Second Piano Concertino

Second Piano Concertino for Piano and Chamber Ensemble is a miniature concerto in four continuous movements.  After a solo piano introduction, which presents all of the musical material for the entire work, the first movement, Passacaglia, presents a distinctive “theme” which involves heavily repeated notes.  This theme is passed through the piano, high strings, low strings, and finally timpani.  As the theme is repeated, instruments and gestures are added to the texture to create a complex polyphonic fabric.  The next movement, Musette, is “light” in contrast to the heavier first movement.  A rapid flurry of notes in the piano interact with slow-moving tertian harmonies in the orchestra and left-hand of the piano.  A brief piano solo interrupts the flow, with repeated notes in reference to the previous movement.  The third movement, Romance, is the centerpiece of the work, an homage to the music of Frederic Chopin.  A flowing arpeggiation in the left hand is accompanied by rhythmically flexible melodic gestures in the right, with lush harmonic support from the orchestra.The final movement, Rondo(s), employs a pentatonic theme with interjections of material from the previous three movements.  Through this combination of themes emerges harmonic “clusters” in the piano part.  The final sweeping gesture of the piece incorporates all thematic elements of the entire work in about three seconds.