featuring the
“ensemble” of the soloists. I wanted to equate that which makes chamber music unique
with traditional technical virtuosity. This idea, as well as the Trio’s request for a section of
this piece that would be “portable,” led to the idea of a cadenza movement.