Thesis
Submitted for the Master of Écriture musicale
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris
Abstract
In the United States in the 1920s, George Gershwin and Hollywoodian cinema gave
the start of the mini piano concerto written in symphonic jazz style. In 1941, the
Rachmaninovian Warsaw Concerto (9') by British Richard Addinsell triggered a
vogue which lasted around thirty years, and touched composers from diverse
backgrounds and nationalities, from George Antheil to Dmitri Shostakovich, from
Arthur Bliss to Miklos Rozsa, from Duke Ellington to Henri Sauguet, from Norman
Dello Joio to Malcolm Williamson… For this thesis, we have established the first
(chronological and alphabetical) repertories of mini piano concertos: more than 350
works.
Frequently updated.
183 p.
Résumé
Aux États-Unis, George Gershwin et le cinéma hollywoodien donnèrent dans les
années 20 le départ du mini piano concerto de style jazz symphonique. En 1941, le
rachmaninovien Warsaw Concerto (9’) du britannique Richard Addinsell lança une
vogue qui dura une trentaine d’années et inspira des compositeurs de tous horizons
et de toutes nationalités, de George Antheil à Dmitri Shostakovich, d’Arthur Bliss à
Miklos Rozsa, de Duke Ellington à Henri Sauguet, de Norman Dello Joio à Malcolm
Williamson… Nous avons établi dans ce mémoire les premiers répertoires
(chronologique et alphabétique) des mini piano concertos : plus de 350 œuvres.
Fréquemment mise à jour.
195 p.
Foreword ………………………………………………………………….…. p. 3
Nota ……………………………………………………………………….….. p. 6
1- Introduction ………………………………………………………………. p. 7
1- The ’20s-’30s: the mini piano concerto from symphonic jazz ….…... p. 48
2- The ’40s: the triumph of the Warsaw Concerto and the Anglo-saxon
vogue of tabloid concertos …………………………………….………….. p. 55
1
3- Is the Denham Concerto film music? …………………..………………. p. 112
Appendix 1
Works of which we have no score or recording, but several clues
suggesting that they are mini piano concertos …..………………….……. p. 148
Appendix 2
First Alphabetical (and detailed) Repertory of
mini piano concertos ………………………………………………….……... p. 152
Appendix 3
Detailed list of fictional composers who wrote a piano concertante
piece featured in a film ………………………………………………………. p. 173
***
2
Foreword
It was possible to choose as thesis subject “The Mini Piano Concerto from
the years 40-60: a trend triggered by Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto”
since we had the opportunity, thanks to the web, to get in touch with
collectors and specialists in orchestral music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Thanks to some of them in particular1 we have been able to discover a large
amount of almost-forgotten works. Among them, there were short works for
piano and orchestra, largely written in a so-called cinematographic style,
close to the film music of the Hollywood Golden Age2. These works were
composed mainly during the decades ’40-’60, and several of them within the
cinema realm, like the Warsaw Concerto by British composer Richard
Addinsell (1904-1977), written for the 1941 film "Dangerous Moonlight"3
directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. The Warsaw Concerto, which lasts 9
minutes, has gained a considerable success that never wavered. But it is the
tree that hides the forest, as almost all these brief piano concertante works
have fallen into almost total oblivion, a fate they share – alas – with the great
majority of orchestral compositions of the second half of the twentieth
century4.
1
We would like to thank in particular Dr. Allan B. Ho, teacher at the Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville (USA), author of “Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded
Repertory”, with whom we have been collaborating since 2010 (For “The Recorded
Repertory”, see Bibliography and “Sitography”).
2
According to film historians, the Hollywood Golden Age corresponds to the decades ’30
and ’40. Cf. Douglas Gomery, “Hollywood, l’âge d’or des studios” (1987). Of course, several
great composers of the Hollywood Golden Age wrote mini piano concertos, for the cinema
or outside.
3
In the USA, the film “Dangerous Moonlight” is known under the title “Suicide
Squadron”.
4
The private catalogs of rare works of three of the greatest collectors of orchestral music of
the twentieth century are several hundred pages long: respectively more than 1000 pages,
more than 900 pages and more than 800 pages, written in small (or very small) characters.
3
The Anglo-Saxons – who, unlike the French, have always enjoyed these
short post-romantic pieces for piano and orchestra – use several expressions
to define them, the most common being “micro-concertos” (as David Ades
writes in the Grove Dictionary5) and “mini piano concertos”, as Fred Flaxman
writes to present one of his Compact Discoveries radio programs:
“hour devoted to mini piano concertos written especially for the movies, mostly in
the 1940s”6
5
Article “Williams, Charles” by David Ades (2007) [online (registration required), accessed
September 27, 2017]
6
Cf. on the web “Compact Discoveries”: Program 32 “Movie Concertos” (2017) [online,
http://www.compactdiscoveries.com/CompactDiscoveriesScripts/32MovieConcertos.html,
accessed June 15, 2017]
7
These are invariably Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto (1941) ; Hubert Bath’s Cornish
Rhapsody (1944) ; Bernard Herrmann’s Concerto Macabre (1945) ; Miklos Rozsa’s Spellbound
Concerto (1946) ; Charles Williams’ The Dream of Olwen (1947).
8
The articles and thesis are cited at the end of this work, in the Bibliography and
Sitography.
9
The total number of existing mini piano concertos is necessarily much higher.
4
particular form of the mini piano concerto. Writing a thesis about these
works is like discovering a forgotten part of the concert music of the 20th
century. Some Anglo-Saxon musicologists and music critics, more open-
minded than their French counterparts concerning film music, Symphonic
Entertainment, Light Music and Easy Listening10, familiarized the audience
with the mini piano concertos; but, to our knowledge, no one has established
their history or explained the sociological reasons that allowed their vogue,
and then the decline of it.
With this thesis, we hope to bring the first elements for a deeper
synthesis that remains to be written.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
10
Although they are close, and all led by a popular spirit, these registers are dissimilar: the
Light Music, typically British, had its greatest successes in the years ’30-’60. The Easy
Listening, beyond being a commercial designation used by labels, was a genre much
appreciated by Americans, close to both film music and songs ; it developed in the ’50s and
suffered a sudden decline in the ’70s.
5
NOTA
• The mini piano concerto being an exclusively Anglo-Saxon musical realm, we use the
terminology of this language:
- stand-alone piece: movement of a work that can be performed separately
- highlights: the best moments of a work
- Symphonic Entertainment: Orchestral music intended to reach a wide audience (in
Germany, this genre is called: Gehobene Unterhaltungsmusik/Sophisticated Light Music)
• We indicate the timing of each work. The lower minute is indicated if the number of
seconds does not reach 30; the upper minute is indicated if the number of seconds equals
or exceeds 30.
• As most of the composers and arrangers mentioned in this thesis are little known, for the
sake of precision and courtesy we always indicate the nationality and the dates of birth and
of death of every composer / arranger. List of abbreviations used:
Albania : Alb France: Fra Portugal: Por
Argentina: Arg Germany: Ger Quebec: Que
Australia: Aus Great Britain: GB Romania: Rom
Austria: Aut Greece: Gre Russia: Rus
Azerbaijan: Aze Hungary: Hun Serbia: Ser
Belgium: Bel Italia: Ita Slovakia: Slova
Brazil: Bra Japan: Jap Slovenia: Slove
Bulgaria: Bul Latvia: Lat Spain: Spa
Canada: Can Lebanon: Lib Sweden: Swe
Cuba: Cub Lithuania: Lit Switzerland: Swz
Czech Republic: Cze Macedonia: Mac Ukraine: Ukr
East Germany: GDR Netherlands: Net United States of America:
Estonia: Est Norway: Nor USA
Finland: Fin Poland: Pol Venezuela: Ven
• The word “musicologist”, that we associate with some proper nouns, does not necessarily
guarantee a university degree.
• Every film title is followed by the name of the director and the release date.
• Many of the mentioned mini piano concertos have been uploaded on YouTube by us (on
our channels collectionCB, collectionCB2, collectionCB3, collectionCB4 & collectionCB5).
We can refer to Appendix 2: “Music program made by us and uploaded on YouTube”
where the titles of the listenable works are indicated along with their links.
• In order to make a reliable and useful research tool, the “First chronological (and
detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos” lists only works for which we have been able
to verify that they are either tabloid concertos, simili tabloid concertos, Denham
Concertos, para Denham Concertos or micro-concertos. Idem concerning the “First
alphabetical (and detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos” (Appendix 3).
6
CHAPTER I
1- Introduction
7
concert work written in order to produce a cathartic effect on the spectator,
the emotions experienced by the heroes of the film were precisely those felt
by the public.
It was the specificity of Denham Studios, located near London, to
integrate into their films a concertante piece written in the post-romantic
style that had been popularized by the Russian composer Sergei
Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). By the artifice of a false/true concert or of a
true/false piano concerto, these short works succeeded, purely by their
musical virtue, in supporting the morale of the British engaged in World
War II. “Dangerous Moonlight” (1941), realized by Brian Desmond Hurst, in
which we can hear the Warsaw Concerto of Richard Addinsell (1904-1977/GB),
was the first film no longer to submit its music to the diktat of the images
but, on the contrary, to make it an essential element of the plot. For the first
time in cinema history, music became in a way the “brand image” of a film
(very precisely, of a patriotic film). This daring decision, widely acclaimed,
was the starting point of a trend, as subsequent films also included tabloid
concertos, which the British soon dubbed “Denham Concertos”, after the
name of the studios that gave birth to them11. Each film (and each Denham
Concerto) magnified a romantic vision of life that tried to counterbalance the
pains of the war. Despite its short duration – or rather, because of its brevity
– the Denham Concerto is written so as to give the illusion of being the
concentrate of a full-scale concerto. In addition to its conciseness and its
density, its other specificity lies in the quality of its themes/melodies that
always seek to be memorable. According to the historian of film music Pierre
Berthomieu,
“l’existence mélodique garantit une mémoire affective du sens. Sa reprise et sa
répétition, principe du symphonisme, instaurent un état lyrique.”12
“melodic existence guarantees an affective memory of meaning. Its repetitions and
variations, which constitute one of the main principles of symphonism, establish a lyrical
state.”
11
British radio presenter, essayist and composer Steve Race (1921-2009) is credited for
having invented the formula “Denham Concertos” that designates “piano-concerto like
pieces written for British films”, cf. among several occurrences: David Ades, on the
"Robert Farnon Society" website [online,
http://www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk/index.php/legends/peter-yorke, accessed June 7,
2017]. Also Michael Darvell, "British Light Classics" (October 30, 2007) [online,
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=5100, accessed May
25, 2017]
12
Pierre Berthomieu, “La musique de film” (2004), p. 47.
13
Ibid.
8
film(s). This way, they entered not only into the history of cinema, but also
into the history of 20th-century culture, since – with a dozen film concertos
and then with all their imitators – they created a new musical genre. The
American academic Yvan Raykoff writes:
“The perennial circulation of these classical and popular works via films and film-
music recordings, together with the many arrangements and popular song derivations of
their well-known melodies, have ensured the piano concerto’s place in the canon of
twenthieth-century popular culture.”14
14
Yvan Raykoff, “Concerto con amore: Relationship and Ritual in the Soundtrack Piano
Concerto” (2000), Part I, p. 1.
15
More precisely, two para Denham Concertos: the Rhapsody for Elizabeth (1952/8')
composed by Stanley Laudan (1912-1992/Pol/GB) & Gordon Rees (GB); the Queen Elizabeth
Concerto (1952/7') of Pete Alman (1901-1965/Ger/Den).
16
This work is often referred to as Concertino in order to avoid confusion with his Piano
Concerto No. 2 in three movements.
17
The Concerto populare (1956) is also titled Concerto to end all Piano Concertos. It has been
performed by various pianists since its premiere.
18
Yvan Raykoff, “Concerto con amore: Relationship and Ritual in the Soundtrack Piano
Concerto” (2000), Part V, pp. 6-7, note 123.
9
(often less) written in the post-romantic piano concertante tradition
personified by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943/Rus).
Nowadays, the tabloid concertos (the mini piano concertos written for
a film) are the only ones that interest cinema historians and film music
historians. However, they only constitute the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of
mini piano concertos have been composed and performed in different
countries, almost never getting public recognition. In our metaphore, they
constitute the great submerged part of the iceberg (see below). We have been
able to discover enough of them to establish the “First chronological (and
detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos” (see Chapter VI). There are no
doubt many more, since during the second half of the 20th century many
composers were nostalgic of the time when a romantic musical work could
reach a wide audience and constitute a significant social event.
The history of the mini piano concerto basically extends over half a
century, from the ’20s to the ’70s. During these decades, the mini piano
concerto can be divided into five subgenres:
1- tabloid concerto: short concertante work (not necessarily for piano19)
written for the cinema or arranged from film music.
2- simili tabloid concerto: short concertante work similar in style to the
tabloid concertos, but written outside of the cinema realm. This subgenre
represents the vast majority of the mini piano concertos, as our “Repertory”
shows.
3- Denham Concerto: short work for piano and orchestra written in a
broadly Rachmaninovian style for a film produced by the British studios
Denham, or their competitors, in the ’40-’50s. The Warsaw Concerto (1941/9'),
composed by Richard Addinsell (1904-1977/GB), launched – with resounding
success – this subgenre which immediately became the reference in terms of
mini piano concertos.
4- para Denham Concerto: short work for piano and orchestra written
in the style of a Denham Concerto, but outside of the cinema industry.
5- micro-concerto: concertante work lasting almost always less than four
minutes, which the recording industry classifies in Easy Listening. There has
been an important trend for this kind of work during the decades ’50 and
’60.
In Chapter VI, paragraph 3, we will see what the statistics of the “First
chronological (and detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos” tell us, but
for the moment, it is useful to represent visually the very unequal
19
There are several tabloid concertos for other concertante instruments, see Chapter IV,
paragraph 2.
10
quantitative distribution of the five subgenres of the mini piano concerto
(these results are based on the statistics of the “Repertory”):
In the diagram above, in order that the addition of the five percentages make a
total of 100, the tabloid concertos do not include the Denham Concertos (which
are, nonetheless, tabloid concertos, as explained in the remainder of this thesis)
and the simili tabloid concertos do not include the para Denham Concertos (which
are simili tabloid concertos). There is, therefore, a real total of 19.5% tabloid
concertos and 62.5% simili tabloid concertos.
John Huntley, author of the reference book “British Film Music” (1947;
reed. 1972), gives the following definition:
“A type of popular newspaper with small pages that has many pictures and short,
simple reports.”21
20
John Huntley, “British Film Music” (1947; reed. 1972), pp. 53-54.
21
Dictionary of Cambridge [online,
11
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
“A newspaper that is about half the page size of an ordinary newspaper and that
contains news in condensed form and much photographic matter.”22
“A newspaper having pages half the size of those of the average broadsheet, typically
popular in style and dominated by sensational stories.”23
12
A “mini piano concerto” is a one-movement work rarely exceeding 12
minutes25, often written in a neo-romantic style popularized by
Rachmaninoff and the Hollywood Golden Age.
The most famous ones have been composed for the cinema. Their
trend began in 1941 with Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto and
ended in 1970 with Francis Lai’s Love Story Theme.
25
Concerning the duration, see Chapter II “The Frontiers of a Musical Genre”.
26
Cyprien Katsaris, 1st prize at the 1974 Cziffra International Competition, made in 2014 a
remarkable adaptation/performance of the Warsaw Concerto (1941) by Richard Addinsell
(1904-1977/GB), based on the version for solo piano transcribed in 1942 by Henry Geehl
(1881-1961/GB).
27
E-mail sent to us by Mr. Katsaris on May 5, 2017.
13
during the opening ceremony of the Moscow Olympics in the ’80s.” This
great artist’s answer shows that the musical identity of the mini piano
concerto is almost always subject to discussion. Indeed, the two works
mentioned are not, strictly speaking, mini piano concertos. Certainly the
nine-minute duration of the Fantasia on Russian Themes by Russian composer
Anton Arensky (1861-1906), also known as Fantasy On Ryabinin’s Themes28,
perfectly suits the genre of the mini piano concerto. But because of its date
of composition – 1899 – this rhapsodic work belongs to the classical
repertoire, like all the fantasies and rhapsodies on popular themes written
throughout the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century.
As for the Piano Concerto by American composer Leroy Anderson (1908-
1975), mentioned by Mr. Katsaris, his writing indeed belongs to the musical
style that the Anglo-Saxons call Light Music29, which is logical since this
composer has always had the reputation to be one of its most eminent
representatives. However, his Piano Concerto (1953) lasts 20 minutes and is
cast in three movements; it therefore does not meet the criteria of being in
one movement and of having a duration that rarely exceeds 12 minutes.
28
Trofim Ryabinin (1791-1885) is “the last of a venerable line of bïlina singers from northern
Russia.”, Michael C. Tusa, National Traditions in Nineteenth-Century Opera, volume II: Central
and Easter Europe, The Ashgate Library of Essays in Opera Studies, Ed. Ashgate Publishing,
USA (2010), p. 347.
29
Famous film composer John Williams (b. 1932/USA) said that Leroy Anderson was “one
of the great American masters of light orchestral music”. Richard S. Ginell, Booklet of the
Naxos CD “Leroy Anderson, Orchestral Works, vol. 5” (8.559382).
14
The first three criteria derive from the three constants inherent in the
genre of the mini piano concerto, which we have indicated in paragraph 2:
“Mini piano concerto: trial definition”. The last four criteria allow us to leave
out of our domain countless short works that do not involve a really
concertante piano part, and countless short popular works for piano and
orchestra that have been arranged from pre-existing works.
Now, we have to check the relevance of each of these seven criteria,
which, when they are associated, delimit in the most effective way possible
the boundaries of the genre of the mini piano concerto.
15
CHAPTER II
30
Richard Ketelbey is, notably, the composer of the famous In a Persian Market (1920).
16
- Paulena Scherzo (c. 1947/3') by American Earl Lawrence (1908-?)
- Festival Scherzo (1951/4') by British Madeleine Dring (1923-1977)
- Capriccio for piano and orchestra (1955/8') by Dutch Cor de Groot (1914-
1993)
- Rondo-Burleske (1956/5') and Harlekinade (1957/5') by Austrian Arthur
Bornschein (?-?)
- Concert Caprice (c. 1960/4') and Piano mobile (c. 1960/3') by German
Heinz Kiessling (1926-2003)
- Gazellen, intermezzo (c. 1960/2') by Danish Julius Jacobsen (1915-1990)
- Piano Concerto No. 3 “Una fantasia” (1974/13') by French (of Uzbek
origin) André Hossein (1907-1983)
It should be noted here that there exists a “brilliant” work dating from
1852 that is often paired with mini piano concertos by the publishers of
anthological LPs and CDs: the Scherzo (7') from the Concerto symphonique No.
4 by British composer Henri Litolff (1818-1891). This recent habit is illogical
because Litolff’s Scherzo is a perfectly “classical” virtuoso piece from the
mid-19th century, and thus stylistically has nothing to do with our domain31.
The conciseness of a “classical” work, in the broad sense of this word, is
not a sufficient indication of its belonging to the genre of the mini piano
concerto. Consider, for example: The Night/Natten (1936/9') by Danish Poul
Schierbeck (1888-1949); the Piano Concerto (1942/12') by Italian Bruno
Maderna (1920-1973); the Piano Concerto (1945/10') and the Ballade (1955/14') by
Estonian Els Aarne (1917-1995); the Fantaisie concertante (1948/12') by French
Suzanne Joly (1914-2012); the Scherzo fantasque (1948/9') by Swiss-American
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959); the Nocturne (1950/8') by Spanish-Mallorcan Jaume
Mas Porcel (1909-1993); Fishing by Moonlight (1949-52/7') by British Robin
Milford (1903-1959); the Rhapsody (1952/10') by Spanish Manuel Oltra (1922-
2015); the Fantasy-Concerto (1956/12') by Georgian Meri (Mary) Davitashvili
(1924-2014); these are short piano concertante pieces32 that are certainly
borderline, but that we would be wrong to consider as belonging to our field
because their writing unambiguously links them to classical music, in the
broad sense of the term.
The difficulty of making a rigorous selection increases when the context
of the creation of a work lends itself to a mini piano concerto, while the style
31
Litolff’s Scherzo can be found in several records devoted to mini piano concertos, notably
in Concertos under the Stars (Capitol Records, 1959) and in Piano Classics from the Silver Screen
(Philips, 1990). Of course, we haven’t listed in our “Repertory” this concerto movement
dating from 1852.
32
Almost all the works mentioned in this thesis have been uploaded by us on YouTube (on
the channels collectionCB, collectionCB2, collectionCB3, collectionCB4 and
collectionCB5).
17
remains undefinable. This is notably the case of three pieces by the
American classical composer Roy Harris (1898-1979): the Concerto « Jamboree »
(1944/14'), commissioned by the jazz conductor Paul Whiteman (1890-
1967/USA); the Radio Piece (1946/5'); and the Fantasy for piano and orchestra
(1954/14'), performed by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Symphony Orchestra.
These are three concise concertante works at the crossroads of several
stylistic influences, without the popular spirit or the Hollywood style really
dominating – let us add, concerning the Radio Piece, that his writing is close
to film music as it was conceived in the ’40s, however the piano part is not
really concertante.
The difficulty increases even more when a “classical” composer
occasionally worked for the cinema. This is the case of Joaquin Turina (1882-
1949/Spa), who composed in 1931 a brilliant and suggestive Symphonic
Rhapsody (Rapsodia sinfónica) for piano and strings, which lasts 8 minutes.
This is also the case of Arnold Bax (1883-1953/GB), whose film scores are
highly appreciated33. His 8-minute concertante piece Morning Song, also
known as Maytime in Sussex, was written in 1947 to celebrate the twenty-first
birthday of Princess Elizabeth of England, who particularly appreciated mini
piano concertos34. And knowing that the pianist Harriet Cohen, who
premiered Morning Song, had already premiered in 1944 the Cornish Rhapsody
of British composer Hubert Bath (1883-1945) – which is one of the three most
famous Denham Concertos – we can logically ask ourselves: is Morning Song
a mini piano concerto? Once again the answer is negative because this work
is related to the pastoral tradition of English classical music. By the way, it is
common that composers working for the cinema industry do not wish to
write in the same style when they compose so-called “serious” works. This is
the case, for example, of French composer Georges Delerue (1925-1992), who
wrote his Concertino for piano and strings (1954/9') in a style that breaks with
the light romanticism that was his trademark in his film music, although he
kept his habit of writing “short” works.
It seems logical to think that composers specialized in film music or
Light Music necessarily make mini piano concertos when they write short
concertante works for piano… but this is far from always being the case. A
particularly significant example is Cascades to the Sea, a symphonic poem for
piano and orchestra (1944; rev. 1998/14') by the Canadian composer Robert
Farnon (1917-2005), who was one of the most prolific composers and one of
the most active conductors in the Light Music field35. Having composed two
33
In particular his music for the film Oliver Twist (1948), directed by British David Lean.
34
See Chapter IV, paragraph 3.
35
The website which brings together the biographies of all the composers who have
specialized in the Light Music field is titled “Robert Farnon Society”. Musicologist David
18
micro-concertos – Mid-Ocean (1954/4') and On the Seashore (1960/3') – Farnon
was a perfect candidate for writing a mini piano concerto. However, in spite
of its conciseness, Cascades to the Sea is a classical composition (in the broad
sense of the term) which joins the shores of Impressionism; it can be
considered as Robert Farnon’s tribute to the classical concert music of the
first half of the 20th century. Idem concerning the Minutenkonzert (1950/13') by
Dutch Cor de Groot (1914-1993), a composer whose Capriccio (1955/8') we
mentioned above. His Minutenkonzert – a title that could be translated by
“Concertante Minutes”, and not by “Miniature Concerto” as the musicologist
Maurice Hinson did36 – have the particularity to propose eleven concertante
miniatures (each lasting just a little over a minute), written in a style rather
similar to Symphonic Entertainment. However, because of this very unusual
form, we haven’t listed this work in the Repertory.
Ades, who wrote for the Grove Dictionary several articles related to the Light Music, was the
director of this website until his death.
36
Maurice Hinson, “Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide” Enlarged
Edition (1993), p. 117.
37
The exception that confirms the rule is the Piano Concerto in C minor (1958/3') of the
British David Rose (1910-1990). No doubt it must have been a kind of humorous willingness
to stand out, as David Rose was a star of Easy Listening.
19
However, Ferde Grofe’s Piano Concerto in D minor is also entitled New
England Concerto, as evidenced on pages 13 and 14 of the "Ferde Grofé
Collection" from the "Music Division of the Library of Congress".
It is reasonable to think that these composers wanted – with these
concertos – to free themselves from the constraints imposed by the cinema
world and by the “Symphonic Entertainment” realm, for which they worked.
It is understandable that they wished, while imitating the style and the spirit
of the tabloid concertos, to go beyond their traditional duration.
Or in one movement:
20
- Piano Concerto (1938) by American Robert Palmer (1915-2010): 12'
- Western Star Concerto (1957) by American Linda Babits (b. 1940): 12'
- Piano Concerto (1958) by Canadian Bruce Mather (b. 1939): 7'
- Piano Concerto (1963) by Latvian Romualds Grinblats (1930-1995): 14'
- Piano Concerto (1968) by American Morris Cotel (1943-2008): 10'
- Piano Concerto (1972) by Uzbek Rustam Abdullayev (b. 1947): 11'
- Concerto piccolo (1975) by German Karl-Heinz Pick (1929-2009): 8'
- Piano Concerto in One Movement (1977) by Japanese Teruyuki Noda (b.
1940): 11'
- Piano Concerto No. 1 (1977) by Ukrainian Miroslav Skoryk (b. 1938): 12'
- Piano Concerto “Towards a Yearning” (1977) by Norwegian Oistein
Sommerfeldt (1919-1994): 12'
- Piano Concerto No. 1 (1977) by Belgian Daniel Capelletti (b. 1958): 12'
- Piano Concerto (1978) by Polish Boleslaw Szabelski (1896-1979): 7'
- Piano Concerto (1986) by Belgian Auguste Verbesselt (1919-2012): 13'
The conciseness of these concertos, and the fact that some of them are
in one movement, are of course not enough to count them as mini piano
concertos, firstly because of their date of composition (for the oldest of
them), and more generally because of their typically classical style, in the
broad sense of this term. However, the duration is a criterion which must be
taken into account because, as the statistics of our “Repertory” show (see
Chapter VI), the average duration of a mini piano concerto is 7 minutes (353
works listed for a total of 2503 minutes). A duration far below the average
duration of a classical concerto, which, in the absence of reliable statistics,
can reasonably be circumscribed around 20 minutes. Let us also note that in
the expression “mini piano concerto” (this also applies to “Denham
Concerto” and “tabloid concerto”) the term “concerto” is not to be taken in
its usual sense. The words “rhapsody”38 or “concert piece”39 would often be
better suited to what these short pieces really are (even concerning the
longest of them, whose duration can reach fifteen minutes). Actually the
word “concerto” is given mainly for prestige. The American musicologist
Jack Sullivan reports about the Spellbound Concerto (1946/12') by Miklos Rozsa
(1907-1995/Hun/USA) that Jerome Kern, then director of Chappell Music
Publishing, wanted to edit:
“When Rozsa, who was frequently dismayed by Hollywood gaucheness, protested
that ‘it’s not a concerto’, Kern said, ‘Oh never mind that! The word concerto had sex
38
The term “rhapsody” is undoubtedly the second most used term in the titles of the mini
piano concertos. See the statistics of the “First Repertory” (Chapter VI).
39
Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, German composers willingly use the term “Konzertstück”
(“concert piece”).
21
appeal, and that’s what he intended to call "Spellbound"’. Rozsa let Kern have his way and
call his piece a concerto.”40
22
publisher released, under the title “Piano Schloss Concerto Series”, a
collection of eighteen volumes of scores and fourteen CDs which gathers
“Concertos for Children” (several of which in one movement) specially
written for the occasion by recent composers, most of them being Japanese
and Polish.
The ontological difference between mini piano concertos and
“Concertos for Children” is therefore in their respective artistic conceptions:
the first ones are written in a spectacular and Hollywoodian style; the last
ones, targetted towards a more specific audience, have an obvious
pedagogical purpose. Only their short duration could superficially make
them look alike.
At last, concerning the classical concertinos with a duration equal to the
mini piano concertos – for example the Concertino (1924/11') by Swiss Arthur
Honegger (1892-1955), the Concertino (1927/15') by Australian Arthur Benjamin
(1893-1960), the Concertino (1954/11') by British Gordon Jacob (1895-1984), the
Concertino in E major for piano and strings (1955/10') by British Robin Milford
(1903-1959) or the Concertino (1977/13') by Swiss Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud
(1912-1988) – their style(s) and the context of their composition place them
without contest in the classical music field, as for the concertos mentioned
above.
Is the duration of a composition intrinsic to its nature, and does it
define its membership in a specific musical genre? Composers question
themselves. Thus, French composer Nicolas Bacri (b. 1961) wonders whether
his Symphony No. 6 (1998)42, which lasts 12 minutes, is a symphony in the
traditional meaning of this word43. Certainly other composers have written,
before him, very short orchestral pieces entitled symphonies:
23
- Danish Rued Langgaard (1893-1952): Symphony No. 11 (1945): 8'
- Polish Roman Palester (1907-1989): Symphony No. 4 (1948): 8'
- American Howard Swanson (1907-1978): Short Symphony (1948): 11'
- Romanian Mihail Andricu (1894-1974): Symphony No. 3 (1949): 11'
- American Louis Scarmolin (1890-1969): Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia breve”
(1952): 10'
- Chilean Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt (1925-2010): Symphony No. 1 (1955):
12'
- Latvian Gederts Ramans (1927-1999): Symphony No. 1 (1957): 13'
- Israelian Josef Tal (1910-2008): Symphony No. 2 (1960): 12'
- Dutch Herman Mulder (1894-1989): Symphony No. 7 (1963): 12'
- Chilean Tomas Lefever (1926-2003): Symphony No. 1 (1964): 7'
- British Havergal Brian (1876-1972): Symphony No. 22 (1965): 9'
- Australian Carl Vine (b. 1954): MicroSymphony (1986): 11'
- Latvian Arturs Grinups (1931-1999): Symphony No. 9 (1989): 12'
44
For example, when Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957/Aut) arranged the tabloid
concerto for cello and orchestra which he had written for the film “Deception” (Irving
Rapper, 1946) as a classical concert piece, he respected the spirit but extended the duration
by about five minutes (from 8 to 13 minutes).
24
a touch of “glamour”45. For Philip Lane, a prolific English arranger working
in the cinema and Light Music fields:
“With the possible exception of the violin, the piano would seem to have the most
demonstrative voice for the film composer faced with the sizzling emotional température of
high drama, enabling him to convey both romantic flair and subtle character nuance
through the broad canvas of the instrument’s sonorities.”46
25
Shilkret and which has been frequently performed since then49. It is a
perfect example of the Broadway/Hollywood style in which George Gershwin
made his mark, but in the Manhattan Serenade the piano part is not important
enough. It should be noted that the symphonic jazz compositions of the ’30s
often include a piano in their instrumentation, but it rarely makes them mini
piano concertos because the piano solos are no more preponderant than
those of other instruments. This is the case, in Germany, of Alaska, Jazz
Symphonic Impressions (1938/6') by Friedrich Wilhelm Rust (1902-1972) and, in
the United States, of several works performed by the Paul Whiteman
Concert Orchestra, including the Midnight Reflections (1927/4') by Matt
Malneck (1904-1981). This is also the case of the Park Avenue Fantasy (1933/5')
by the same Matt Malneck (written with the collaboration of Frank Signorelli,
1901-1975/USA), which does not have enough piano; however, in 1945
Canadian Robert Farnon (1917-2005), prolific composer of Light Music and
author of two micro-concertos50 – or one of the members of his arrangers
team51 – transformed this work into a simili tabloid concerto, which was
performed by pianist Denny Vaughan. The piece Deep Purple (1934/5') by
American composer Peter de Rose (1900-1953), which is on the B side of the
vinyl featuring the Park Avenue Fantasy, can be considered a mini piano
concerto as it begins and ends with a virtuoso piano solo, a characteristic
element of the future tabloid concertos. One more clue: the name of the
pianist (Dana Suesse) is indicated, unlike those of other musicians who play
a short solo in the work. The composer and pianist Dana Suesse (1909-
1987/USA), who worked with Paul Whiteman (1890-1967/USA), was
nicknamed “the Girl Gershwin”52. Since we have mentioned Dana Suesse,
she has composed several Hollywood-inspired symphonic jazz pieces with
piano, but outside of our field, like, for example, her American Nocturne
(1941/4'). The same can be said of the countless composers who have written
short concertante pieces in pure jazz style, such as Vernon Duke (1903-
1969/Rus/USA) with his American Arabesque (1941/3').
The border is just as narrow in the field of film music. In 1952 Al
Goodman (1890-1972/USA) arranged the main themes composed by Miklos
Rozsa (1907-1995/Hun/USA) for “The Lost Weekend” (Billy Wilder, 1945) into
49
The Manhattan Serenade is notably used in an arrangement by Scott Bradley (1891-
1977/USA) in the cartoon "Mouse in Manhattan" (1945) of the Tom and Jerry franchise. The
composer and arranger Morton Gould (1913-1996/USA) conducted the work in 1958.
50
Mid-Ocean (1954/5') and On the Seashore/Seashore (1960/3').
51
Musicologist David Ades writes about Robert Farnon’s arrangement of the Park Avenue
Fantasy: “[…] it may have been the work of Dick Misener, or possibly one of the regular
team of arrangers which included Gary Hughes and Tony Braden.” [online,
https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/GL5184.pdf, accessed July 28, 2017]
52
Cf., among a hundred other sources, The New Yorker, December 16, 1933, p. 12 [online,
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1933/12/16/girl-gershwin, accessed July 23, 2017]
26
a short one-movement piece. However, although Al Goodman adds a piano
part to the original score, he does not use it as a concertante instrument, but
only at the beginning and at the end of the piece.
The necessity for a work to have a concertante piano part in order to be
a mini piano concerto also arises concerning the micro-concertos of Easy
Listening. Although the labels have “imposed” a maximum duration of less
than four minutes, it is still possible for a composer to provide a relatively
concertante role for the piano, often even with a small cadenza. But not all
micro-concertos are written this way, and therefore some of them cannot be
included. This is the case, for example, of the Rhapsody to the Rockies (publ.
1966/3') by Edmond De Luca (1909-2004/USA), who also composed two real
micro-concertos53. Idem concerning the Starlight Rhapsody (c. 1960/5'), the
Rhapsody D’Amour (c. 1960/7') and Capitol City by Starlight (Washington
Concerto) (c. 1960/3') by Joseph Francis Kuhn (1924-1962/USA), also composer
of the Manhattan Rhapsody (c. 1960/5') and of the Midnight Rhapsody (c.
1960/7'), two works which have a more concertante piano part and are mini
piano concertos.
53
Lone Star Concerto (c. 1945; publ. 1966/3') and Motor City Concerto (publ. 1966/3').
54
Cf. Christine Bini’s article: “Dans le film de Bertrand Blier, Préparez vos mouchoirs, sorti
en 1977, il est question de Mozart. Il n’est même question que de lui.” “Bertrand Blier’s
film, Préparez vos mouchoirs, released in 1977, is about Mozart. It’s even only about him.”
[online,
http://lalectricealoeuvre.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2013/01/24/mozart-schubert-bertrand-
blier-et-la-chair-de-depardieu.html, accessed July 27, 2017]
55
This concerto was orchestrated with the help of the Thai Somtow Sucharitkul (b. 1952).
27
and orchestra by French Saint-Preux (b. 1950), which are written in a post-
romantic, but non-cinematic (let alone Hollywood-inspired), style, with the
exception of his Rachmaninovian piano concerto in G minor Il y a sur la
Terre (1991/6') that we have consequently included in the “Repertory”. It is
not the same concerning his Concerto pour piano en la bémol (1977/5') or La
Tourmente, allegro (1994/3'), among his numerous other short pieces. In these
latter examples, the border between short popular concertante pieces and
mini piano concertos is narrow.
56
American Frank Skinner’s film scores often include a piano part. As he was specialized
in sentimental dramas (Skinner was the official composer of Douglas Sirk’s melodramas), a
touch of piano naturally exacerbated the romanticism of his scores. But, to our knowledge,
Skinner never wrote a true mini piano concerto.
28
- Main Title of “Two Weeks in Another Town” (Vincente Minelli, 1962),
composed by David Raksin (1912-2004/USA).
In France, we can mention the Main Title of “La Vérité sur Bébé
Donge” (Henri Decoin, 1952), composed by Jean-Jacques Grunenwald (1911-
1982), as well as the Main Title of "L’Etrange Monsieur Serge" (Raymond
Bailly, 1957), written by Philippe-Girard (1924-2014).
Lasting two or three minutes, all these Main Titles (and hundreds of
others) could have given substance to a tabloid concerto if the scenario of the
film had allowed it.
To measure what separates a Main Title with piano from a true tabloid
concerto, we must study the case of the film “Crescendo” (1970) directed by
British Alan Gibson. This film was conceived so that the spectator can hear
an entire tabloid concerto composed by Malcolm Williamson (1931-
2003/Aus/GB): we discover it during the Main Title, and then we continue to
listen to it during the first minutes of the film while we see the heroine
inside a chauffeur-driven car, going to an isolated villa where most of the
film will take place. We understand, in the course of the movie, that the
work we heard during the journey of the car carrying the heroine is the
piano concerto written by a mysterious composer recently deceased about
whom the heroine (a young student in American music) wants to write her
thesis. Thanks to this trick, this tabloid concerto – which lasts 4'30 – leaves
the strict framework of a Main Title to become consubstantial with the film
narration. It embellishes the journey by car and sets up the sunny
atmosphere of the beginning of the film, making a sharp contrast with the
continuation of the story since “Crescendo” is a production of the Hammer
Film Productions, specialized in scary or horrifying films57.
Many film scores contain one or more pieces with piano. For example,
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957/Aut/USA) composed for the film
“Between Two Worlds” (Edward A. Blatt, 1944) a two-minute piece abusively
entitled Piano Rhapsody. Among many other pieces that can be confusing, let
us mention the Love Theme with piano written by Benjamin Frankel (1906-
1973/GB) for the film “The Net” (Anthony Asquith, 1953); the Love Theme
with piano that Ennio Morricone (b. 1928/Ita) composed for the film “Cinema
Paradiso” (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988) which in 2015 became a concert piece
with an augmented piano part58; the Elegy for piano and strings (1998/5')
57
Two other productions of the Hammer, “Stolen Face” (Terence Fisher, 1952) and “Kiss of
the Vampire” (Don Sharp, 1963), also include tabloid concertos: A Stolen Face: Ballade (8')
by Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006/GB) and the Vampire Rhapsody (7') by James Bernard (1925-
2001/GB).
58
Love Theme for piano and string orchestra, from “Cinema Paradiso” (1988). Pianist:
Marina Seltenreich, LGT Young Soloists, conductor: Alexander Gilman. The arranger’s
29
composed by Alla Pavlova (b. 1952/Ukr/USA) to be the Main Title of the
never-made film “The American Healys” and which is now an independent
classical work. But none of these concertante pieces presents the four
characteristics of a tabloid concerto:
- Rachmaninovian lyricism of the piano writing,
- glamour of the Hollywood-like orchestration,
- almost constant dramatization,
- sequential construction (juxtaposition of highlights).
To this observation, we can add the argument that a tabloid concerto,
because of its very nature as a bridge between classical writing (in the
broadest sense of the term) and cinematographic writing, is necessarily
something more than a mere piece with piano extracted from a soundtrack,
even in the case of Elmer Bernstein’s Pursuit (5'), composed for Vincente
Minnelli’s film “Some Came Running” (1958). Without any doubt the writing
of Pursuit is Hollywoodian, but – once again – it is only a piece that features
piano in its orchestration, not a mini piano concerto, let alone a tabloid
concerto.
30
The same can be said of the concertante arrangements of film themes,
which also proliferated. Among the film themes frequently arranged for
piano and orchestra, we find:
62
The original song was arranged with vocals for the needs of the 1942 animated film
“Saludos Amigos” from Walt Disney Studios, and in 1943, still with vocals, for Busby
Berkeley’s film “The Gang’s All Here”.
63
E-mail that Mr. Philippe Cathé sent us on February 17, 2017.
31
concerto is open to discussion. In this highly virtuoso cinematic version, the
Donkey Serenade is actually an arrangement made by Axel Stordahl (1913-
1963/USA) – one of the orchestrators of the film’s music – of a piano piece
titled Chanson (1918) composed by Rudolf Friml (1879-1972/Ger), soon
orchestrated by Adolf Minot (18??-19??/USA). In 1937 the Donkey Serenade had
already been arranged into a song by composer Herbert Stothart (1885-
1949/USA) for the musical film “The Firefly” directed by Robert Z.
Leonard64.
We can also mention the concertante piece composed by Marvin
Hamlisch (1944-2012/USA) for the film “The Way We Were” (Sidney Pollack,
1973). Written in a very Hollywoodian style and lasting 3', this piece also
originates from a song, performed during the Main Title of the film by the
singer Barbra Streisand.
We finish with one last characteristic example: I Got Rhythm by George
Gershwin (1898-1937/USA). This famous theme was written in 1928 for the
musical “Treasure Girl”. In 1930 it became a song, with lyrics by Ira
Gershwin. Nowadays I Got Rhythm is best known for the set of variations for
piano and orchestra that George Gershwin composed in 1934. Certainly the
9-minute duration of the Variations on I Got Rhythm is identical to that of
many mini piano concertos; however, the very genre of the theme and
variations is specific to so-called “classical” music65. Thus, we must not count
this brilliant piece as a mini piano concerto, despite the personality of its
composer, unlike the Rhapsody in Rivets/Manhattan Rhapsody (9') that
Gershwin composed for David Butler’s film “Delicious” (1931) (see Chapter
IV, paragraph 1), and which became a concert work, in a revised and
extended version, under the title Second Rhapsody (1932/14').
The seven criteria we selected allow the genre of the mini piano
concerto to be separated from all sorts of piano-and-orchestra pieces that the
film industry and the recording industry, on the one hand, and the
independent composers, on the other, have produced in such large numbers
and in contexts so varied that it is often difficult to make a separation as
rigorous as it must be.
64
In Robert Z. Leonard’s film, the Donkey Serenade is sung by Alan Jones.
65
American musicologist Steve Elman writes about this work: “This isn’t a concerto, but
it’s not exactly a typical theme-and-variations piece either. Each of the variations is actually
a slow prelude followed by a variation, usally in a brighter tempo.” in “Chronology of Jazz-
Influenced Piano Concertos and Related Works, compiled by Steve Elman” (2005) p. 10.
Pdf online:
http://artsfuse.org/downloads/JIPC-Overall_chronology-4.pdf, accessed August 2, 2017]
32
CHAPTER III
66
The complete catalog is available on the website of Hyperion Records [online,
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/s.asp?s=S_1, accessed September 2, 2017]
67
See in particular Chapter V: The Denham Concertos, the must of the tabloid concertos.
33
a whole line of concertante works that will retain Grieg’s spectacular68 way of
expressing lyrical feelings: a non-academic lyricism that, almost a century
later, will be at the heart of what will be called “Denham Concertos”. It is
significant that the American producers of “Song of Norway” (Andrew L.
Stone, 1970), a film that romances Grieg’s life, asked Roland Shaw (1920-
2012/GB), then musical director of DECCA, to arrange the Piano Concerto in A
minor in a kind of ten-minute Denham Concerto69.
In 1882 Grieg sketched three themes for a Piano Concerto No. 2 in B
minor that he never composed. It is interesting to note that in 1997 the Oslo
Grieg Society organized its Third International Competition for Composers
on the theme “‘re-imagine’ Grieg’s second concerto”, for which the
contestants had to write a work for piano and orchestra based on Grieg’s
sketches70. Among the participants, Vladimir Belyayev (b. 1948/Rus) proposed
a Piano Concerto No. 2 based on Grieg’s sketches for a Concerto in B minor (15')
conceived in the spirit of a tabloid concerto and written in a style close to a
Denham Concerto. He did not win the competition71, but Belyayev’s choice
is, from our point of view, quite logical since the filiation born of the
innovative style of Grieg in his A minor concerto has historically resulted in
the Denham Concertos.
It is not surprising that we consider as a precursor – if we are allowed
to use this term – Piotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893/Rus), whose introduction to
his Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor (1875) is, in a sense, the first micro-
concerto ever72. Musicologists have difficulty explaining this
introduction/overture of about four minutes, written in a different key (D-flat
major) from the rest of the work, and whose main theme, both grandiose and
glamorous73, is never played again during all the rest of this concerto, which
68
“Spectacular” in the meaning used by French composer Thierry Escaich (b. 1965), who
entitled a CD containing several of his improvisations on the organ: “Improvisations:
Organ Spectacular” (Accord, 2008).
69
We haven’t listed the tabloid concerto arranged by Roland Shaw in the “First Repertory”
because it is based on a pre-existing work (cf. Chapter II, criterion n°7: a mini piano
concerto is not an arrangement of a work from the classical repertoire, or of a theme from
film music, or of a popular song…)
70
Cf. the presentation texts written by two participants of the competition: Belgian Laurent
Beeckmans: http://www.grieg.be/artConcertobminor.htm
and Norwegian Helge Evju:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0134/6772/files/Evju_Concerto_Introduction.pdf
71
The first prize of the 1997 Oslo Grieg Society International Competition for Composers
was awarded to Italian Alberto Colla for his Piano Concerto No. 1 basato su frammenti e schizzi
incompiuti di E. Grieg (19'), written in a resolutely modernist style.
72
The micro-concerto is a concertante work that almost always lasts less than four minutes,
which the recording industry classifies in Easy Listening.
73
Let us recall what the Wiktionary says about the word glamour: “Alluring beauty or
charm (often with sex appeal)” [online, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour, accessed
34
lasts almost forty minutes. The historian of Russian music Francis Maes
notes that, because of its independence from the rest of the work, the
introduction has long been an enigma to analysts and critics. Is it sacrilege to
think that this section is a small work in itself and that it prefigures the
concept of a Main Title? At least we can observe that this introduction
became a real “hit” in the field of popular music: it has been arranged in all
ways and, as a stand-alone piece, it has established itself as the perfect
pattern of the micro-concerto.
In the opinion of musicologists, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943/Rus) is
one of the composers who, with his four piano concertos74, has best
embodied post-romantic writing. His second piano concerto (1901) became so
emblematic of the 20th century musical romanticism that the cinema used it
several times75, in particular in the English film “Brief Encounter” (David
Lean, 1945) whose success was largely due to the osmosis between music and
melodramatic scenography. The frequent use in the film of the most
memorable sections (the “highlights”) of this concerto has caused this work,
in the memory of the spectators, to be transformed into a tabloid concerto.
The price of success, the various themes of this concerto have been arranged
several times in mini piano concertos, and even in songs76. But as early as
1891, with the 1st movement of his first piano concerto, Rachmaninoff
anticipated the style of the future Denham Concertos, inspired by the
spectacular writing of Grieg’s concerto. For the American musicologist
Jeremy Norris:
“The initial idea of composing the Concerto in F-sharp minor probably occurred
while Rachmaninoff was spending his summer holidays on the Satins’ country estate,
Ivanovka, in 1890. There he heard, on an almost daily basis, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A
minor, as his cousin Alexander Siloti was practicing it in preparation for forthcoming
concerts. The influence of Grieg’s Concerto imprints itself not only on Rachmaninoff’s
piano style but also substantially on the principal musical ideas of the new concerto.”77
July 24, 2017]. The Dictionary of Cambridge gives as a common use of this word: “Who can
resist the glamour of Hollywood?” [online,
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/fr/dictionnaire/anglais/glamour, accessed July 24, 2017]
74
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s four piano concertos: No. 1 in F-sharp minor, op. 1 (1891); No. 2 in C
minor, op. 18 (1901); No. 3 in D minor, op. 30 (1909); No. 4 in G minor, op. 40 (1926).
75
We can hear excerpts of Piano Concerto No. 2 in many movies, including “I’ve always
loved you” (Frank Borzage, 1946), “The Seven Year Itch” (Billy Wilder, 1955) and “The
World of Henry Orient” (George Roy Hill, 1964).
76
These include Full Moon and Empty Arms (1945), sung by Frank Sinatra, and All By Myself
(1976) by pop singer Eric Carmen.
77
Jeremy Norris, “The Russian Piano Concerto: The nineteenth century, Volume 1”, 1994,
p. 100.
35
(Andante cantabile) – which lasts just three minutes – was immediately
performed as a stand-alone piece; because of its memorable theme, it gained
a kind of Hollywood status. Variation n°18, used in many films78, became the
unsurpassed model of composers who wrote micro-concertos (mainly in the
USA during the 1950s and 1960s).
The Russian composer Georgy Catoire (1861-1926), today almost
forgotten, was far from imagining that the 4-minute introduction (Moderato,
con entusiasmo – Dramatico – cadenza) and the 3-minute conclusion (Tempo
del comincio, maestoso) of his Piano Concerto in A-flat major (1909) – these
two sections sharing the same thematic material can almost be considered as
a single section, separated by the rest of the concerto which is thematically
different – would form a perfect Denham Concerto. A statement shared by
music critic Don O’Connors:
“Although very much in the grand line of Rachmaninoff concertos, the music rarely
sounds Russian. […] The conclusion recaps the theme from I in a blaze of glory.”79
“The Catoire adopts the Rachmaninoff style of concerto-writing, in both style and
manner, with big, splashy piano textures against expansive orchestral lines […]”80.
78
Variation n°18 was used, in particular, in “The Story of Three Loves” (Vincente Minelli,
1953), in “Rhapsody” (Charles Widor, 1954), in “Somewhere in Time” (Jeannot Szwarc,
1980)…
79
Don O’Connor, review published on American Record Guide, August 2012 [online,
http://hiroakitakenouchi.com/2012/08/american-record-guide-2/, accessed July 20, 2017]
80
Martin Anderson, review published in International Record, June 2012 [online,
http://hiroakitakenouchi.com/2012/06/international-record-review-2/, accessed August 12,
2017]
81
Comment of the anglophone music lover [online, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgy-
Catoire-Concerto-Sherwood-1932-33/dp/B007G8PDU6, accessed August 12, 2017]
82
Comment of the francophone music lover [online,
https://www.amazon.fr/Georgy-Catoire-Percy-Sherwood-Concertos/dp/B01K8LYR3G,
accessed August 12, 2017]
36
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) was Rachmaninoff’s teacher at the
time when the latter was writing his first piano concerto. With the 1st
movement (13') of his own Piano Concerto No. 1 (1911), Glazunov wrote what
would be, if we don’t take into account its date of composition, a Denham
Concerto. This first movement is a kind of stand-alone piece since the
second movement is a Theme and variations. The two main themes of this 1st
movement fit so well with the musical style of the Hollywood Golden Age
that in 1954 they were arranged in the form of a micro-concerto83. Although
Glazunov’s work is not particularly famous in the United States, the arranger
Michael Fredericks certainly thought that this concerto was perfectly suited.
Another composer anticipates the style of the Denham Concertos: the
Ukrainian-Austrian of Polish origin Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952). About his
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major (1912) – in particular its first two
movements (Allegro deciso, 13'; Andante sostenuto, 6') – music critic John
France writes:
“[…] It has all the hallmarks of Hollywood. […] The Bortkiewicz Concerto in B-flat –
film music in all but name. I suppose parts of it remind me of the "greatest" work that
Rachmaninoff did not actually write – the Warsaw Concerto.”84
83
Michael Fredericks: Concerto Theme (1954/3'). An extremely short duration imposed by the
Easy Listening industry.
84
Detailed review by John France published on MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Aug01/Winding.htm, accessed
August 12, 2017]
85
Jeremy Nicholas, booklet of the CD “The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol. 4”, 1993
(Hyperion Records 66624).
86
The famous music of Victor Fleming’s 1939 film “Gone with the Wind” was the work of
Max Steiner, an Austrian-born composer who emigrated to the USA in 1914.
37
Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974), now considered one of Sweden’s major
composers, composed in 1929 a 13-minute concertante piece entitled
Konsertstycke, which was performed as such. In 1936 this piece became the
first movement of his Piano Concerto in B-flat minor. For music critic David
Hurwitz:
“Take the first movement of the Piano Concerto – a brief nod toward the famous
opening of the Grieg – and we’re off to the races with what sounds like the Warsaw
Concerto on steroids.”87
87
David Hurwitz, on the website classicstoday [online,
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-3148/, accessed August 27, 2017]
88
Will Crutchfield, music critic for the New York Times [online,
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/09/arts/concert-latvian-composers.html, accessed August
26, 2017]
89
It is interesting to note that the most suggestive sections of Claude Debussy’s works have
often been used in Hollywood movies. For example, Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979/Rus/USA)
and Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975/USA) arranged parts of various compositions by Debussy
to constitute the entirety of the soundtrack of “Portrait of Jeannie” (William Dieterlee,
1948).
90
The date 1959 is also often mentioned, in particular in William Ander Smith, “The
Mystery of Leopold Stokowski” (1990), p. 207. However, we decided to choose 1957 because
it is the date indicated on the official website of the conductor, which is very precise and
well documented [online,
http://www.stokowski.org/Stokowski_Discography_1941-1959.htm, accessed May 24, 2018]
38
concerto written in the usual three-movement form (10'/6'/8') whose style
also anticipates the mini piano concerto.
Young French composer Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) wrote a Fantaisie
pour piano et orchestre (1912/20') in three linked movements, whose first two
parts (lasting fifteen minutes), form a sort of fragmented and evocative
tabloid concerto where highlights follow each other (the work was first
entitled Fantaisie variée). In the music review Le Ménestrel, critic Amédée
Boutarel wrote:
“Au point de vue mélodique, les idées sont jolies, agréables et non dépourvues
parfois de vivacité entraînante. L’orchestration paraît excellente ; elle laisse apercevoir une
tendance heureuse à employer les cuivres, non sans une certaine insistance, pour des effets
moelleux dans le pianissimo.”91
“From the melodic point of view, the ideas are pretty, pleasant and sometimes not
devoid of lively vivacity. The orchestration seems excellent; it reveals a happy tendency to
use the brass section, not without some insistence, for obtaining mellow pianissimo
effects.”
The Allegro for piano and orchestra (1915/10') by Dutch Willem Pijper
(1894-1947), nowadays better known under the curious title Orchestral Piece
with piano, has a very fragmented structure which provides many contrasts,
as if the work was intended to depict the highlights of a dramatic story.
In 1917 Portuguese composer Luis de Freitas Branco (1890-1955) wrote
a Balada for piano and orchestra (13') which clearly announces the style of the
tabloid concertos. Is this composition already indicative of the interest that
Freitas Branco will take in film music as early as 1931?92
In 1919 Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923) composed, with
her Phantasie concertante (14'), the first work, historically speaking, to be a
tabloid concerto, both stylistically and structurally. This opinion is shared by
music critic Bob McQuiston:
“A delightful romantic wallow, it anticipates the likes of Hekel Tavares’ (1896-1969)
Concerto in Brazilian Forms (1936), Richard Addinsell’s (1904-1977) Warsaw Concerto (1941),
and Sir Hubert Bath’s (1883-1945) Cornish Rhapsody (1944).”93
91
Musical review Le Ménestrel, February 15, 1913, n°4273 (79th year, n°7), p. 5 (section “Revue
des Grands Concerts”) [online,
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56159271/f5.item, accessed September 4, 2017]
92
Freitas Branco wrote the score of the documentary “Douro, Faina fluvial” (1931) directed
by Manoel de Oliveira. He composed the music of at least five films including “Gado
Bravo” (Lopes Ribeiro, 1934).
93
Review by Bob McQuiston, “Pejacevic”, on “Classical Lost and Found” [online,
http://www.clofo.com/Newsletters/C110622.htm, accessed August 19, 2017]
39
1985/Pol/USA), Rebekah (Betty) Harkness (1915-1982/USA), Antoinette (Toni)
Mineo (b. 1926/USA), Teresa Procaccini (b. 1934/Ita)…
Bulgaria’s most famous composer and concert pianist, Pancho
Vladigerov (1899-1978), deserves a special place in the list of the precursors.
Vladigerov is undoubtedly one of the composers who wrote the most
powerful and dramatic piano concertos ever – they announce, at the end of
World War I, what the music of the melodramas of the Hollywood Golden
Age was to be. As his biographer Boriana Buckles points out, the young
“Pancho also admired the music of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, and
especially Rachmaninoff. According to his mother, he planned to study in Russia with
either Glazunov or Rachmaninoff […]”94.
94
Boriana Buckles, “The Significance of selected piano compositions by Pancho
Vladigerov, a Monograph”, Louisiana State University (2004), p. 11.
95
Cited and translated into English by Boriana Buckles in “The Significance of selected
piano compositions by Pancho Vladigerov, a Monograph” (2004), p. 17.
96
Music critic Lorenzo Ciavarini Azzi writes about Vladigerov’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (1921):
“Quant aux parties lentes de l’œuvre, elles font voyager les auditeurs jusqu’à Hollywood,
rappelant les mélodies nostalgiques des films de Charlie Chaplin” “As for the slow parts of
the work, they make listeners travel to Hollywood, recalling the nostalgic melodies of
Charlie Chaplin’s films.” [online, http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/opera-
classique/musique-classique/roussev-interprete-vladigerov-et-sibelius-fire-and-ice-un-son-
venu-de-l-est-227835, accessed July 7, 2017]. This anticipatory similarity with what will
become the musical style of the Hollywood Golden Age can also be found, just as clearly,
in Vladigerov’s Three Impressions for orchestra (1920), Traumspiel Suite (1924) and Symphony
No. 1 (1939), among other orchestral works.
40
The Russian-American composer and pianist Leo Ornstein (1893-2002)
invented in his 1921 Piano Concerto a dark, “scary”, violent style which was to
reign about thirty years later in the music of Hollywood’s film noir.
The Concertante Piece (1926/6') by Slovak composer Eugen Suchon
(1908-1993) occupies a special place among the works we discuss. We do not
know the genesis of this composition, performed only very recently97. It is
therefore not possible to know what Suchon’s intentions were, at age
eighteen, when he composed it. But we can see the audacity of his writing:
while based on a mainly Lisztian style, there is not the slightest note that
does not show a sense of urgency, as if, in his passion, the young Suchon
systematically modernized what he learned from his masters and amused
himself to divert the listener. The juxtaposition of highlights in a work of
only six minutes, complemented by many stylistic shortcuts, makes this
Concertante Piece the forerunner of the tabloid concertos. And, by its extreme
brevity, this work anticipates the tabloid concerto of a similar duration which
Bronislaw Kaper (1902-1983/USA) arranged from Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto
No. 1 (1851) for the film “Schumann’s Love Song” (Clarence Brown, 1947)98.
In Ukraine, Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938) wrote in 1928 a Piano Concerto
in C minor in which the direct connection between the Rachmaninovian style
and the Denham Concertos is particularly evident in the first movement
(20'), which is the only movement composed by Kosenko – the other two
having been completed/arranged after his death99. In this concerto, where we
can hear one of Rachmaninoff’s famous idioms, the young Kosenko
frequently anticipates the style of the Denham Concertos100.
In France, Cyrnos, symphonic poem for piano and orchestra (18'),
composed in 1929 by Henri Tomasi (1901-1971/Fra), is written in a post-
rachmaninovian idiom which is already the one of the Denham Concertos of
the ’40s. Henri Tomasi, who also composed film scores from 1938 onwards,
explains in his program note:
97
Eugen Suchon, Concertante Piece (1926), premiered around 2010 by Tomas Nemec and the
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario Kosik.
98
We have not listed the tabloid concerto arranged by Bronislaw Kaper in the “First
Repertory” because it is based on a pre-existing work (cf. Chapter II, criterion n°7: a mini
piano concerto is not an arrangement of a work from the classical repertoire, or of a theme
from film music, or of a popular song…)
99
In addition to the Allegro movement of Kosenko’s concerto, Ukrainian composers Levko
Revutsky (1889-1977) and Heorhiy (Georgiy) Maiboroda (1913-1992) added an Andante con
moto and an Allegro moderato, without any connection to the style of the tabloid
concertos.
100
In 1935 Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938) composed the music for Arnold Kordyum’s film “The
Last Port”.
41
“Cyrnos exprime les sentiments personnels de l’auteur qui tressaille au souvenir de
son pays [la Corse]…”101
“Cyrnos expresses the personal feelings of the author who shudders at the memory
of his land [Corsica]…”
But, apart from this specificity, the principal sections of Cyrnos are
written in the lyrical and flamboyant romanticism which was to be the one of
the Denham Concertos.
In England, it was Arnold Bax (1883-1953) who, with his 11-minute
concertante piece Saga Fragment (1932), laid the foundations of what would
be the tabloid concertos of the 1950s and 1960s, even though the scores he
wrote in the ’40s for the cinema remain attached to the canons then in force.
Similarly, the first movement (11') of the Piano Concerto (1934) by Austrian
composer Rudolf Kattnigg (1895-1955), mainly known for his operettas, is
written in a violent and frenetic style that opened the way to the tabloid
concerto written in 1947 by Leith Stevens (1909-1970/USA) for the film "Night
Song" directed by John Cromwell (see Chapter IV, paragraph 2). In this
category, we must also mention the Capriccio variato (1940/16') by Gerhart
Munch (1907-1988/Ger), especially the first variations (up to 11'15).
Czech composer Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940) also anticipates the
style and form of the Denham Concertos in the stand-alone102 first
movement, Allegro entusiastico (9'), of her Piano Concerto in D minor (1935).
In these piano concertos which we consider precursors of the tabloid
concertos, we can notice that, most often, it concerns the first movement.
This is natural because a “big size” tabloid concerto almost always has the
form and structure of the first movement of a “classical” piano concerto. For
reasons of brevity, there is little or no orchestral introduction (the piano
immediately enters in a way that can be described as theatrical), and the
piano cadenza is generally reduced to its most spectacular part, that is to say
some ascents and descents in octave without thematic development. Thus,
since the duration of the first movement of a “classical” romantic/post-
romantic concerto is usually between 12 and 15 minutes, the duration of a
“big size” tabloid concerto, thanks to these cuts, is 9-12 minutes.
Let us also note that these first movements are all characterized by a
spectacular lyricism inaugurated by Grieg’s and Tchaikovsky’s examples.
101
Notice of Cyrnos published by the Editions Lemoine [online,
https://www.henry-lemoine.com/fr/catalogue/fiche/22326R, accessed June 8, 2019]
102
Article by Dr. David C. F. Wright on Musicalics: “Her graduation work was her award-
winning Piano Concerto in D minor, Op 7, the first movement of which she conducted at the
Prague Conservatory with Ludvik Kundera as the soloist. This was at the Stadion Hall,
Brno, on 17 June 1935 at the Brno Conservatory Graduation Concert. On 15 October 1936 it
was performed by Kundera with the composer conducting and broadcast on Brno radio.”
[online, http://musicalics.com/en/node/91026, accessed July 17, 2017]
42
Among the previously mentioned works, here are the titles of their first
movements:
103
The most notable of these resolutely modernist cinematographic exceptions is the Piano
Concerto written by Ken Lauber (b. 1941/USA) for the film “The World of Henry Orient”
(George Roy Hill, 1964). See Chapter IV, paragraph 3.
104
Rob Barnett’s review on MusicWeb-International [online, http://www.musicweb-
international.com/classrev/2004/oct04/malling.htm, accessed July 22, 2017]
43
- Julia Smith (1905-1989/USA): Piano Concerto in E minor (1938; rev. 1971)
– especially the 1st movement “Assai lento – Alla marcia vivace” (12')
- Isidor Achron (1892-1948/Russia/USA): Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
(1940) – especially the 1st movement “Allegro” (11')
- Jules-Toussaint De Sutter (1889-1959/Bel): Piano Concerto (c. 1940;
premiered posthumously in 1960) – especially the 1st movement (11')
- Andre Mathieu (1929-1968/Que/Can): Piano Concerto No. 3 “Quebec
Concerto” (1943)105 – especially the 2nd movement “Andante” (10')
- Theo Mackeben (1897-1953/Ger): Piano Concerto in B-flat minor (1945) in
one movement (26') [also exists in 20-minute and 15-minute versions]
- Andre Mathieu (1929-1968/Que/Can): Piano Concerto No. 4 in E minor
(1947) – especially the 2nd movement “Andante” (15')
106
Most of the classical composers on this list also worked for Symphonic
Entertainment. About Paul Creston’s concerto, music critic Paul Hume,
strong advocate of modernism, writes in The Washington Post:
105
Let us recall that extracts from Andre Mathieu’s Quebec Concerto were used in the
Canadian film “Whispering City” (Fedor Ozep, 1947), and that the Symphonic
Entertainment industry made two micro-concertos from the slow movement of this work: a
five-minute one that was arranged in 1943 by André Kostelanetz (1901-1980/Rus/USA) and
Andre Mathieu, and a three-minute one arranged in 1949 by Charles Williams (1893-
1978/GB). See Chapter IV, paragraph 2.
106
In 1948 Andre Mathieu recorded an arrangement of the second movement of his Piano
Concerto No. 4 under the title Nocturne for piano and orchestra (4'). See Chapter IV, paragraph
2.
107
The 1st movement of Ruth Gipps’ Piano Concerto in G minor (1948) was performed as a
stand-alone work by pianist Eileen Broster with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra
conducted by the composer herself.
44
« It has all the allure of the Warsaw Concerto, and the rich orchestration of the
concertos of Rachmaninoff. [Earl] Wild handled its tricks and tough lines with perfect
technique an assurance. But it is not worth the time and effort put into it. »108
After 1960, the purely romantic style of the Denham Concertos became
extremely rare among the so-called “serious” composers. These composers
generally used a more nervous and aggressive writing, closer to that of the
tabloid concertos written for film noir, the most famous ones being the
Concerto Macabre (1945/11') by Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975/USA) and the
Concerto for Sweeney (1947/8') by Leith Stevens (1909-1970/USA). Among the
“classical” piano concertos written from 1960 onwards, let us mention:
- Anatoly Kos-Anatolsky (1909-1983/Ukr): Piano Concerto No. 1 in F
minor (1955) – especially the 1st movement “Rubato e pesante – Allegro
moderato” (11')
- William Lovelock (1899-1986/GB/Aus): Piano Concerto in C major
(1945/60) in one movement (18')
- Spencer Norton (1909-1978/USA): Partita for two pianos and orchestra
(1960) – especially the 1st movement “Sinfonia” (5'), in the musical style of a
film noir
- Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008/USA): Fantasy and Variations (1961) –
especially the Fantasy (9'), in the style of a film noir110
- Vladimir Soukup (1930-2012/Cze): Piano Concerto (1961) – especially the
st
1 movement “Allegro moderato – Vivace” (10'), in the style of a film noir
108
Paul Hume, article in The Washington Post, November 2, 1950, p. 16, quoted in William
Phemister, “The American Piano Concerto Compendium” (second edition, 2018), p. 55.
109
Walter Simmons, “Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers”
(2004, republished in 2006), p. 343.
110
Norman Dello Joio, a classical composer who also worked for film and television, is the
composer of a simili tabloid concerto that we have listed in the “Repertory”: A Ballad of the
Seven Lively Arts (1957/10').
45
- Ervin Litkei (1921-2000/Hun/USA): Piano Concerto “Peace and
Remembrance” (1963) – especially the 1st and 2nd movements: “Home, Peace
Before War” (4') and “War and the Prison Camp” (19')
- Vladimir Bunin (1908-1970/Rus): Piano Concerto in F minor (1965) in
one movement (19')
- John Ogdon (1937-1989/GB): Piano Concerto No. 1 (1968) – especially
st
the 1 movement “Energico” (15'), in the style of a film noir
- Janos Gyulai Gaal (1924-2009/Hun): Three in Paris (before 1969) –
especially the 1st movement “The Big City and the Loneliness” (7'), in the
Gershwinian style
- François Glorieux (b. 1932/Bel): Manhattan for piano and Large
orchestra (1974) – especially the 1st and 2nd movements: “First Impressions of
Manhattan” (6') and “Broadway” (4'), in the Gershwinian style
- Alexander Yossifov (1940-2016/Bul): Piano Concerto No. 2 (1976) –
especially the 3rd movement “Allegretto” (6')
- Allan Stephenson (b. 1949/GB): Piano Concerto (1977) – especially the
st
1 movement “Furioso – Allegro risoluto” (13')
- Istvan Sarkozy (1920-2002/Hun): Confessioni (1979) – especially the last
movement “Allegro” (10'), in the style of an action film
- Janusz Sent (b. 1936/Pol): Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major (1979) –
especially the 1st movement “Andante ma non troppo” (9')
- Janusz Sent (b. 1936/Pol): Manhattan Fantasy for piano and orchestra
(c. 1980?) – especially the 1st movement “From Brooklyn Heights: Allegro ma
non troppo e maestoso” (9'), in the Gershwinian style
- Bechara El-Khoury (b. 1957/Lib/Fra): Piano Concerto (1984) – especially
st
the 1 movement “Drammatico” (11')
- Laszlo Dubrovay (b. 1943/Hun): Piano Concerto No. 2 “Concerto
romantico” (1984) – especially the 1st movement “Allegro con fuoco” (11'), in the
style of a film noir
- André Waignein (1942-2015/Bel): Three Movements for piano and concert
band (1988) – especially the 1st movement “Journey through Romanticism”
(14')
- Crawford Gates (b. 1921/USA): Pentameron: Reflections on the Trek
(Piano Concerto No. 2) (1991) – especially the last section “Iowa 1846 – But In
Our Hearts” (11')
- Stanko Sepic (b. 1941/Ser): Piano Concerto (c. 1995) – especially the 1st
movement “Allegro moderato” (7')
- Vladimir Belyayev (b. 1948/Rus): Piano Concerto No. 2 based on Grieg’s
sketches for a Concerto in B minor (1997) in one movement (15')111
111
About Vladimir Belyayev’s concerto, see more details at the beginning of this chapter.
46
- Alain Payette (b. 1953/Que): Concerto pour piano et orchestre (2000) –
especially the 1st movement “Modéré – Passionné” (12')
- Edward Hart (b. 1965/USA): A Tidal Concerto for piano and orchestra
(2002) – especially the 3rd movement “Flood” (7')
- Richard Bissill (b. 1956/GB): Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (2003/16')
– Written as a tribute to the Denham Concertos, the composer states in his
program notes: « My Rhapsody… is romantic and dramatic in style and very
much in the same mould as these two film pieces [the Warsaw Concerto and
The Dream of Olwen]. »112
- Heather Schmidt (b. 1975/Can): Piano Concerto No. 4 “Phoenix
Ascending” (2005) – especially the 1st movement “Soaring” (9'), in the style of a
film noir
- Sergei Firsanov (b. 1982/Rus/Bra): Rapsodia (before 2005) – especially
st
the 1 section (6'), in the Gershwinian style
- Anna Kuzina (b. 1984/Ukr): Piano Concerto (2006) in one movement
(26')
- Mona A. Ahdab (b. 1966/Lib/Fra): Piano Concerto No. 1 “Renaître” (2011)
– especially the 1st movement “Allegro” (12')
- Lucas Richman (b. 1964/USA): Piano Concerto “In Truth” (2013) –
especially the 1st movement “To One’s Self” (9')
- Paul Zeigler (b. 1954/USA): Piano Concerto No. 2 (2016) – especially the
st
1 movement “Allegro maestoso” (14'), in the style of a film noir.
112
Article by Marc Bridle, on the website MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2003/May03/film95.htm, accessed January
15, 2018]
47
CHAPTER IV
113
Michel Chion, “La Musique au cinéma” (1995), p. 104.
114
Rodney Greenberg, “George Gershwin” (2008), p. 69.
115
In addition to his classical works, George Antheil (1900-1959/USA) composed the music
for about 60 films of the Hollywood Golden Age.
48
title, it is really a “sort of piano concerto with jazz orchestra”116. Antheil sent
the score of his Jazz Symphony to Paul Whiteman, a conductor who was
famous for his popular concerts. But this work was never featured in any of
Whiteman’s concerts, and it was eventually premiered by W. C. Handy’s
orchestra on April 10, 1927, at Carnegie Hall117.
In 1926, once again orchestrated by Ferde Grofe (the usual “rewriter”
of Paul Whiteman’s Concerts), Rhapsody in Blue, in its 13-minute version, was
so successful that it propelled Gershwin to Hollywood studios. It is Hugo
Friedhofer (1901-1981/USA), Fox Studios’ own orchestrator, who arranged
Gershwin’s second rhapsody – the Rhapsody in Rivets/Manhattan Rhapsody –
into a nine-minute version for the romantic comedy film “Delicious” (1931)
directed by David Butler. So, in 1931, this same George Gershwin became the
first composer ever to write a tabloid concerto. It is significant to note that
during the entire sequence in which we listen to the Rhapsody in
Rivets/Manhattan Rhapsody, the film is wordless to let Gershwin’s music
“speak”. Unlike a soundtrack, in which music only has to underpin the
images, a tabloid concerto must enhance the prestige of a film thanks to its
own artistic value. So, since as early as 1931, the film’s allegiance to the
tabloid concerto is established – an allegiance which is and will remain the
basis of the good relations that these two forms of art will maintain118.
Outside of the cinema world, Gershwin presented his Rhapsody in
Rivets/Manhattan Rhapsody as a 14-minute concert work, under its definitive
title Second Rhapsody.
Although it is the third work listed in our “First chronological (and
detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos” (see Chapter VI), the
Divertimento (1926/7') by Edward Burlingame Hill (1872-1960/USA) already
has, in its structure and its writing, the two main characteristics of the mini
piano concertos from the ’40s onwards: an extreme density and a constant
use of dramatization. In this work, Edward Burlingame Hill, who was
basically a “serious” composer, did not follow the path opened by Gershwin
and borrowed very little from jazz; instead, he seemed to be looking for a
new way of composing which was not understood by music critic Lawrence
Gilman who, on the occasion of the world premiere of the Divertimento,
wrote in the New York Herald Tribune:
116
James M. Keller, “Antheil: A Jazz Symphony” [online,
https://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-
Notes/Antheil-A-Jazz-Symphony.aspx, accessed September 20, 2017]
117
Ibid. In 1955 George Antheil shortened his Jazz Symphony and reorchestrated it in a more
Hollywoodian style.
118
This allegiance of the film to the tabloid concerto will be even stronger in the ’40s, in the
case of the British Denham Concertos (see Chapter V).
49
“He has again amused himself by flirting with Jazzarella… He is admirably
detached, and a bit amused... we wish, indeed, that he had been a trifle less casual; for his
piece would bear extension and development. We wanted to hear more of it.”119
Express the most in a minimum of time and string together the
“highlights” with a calculated casualness: this is the effect sought by any
author of mini piano concertos. What is remarkable is that Edward
Burlingame Hill did it as early as 1926. Of course, this brevity is not due to a
lack of musical material; quite the contrary, it demonstrates the desire to
surprise the listeners – in a way, to force them to say to themselves “We
wanted to hear more of it”120. At the same time, other American composers
wrote semi-popular piano concertante works whose brevity and “popular
style” were major assets. Among them, the Afro-Americans James Price
Johnson (1894-1955) – Yamekraw, a Negro Rhapsody (1927/15') – and William
Grant Still (1895-1978) – Kaintuk’, tone poem (1935/11'). Interestingly, Still was a
noted orchestrator and arranger121 in Hollywood when Gershwin was working
there.
During the 1930s, Brazilian Francisco Mignone (1897-1986), who
worked both as a classical composer and as a film composer, wrote his four
Brazilian Fantasies (Fantasias Brasileiras): No. 1 (1929/10'), No. 2 (1931/9'), No. 3
(1934/11'), No. 4 (1936/13'), all premiered by famous pianist João Souza Lima.
These pieces belong to our domain because of their affirmed popular flavor,
their syncopated writing and their sequential form; by the way, No. 4 gave
birth to a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine122, represented in
Santiago de Chile on August 27, 1941.
From Gershwin’s 9-minute Rhapsody in Rivets/Manhattan Rhapsody
(1931) to Richard Addinsell’s 9-minute Warsaw Concerto (1941), the
characteristics of the tabloid concertos remain the same: melodic, dramatic,
sequential and short.
Alfred Newman (1901-1970/USA), then a composer at the Samuel
Goldwin Company, narrowly missed being the first composer to write a
tabloid concerto. In 1931, for the film “Street Scene” directed by King Vidor,
Newman composed a 6-minute concert piece that soon became a standard of
119
Lawrence Gilman, in the article “The American Orchestral Society Makes Music at
Aeolian Hall”, New York Herald Tribune, 29 March 1927.
120
Ibid.
121
William Grant Still was the orchestrator of Dimitri Tiomkin (1899-1979/USA) for “Lost
Horizon” (Frank Capra, 1937).
122
Cf. the website “The George Balanchine Foundation” [online,
http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?num=200, accessed January 14,
2018]
50
Hollywood’s symphonic jazz music123. Street Scene, which is featured in its
entirety at the beginning of the film, is a tabloid concerto… but for orchestra
alone124. For film historian Laurence E. MacDonald:
“With its clever combination of jazzy and sentimental styles, the music of Street
Scene is uncomfortably close to George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which was composed
seven years earlier, especially in its bluesy main theme.”125
123
Street Scene can be heard in at least four subsequent movies, including the famous “How
to Marry a Millionaire” (Jean Negulesco, 1953) where we see Alfred Newman conducting his
composition during the opening sequence of the film.
124
Domenico Savino (1882-1973/USA) made a reduction of this work for piano solo; Charles
Gerhardt (1927-1999/USA) conducted an excellent orchestral version with the National
Philharmonic Orchestra, in his collection “The Classic Film Scores of…”.
125
Laurence E. MacDonald, “The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History”
(1998), p. 29.
126
It is usual to make a difference between diegetic music (songs or background music that
the characters supposedly hear themselves) and non-diegetic music (music written
specifically for a film, and accompanying its dramatic action).
51
the love of a violinist (played in the remake by Leslie Howard) and a
pianist/accompanist (Ingrid Bergman).
In Chapter III, we discovered that it was Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-
1943/Rus) who gave its popularity (and a true status) to the micro-concerto
subgenre, thanks to Variation No. 18 (Andante cantabile) of his Rhapsody on a
Theme of Paganini (1934). This variation, frequently broadcast by American
radios as a three-minute stand-alone piece, undoubtedly allowed the exiled
composer to be definitively loved by the American public, especially in
Hollywood127.
Between Gershwinian-style symphonic jazz and cinema (which shuttled
stylistically between Hollywood and Broadway), the mini piano concerto was
gradually becoming a new musical genre in its own right, even if it never
fully succeeded in establishing itself as such, first competed with by jazz and
song, then by “pop music” in the ’50s.
During the ’30s, American concerts offered the general public multiple
performances of symphonic jazz works. For example, at the concert given in
Carnegie Hall on November 4, 1932, conducted by Paul Whiteman (1890-
1967/USA), all the following works were performed128:
- Concerto in Three Rhythms for piano and orchestra (1932) by Dana Suesse
(1909-1987/USA), orchestrated by Ferde Grofe (1892-1972/USA) – world premiere;
- a fox trot arrangement made by Carroll Huxley (1903-1999/USA) of Maurice
Ravel’s Bolero (1928);
- Second Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (1931) by George Gershwin (1898-
1937/USA);
- Caprice viennois (1910) and Tambourin chinois (1910) by Fritz Kreisler (1875-
1962/Aut);
- I Got Rhythm (1930) by George Gershwin, arranged by Fud Livingston (1906-
1957/USA);
- Grand Canyon Suite (1931) by Ferde Grofe – world premiere;
- American Concerto/Jazz Fantasy for Violin and orchestra (1931) by Michel
Gusikoff (1893-1973/USA) and Benjamin Machan (1894-1966/USA);
- An American in Paris (1928) by George Gershwin, arranged by Carroll Huxley.
127
Variation No. 18 became the Main Theme of the film “The Story of Three Loves”
(Vincente Minelli, 1953); it was even recorded in Light Music albums under the title Theme
from The Story of Three Loves. It was also used in several other films, including “Somewhere
in Time” (Jeannot Swarc, 1980).
128
Cf. Dana Suesse, “Jazz Nocturne” introduced and edited by Peter Mintun (2013), p. 10.
129
Quoted in: James M. Keller, “Antheil: A Jazz Symphony” [online,
52
Composers from diverse backgrounds, whose works are a synthesis of
Gershwinian jazz and what the Anglo-Saxons call “Symphonic
Entertainment”, also wrote mini piano concertos. Almost all these composers
were close to the cinema, theater or radio industries. Among them:
- Rio Gebhardt (1907-1944/Ger): Concerto in E-flat major for piano and jazz
band (1932/11');
- Gail Kubik (1914-1984/USA): American Caprice (1936/8');
- Frank Denke (1906-1988/USA): Piano Concerto (c. 1937/14')130;
- Earl Wild (1915-2010/USA): Adventure (1939/11')131.
https://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-
Notes/Antheil-A-Jazz-Symphony.aspx, accessed September 20, 2017]
130
Frank Denke’s Piano Concerto is written in a Gershwinian style and is scored for piano
and jazz orchestra.
131
Famous American classical pianist Earl Wild also worked for film and entertainment; for
example, under the direction of Charles Gerhardt he recorded the tabloid concerto
Spellbound Concerto (1945) by Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995/Hun/USA). Wild’s own composition
Adventure was premiered on NBC radio in 1939; Wild was both soloist and conductor.
132
Tony Thomas, “Film Score”, Riverwood Press (1992), pp. 47-55.
133
R. James Tobin’s review on ClassicalNet [online,
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/p/pie00010a.php, accessed December 8, 2018]
53
Broadway, everything, in the Anglo-Saxon countries, contributed to the
vogue of the mini piano concertos, whether written for the cinema, for the
publishers of Light Music, or for radio broadcasts like the Concertino (1940/11')
by Wladyslaw Szpilman (1911-2000/Pol). About this last work:
“On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played the last live piano recital heard
over Polish radio before it was blown off the air by German bombing. [...] That evening, as
German artillery again battered Warsaw, Szpilman worked on a Concertino for Piano and
Orchestra, pausing at dusk to look out the window to see what new damage had been done
in the neighbourhood. […] Szpilman continued writing his Concertino as the Germans
subdued the city and began the repressions that eventually wiped out most of its half-
million Jews, including Szpilman’s mother, father and three siblings. You can imagine how
his fear and apprehension expressed itself in the music he was writing in the family
apartment. You can imagine it – but you won’t hear it anywhere in the music. The
Concertino, which like Szpilman himself survived the war (he died in 2000 at age 88), is a
breezy souvenir of the symphonic jazz age. Blue notes, rag-time rhythms and suave
orchestrations suggest the kind of music George Gershwin might have written if, like
Szpilman, he had studied with a high-brow German composer like Franz Schreker.”134
British music critic Rob Barnett describes Isidor Achron’s first concerto
with a periphrase that perfectly defines a tabloid concerto:
“The single movement First Piano Concerto […] is a grandiloquent piece torn
emotionally between torment, tragedy and triumph.”137
134
Robert Everett-Green, “The Pianist and the Pop Star”, published on May 3, 2003 and
uploaded on April 18, 2018 on the website The Globe and Mail [online,
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/the-pianist-and-the-pop-star/article1014514/,
accessed December 1, 2018]
135
Isidor Achron, pianist accompanist of the famous violinist Jascha Heifeitz (1901-1987/Lit),
was the younger brother of the well-known composer Joseph Achron (1886-1943/Rus), who
emigrated to the USA in 1923.
136
On Walter Simmons’ website [online,
http://www.walter-simmons.com/articles/353.htm, accessed September 13, 2017]
137
Review on MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicwebinternational.com/classrev/2006/May06/Achron_Concerto_KL5134.ht
m, accessed October 2, 2017]
54
The years from 1940 to 1950 saw the multiplication of these short
concertante works, before they were swept in the ’50s by their four direct
competitors that were closer to the true enthusiasm of the general public:
songs, pop music, rock and movie music.
But among these numerous mini piano concertos, there is one that
durably marked the spirits: the Warsaw Concerto.
The producers of the Denham Studios, for whom Muir Mathieson was
working, could not convince the famous Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-
1943/Rus) to compose a new short piano concerto for one of their films (see
Chapter V). So Mathieson asked British Richard Addinsell (1904-1977) to
compose the first “classical” tabloid concerto in the history of cinema, as the
concerto featured in this film absolutely could not be a jazz piece in the style
of Gershwin: when one talks about the heroism of the English airmen and
the Polish resistance, one needs music that can recall both Rachmaninoff
138
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), p. 6. Also Jan G. Swynnoe, “The Best Years of British Film Music: 1936–
1958” (2002), p. XVII.
139
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), p. 75
140
Michael Balcon, “Michael Balcon presents… A Lifetime of Films” (1969), p. 34.
55
and… Hollywood. Addinsell rose to the challenge. English academic Mervyn
Cook writes:
“In 1941, Richard Addinsell composed his Warsaw Concerto for the British film
Dangerous Moonlight (US title Suicide Squadron; dir. Brian Desmond Hurst), its romantic
plot concerning an amnesiac Polish pilot serving in the Royal Air Force during the battle
of Britain. The Warsaw had been commissioned partly so that the film’s audiences would
not be distracted by the associations which using a well-known pre-existing classical piece
might have elicited – a common concern amongst many observers of the plundering of the
classics in the silent era – though it had originally been planned to use a piano concerto by
Rachmaninoff for which the reproduction rights could not be obtained. The Warsaw
Concerto proved to be hugely popular on both sides ot the Atlantic in live performances,
broadcasts and on record, the interpretation of the work featured in the film (performed by
Louis Kentner and the London Symphony Orchestra) have been issued as one of the
earliest examples of a soundtrack recording. Addinsell was a versatile composer, who went
on to compose a flamboyant witty and impressionistic score for David Lean’s Blithe Spirit
(1945), but it was the romantic pastiche of this first example of what soon became dismissed
as “tabloid concertos” that proved to be his most influential achievement.”141
The success of the film, due in large part to the patriotic fervor of the
time and to the general sympathy towards the Polish people, made the
Warsaw Concerto an emblematic work of the efforts of British cinema to fight
against Hitlerism, independently of its intrinsic value as a tabloid concerto.
Originally performed by pianist Louis Kentner and the London Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson142, more than three million copies
were sold in just a few months143, a commercial triumph that motivated the
music industry to promote this new musical genre that seemed to please a
particularly heterogeneous audience. And this prompted the film industry to
give the tabloid concerto a place of choice in many of its productions.
Hollywood immediately replied with the film “Phantom of the Opera”
(Arthur Lubin, 1943) for which composer Edward Ward (1900-1971/USA)
wrote a six-minute tabloid concerto: Lullaby of the Bells, of which we hear
only short extracts during the movie. In 1944, British cinema gave Hubert
Bath (1883-1945) the opportunity to compose what turned out to be the
second most famous Denham Concerto: Cornish Rhapsody (7'), written for
Leslie Arliss’ film “Love Story”144. When, at the end of the film, the heroine-
pianist (played by Margaret Lockwood) performs the entire work with
orchestra in concert, the emotion of the public, provoked by the music (of
141
Mervyn Cooke, “A History of Film Music” (2008), USA, Cambridge University Press
(Third printing with corrections, 2010), Chapter 11 “Classical Music in the Cinema” (pp. 422-
453), paragraph 1: Romantic Concerto and War Film.
142
The original recording of the Warsaw Concerto, lasting eight minutes, took place in
London, at the Columbia Studios, on November 19, 1941.
143
From Roy Douglas, orchestrator of the Warsaw Concerto, quoted in Jan G. Swynnoe:
“The Best Years of British Film Music: 1936–1958” (2002), p. 216.
144
In the USA, the film “Love Story” (1944) is known under the title “A Lady Surrenders”.
56
Hubert Bath) is at its peak, as was the case with the Warsaw Concerto three
years earlier. Since these short concertante works benefitted from growing
public interest, Clive Richardson, a famous composer of Light Music, wrote a
London Fantasia (1944/9') that he subtitled “A Musical Picture of the Battle of
Britain”. Written outside of the cinema realm, this work is historically the
first para Denham Concerto145. According to musicologist David Ades, one of
the contributors to the Grove Dictionary:
“Clive Richardson (1909-1998) was part of ‘Four Hands in Harmony’ (with Tony
Lowry), but that was just a small interlude in a long and successful career. He accompanied
several artists on the piano, and was an early contributor of scores to British films
(especially some of the Will Hay comedies, although he wasn’t credited on-screen). London
Fantasia was a big success in the 1940s, when mini-piano concertos were all the rage
(thanks to the ecstatic reception given to Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto in the 1941
film ‘Dangerous Moonlight’)”146.
Still in the Light Music realm, we find the Concerto incognito (c.1945/4')
by Sidney Torch (1908-1990/GB), who was a famous composer and prolific
conductor. The same David Ades writes:
“The rarely heard work for piano and orchestra is reminiscent of many similar pieces
that were spawned in the 1940s following the success of Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw
Concerto. It has a broad melody in the style of many that featured in numerous British films
of the period.”148
David Ades writes that Torch’s Concerto incognito “is reminiscent of”…
However, the only two references on the web (the database Musicalics149 and
145
We will see this in more detail in Chapter V, paragraph 1: The Denham Concertos: the
must of the tabloid concertos.
146
Booklet by David Ades for Guild [online,
https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/GL5195.pdf, accessed November 2, 2017]
147
Article by David Ades on the “Robert Farnon Society” website [online,
http://www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk/index.php/legends/clive-richardson, accessed
November 3, 2017]
148
Booklet by David Ades for the NAXOS CD 8.223443 [online,
http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223443&catNum=223443&f
iletype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#, accessed November 5, 2017]
149
Page about the Concerto incognito on the website “Musicalics” [online,
57
the OhioLINK Music Center150) indicate the date of composition “1940”. We
can notice that, after 1941 (date of the Warsaw Concerto), many Light Music
composers wrote mini piano concertos, but all of them took the Warsaw
Concerto as the pattern. But the Concerto incognito seems to have no direct
filiation with this work, because of its duration (4 minutes: a duration which
would be extremely short for a para Denham Concerto, but which is rather
long for the Light Music industry) and its style, which is not directly
Hollywoodian.
Among other significant para Denham Concertos:
Of the works cited above, the one that had the most success is Albert
Arlen’s El Alamein Concerto. Music critic Philip L. Scrowcroft writes:
“Albert Arlen, born in 1905, achieved transient fame with his Alamein Concerto (1945),
one of many film-inspired ‘concertos’ (usually singly movement Rachmaninoff-like
rhapsodies which followed up the astonishing success of Addinsell’s still-popular Warsaw
Concerto).”155
58
performed by pianist Peggy Cochrane with Jack Payne and His Orchestra.
However, the world premiere of the concerto took place in Cairo in 1944 with
Phil Finch as soloist and Hugo Rignold conducting156. In 1945 the El Alamein
Concerto had the honor of a “Theme from…” edition157. The genesis of this
work deserves to be told because it perfectly illustrates the link that has
always united this new musical genre and cinema. Arlen, who was an officer
in the Royal Air Force in 1942, was wounded…
“While he was recuperating in a Cairo hospital from a beating sustained in Tripoli,
he conceived the idea of composing a piano concerto to celebrate the Allied victory at El
Alamein.”158
The piece New World A-Comin’ (1943/12') caused more sensation thanks
to the fame of its composer: Duke Ellington (1899-1974/USA). Musicologist
Steve Elman writes about it:
“This is the first ‘jazz piano concerto’, at least as the composer envisioned it. It is one
of Ellington’s least-known long-form pieces, and the only one that is notated from start to
finish, with no improvised contributions from members of his band, although the
composer, as piano soloist, felt free to embellish at will. Despite Ellington’s intentions, this
156
Cf. “Arlen, Albert (1905-1993)”, article by James Keohne, in Australian Dictionary of
Biography [online,
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/arlen-albert-22073, accessed September 12, 2017]
157
See in this paragraph, below.
158
Cf. “Arlen, Albert (1905-1993)”, article by James Keohne, in Australian Dictionary of
Biography.
159
Chronicle by Philip L. Scowcroft on the website MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/13.htm, accessed September 4, 2017]
59
is a rhapsody – an elaboration on a series of themes – not exactly in Gershwin’s wake, but
at least in some ways a nod to his work.”160
160
Steve Elman, “Chronology of Jazz-Influenced Piano Concertos and Related Works,
compiled by Steve Elman” (2005), p. 13.
161
This nickname is commonly used, cf. Olga Perez Flora, “Ernesto Lecuona: His Life and
His Songs” (2013), p. 5. Also in José Gil & Rafael A. Lecuona, “Ernesto Lecuona: the
Genius and his Music” (2004), p. 57.
162
Review in the magazine Newsweek of October 18, 1943, quoted in Gloria Castiel Jacobson,
“The Life and Music of Ernesto Lecuona” (1982), p. 117.
163
Cf. Dan Dietz, “The Complete Book of 1940s Broadway Musicals” (2015), pp. 228-229.
164
Tony Thomas, “Music for the Movies” (1973, 1st edition), p. 144.
60
Lisztian work that compressed the usual three movements into one, was unlike any of the
‘film concertos’ then prevalent in Hollywood, which usually paraphrased existing works in
rhapsodic, overscored fashion.”165
We can add that, in his autobiography, Miklos Rozsa does not mention
Eugene Zador in connection with the Spellbound Concerto:
“I had already made an arrangement of music from Spellbound for piano and
orchestra, the Spellbound Concerto (which Pennario also played and recorded) […]”170
165
Steven C. Smith, “A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann”
(1991, republished in 2002), p. 117.
166
Vincent Haegele, “Bernard Herrmann, un génie de la musique de film” (2016), p. 187.
167
Philip Lane, Booklet for the CD “Warsaw Concerto and Other Piano Concertos from the
Movies” (Naxos 8.554323, 1998), p. 1.
168
Cf. the website of the Leonard Pennario Foundation [online,
http://www.pennario.org/Pages/Posters/Rozsa-Spellbound-Cover.html, accessed October 5,
2017]
169
“American Record Guide”, vol. 61 (1998), p. 235.
170
“Double Life: the Autobiography of Miklós Rózsa” (1982), p. 187.
61
The Spellbound Concerto was then recorded in a faster and slightly
abridged 8-minute version by conductor Charles Gerhardt (1927-1999/USA),
with Earl Wild as soloist. At the end of his career, Rozsa also arranged this
work for two pianos and orchestra, in a much extended 22-minute version
incorporating other material from his film score; this new version is of
course beyond the frame of the mini piano concerto.
In the ’40s, the cinema industry, which always searches to take
advantage of the fashions it launches, encouraged its composers to enrich
the mini piano concerto repertoire: Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985/Pol/GB)
wrote A Voice in the Night (5') for the British film “Wanted for Murder”
(Lawrence Huntington, 1946). American composer Mischa Portnoff (1901-
1979) wrote the 57th Street Rhapsody (5'), which happens to be the first tabloid
concerto with two solo instruments (piano and trumpet); this piece, in a jazz
spirit, is given in concert at the end of the movie “Carnegie Hall” (Edgar
George Ulmer, 1947).
Among the most prestigious Hollywood composers, Max Steiner (1888-
1971/Aut/USA) presented in concert his orchestral work Symphonie moderne
(6') written in 1939 for Michael Curtiz’s film “Four Wives”. To satisfy the fans
of tabloid concertos, Steiner allowed conductor and arranger Charles
Gerhardt to make, with pianist Earl Wild, an 8-minute version with an
augmented – but not really concertante – piano part. In 1973, Wild and
Gerhardt recorded the work as part of the series “The Classic Film Scores
of…”171. But even this version remains a borderline case. However, we have
decided to include the Symphonie moderne in our “Repertory” (see Chapter
VI), since this work is generally considered a mini piano concerto and is
presented on CDs as such.
Other great composers of Hollywood are not left out: Victor Young
(1900-1956/USA) composed and recorded his very Gershwinian Manhattan
Concerto (1946/9'); Franz Waxman (1906-1967/Ger/USA) arranged a Rhapsody,
subtitled Moderato appassionato, from his music for “The Paradine Case”
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1947); this 13-minute work has the particularity to be the
longest tabloid concerto of the Hollywood Golden Age. For the movie “Night
Song” (John Cromwell, 1947), whose main character is a composer, RKO
studios allowed Leith Stevens (1909-1970/USA) to compose a tabloid
concerto that the spectators are able to listen to in full during the film,
171
The 1998 CD “Earl Wild Goes to the Movies” presents the same recording, allegedly
dated from 1965, and credits the conductor Eric Hammerstein (which happens to be one of
the pseudonyms of the conductor Robert Mandell) and the RCA Symphony Orchestra,
instead of the National Philharmonic Orchestra created by Gerhardt. But it seems that the
RCA Symphony Orchestra never existed (the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra existed, but
it ceased in 1963). Furthermore, apart from the booklet of this CD, there is no trace of a
recording made in 1965.
62
performed by prestigious musicians: concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein and
conductor Eugene Ormandy at the head of the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra. This 8-minute Piano Concerto in C minor (also known as Concerto
for Sweeney) constitutes the longest concert sequence in the history of
Hollywood Golden Age tabloid concertos.
In Quebec, one of the main characters of Fedor Ozep’s film
“Whispering City” (1947), who is a composer, performs “his” piano concerto,
which is in fact the Quebec Concerto by Andre Mathieu (1929-1968/Que). We
hear various sections of this work throughout the film172. The Quebec Concerto
(Piano Concerto No. 3) (1943/22'), in three movements, is written in a
Rachmaninovian style fully assumed by the young composer – one of his
titles of glory is to have been congratulated by famous Russian composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) when he was only twelve, on the occasion of
a competition for young composers organized in 1941 by the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra which was celebrating its centenary. Rachmaninoff
declared to him: “Vous êtes le seul pouvant avoir la prétention d’être mon
successeur”173 “You are the only one who can claim to be my successor”. To
take advantage of the vogue, Mathieu recorded a 5-minute arrangement of
the second movement (10') of the Quebec Concerto as early as 1943,
accompanied by the CBS Orchestra conducted by André Kostelanetz (1901-
1980/Rus/USA), who specialized in Symphonic Entertainment. In 1949,
British Charles Williams (1893-1978) made another arrangement of the main
theme of the slow movement, which he conducted and recorded in the Light
Music world as a 3-minute micro-concerto. And to finish, Andre Mathieu
recorded in 1948 an arrangement (4') of the second movement (15') of his
Piano Concerto No. 4 (1947), under the title Nocturne for piano and orchestra,
with the Radio Canada Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean Deslauriers.
Another significant clue that the vogue was in full swing in the ’40s: film
composers even wrote tabloid concertos for other instruments than the
piano. In the USA:
- Artie Shaw (1910-2004): Clarinet Concerto (8'), for the musical film
“Second Chorus” (H. C. Potter, 1940)
- Leo Shuken (1906-1975): Trumpet Concerto (9'), from his music for “Our
Wife” (John M. Stahl, 1941);
172
The film “Whispering City” (Fedor Ozep, 1947) constitutes one of the best uses of
concertante music in a movie. The rest of the soundtrack was composed by Morris Cecil
Davis (1904-1968/Can).
173
On the website dedicated to Andre Mathieu, biographical page [online,
http://www.da-go.com/musique/mathieu-a/, accessed October 29, 2017]
63
- Franz Waxman (1906-1967): Athanael the Trumpeter, Overture for
Trumpet and orchestra (7'), arranged from his music for “The Horn Blows at
Midnight” (Raoul Walsh, 1945);
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): Cello Concerto in C major (12'),
extended from his tabloid cello concerto written for “Deception” (Irving
Rapper, 1946);
- Leo Shuken (1906-1975): The Dorsey Concerto, for Trombone, Alto
Saxophone and orchestra (8'), for the musical film “The Fabulous Dorseys”
(Alfred E. Green, 1947); retitled The Dorsey Brothers Concerto for its 1950 re-
release.
At last, there are also the mini concertos for orchestra (without solo
instrument), written in a strong hollywoodian style. Among them: the
Waukegan Concerto (1947/6') by David Rose (1910-1990/USA) and the Copper
Concerto (recorded in 1958/4') by George Melachrino (1909-1965/GB), without
forgetting the Symphony in Jazz (1950/7') by Otto Cesana (1899-1980/USA), a
famous orchestrator who worked for the MGM studios, and the Symphony for
Blues (1957/12') by Joseph Francis Kuhn (1924-1962/USA), who composed
several mini piano concertos and many Light Music pieces.
174
Roger Roger is his real name.
175
John France’s review on MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Apr/Tippett_sy2_PASC460.htm,
accessed October 5, 2017]
64
More than ever, the British continued to be in first position regarding
mini piano concertos. At the request of Muir Mathieson (1911-1975) – a famous
conductor who was the musical director of Denham Studios – Arthur Bliss
wrote for the film “Men of Two Worlds” (Thorold Dickinson, 1945) the
concert piece Baraza (7'), which has the peculiarity of featuring a men’s
chorus ad libitum. British academic John Morris details:
“The film opens with one of the most potent symbols of the war years, a performance
– at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square – of a piano concerto by Kisenga (Robert
Adams), an African composer and pianist who has been in Europe for ten years but who is
returning to his native Tanganyika. The ‘Denham’ concerto was released as the ‘concert
piece’ Baraza for piano and orchestra by Decca in 1946 conducted by Muir Mathieson.”176
176
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight: Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), p. 96.
177
Geoffrey Self, “Light Music in Britain since 1870: A Survey” (2001, republished in 2016),
p. 190.
178
As Light Music industry required extreme brevity, Melachrino’s First Rhapsody (1936) was
recorded only in two abridged versions: without piano (4'), with piano (3').
65
from that once-prolific British studio had a full-blown piano pseudo-concerto on the
soundtrack.”179
179
Article by David Ades on the “Robert Farnon Society” website [online,
http://www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk/index.php/legends/peter-yorke, accessed October 1,
2017]
180
During the ’50s, The Dream of Olwen (played by pianist Arthur Dulay) was used as a Main
Title for the Sunday night radio program “Hallmark Hall Of Fame”, hosted by actor Lionel
Barrymore.
181
In the film, we probably do not listen to Sauguet’s entire Reverie concertante, but only to
five minutes and thirty seconds. However, the complete work was performed in concert in
1948 by pianist Jacqueline Robin. As we did not manage to get a recording other than the
film soundtrack, we do not know the total duration of the work.
66
theme under the title Theme from Swedish Rhapsody. The following year, the
complete work, arranged for solo piano by Henry Geehl (1881-1961/GB), was
also published under the title Swedish Rhapsody. The piano-and-orchestra
version was then used in the American film “Madame X” (David Lowell Rich,
1966)182.
It should also be noted that German-Danish Peter Deutsch (1901-1965),
who wrote a para Denham Concerto titled Queen Elizabeth Concerto (1952/7')
under the pseudonym Pete Alman, composed (this time under his real name)
The Magic Picture (1950/15')183, alternatively subtitled piano concerto or fantasy
for piano and orchestra, which has only been radio broadcast, like many
other works of popular spirit.
We must also mention the Piano Concerto (1950/10') by Polish Henryk
Wars (1902-1977), who settled in the United States after World War II. This
work, which today is cataloged as a classical work, was first written as a mini
piano concerto, Wars having essentially made a career as a film composer.
According to Polish academic Marek Zebrowski:
“One thing is beyond doubt: according to Elizabeth Wars [Henryk Wars’ widow],
Richard Addinsell’s 1941 Warsaw Concerto was apparently one of Wars’s favorite pieces of
music.”184
182
It should be noted that there is no tabloid concerto in the American drama film
“Madame X” (1966) directed by David Lowell Rich; only an excerpt (the principal theme) of
the Swedish Rhapsody, supposed to represent the heroine, is used in the Main Title and at
the very end of the film.
183
In “Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide” Enlarged Edition (1993), p. 80,
Maurice Hinson indicates a 10-minute duration for Peter Deutsch’s The Magic Picture
(Concerto for piano and orchestra). However, the program notes of the Danish Radio, which
broadcast this work on January 26, 1963, are precise: 14 minutes and 40 seconds [online,
http://files.danskkulturarv.dk/A-1963-01-26-S-0431.pdf, accessed January 14, 2018]
184
Marek Zebrowski, “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Henryk Wars: Discovering a
Masterpiece”, in “Musica Iagellonica”, vol. 9 (2018), p. 104 [online,
http://www.muzykologia.uj.edu.pl/documents/6464892/140681430/06_Zebrowski.pdf/ea3ccd4
f-c3a5-4e40-be46-63fa54b303e5, accessed April 29, 2019]
185
Ibid., pp. 107 and 124.
67
From Hubert Bath (1883-1945/GB), who finished his career with the
Cornish Rhapsody (1944/7'), to Annunzio Mantovani (1915-1980/Ita/USA) – a
famous conductor of Light Music – who began his career with the Poem to the
Moon (1948/4'), the ’40s were the era which allowed mini piano concertos in
general, and tabloid concertos in particular, to benefit from both the cinema,
the radio and the recording industries, then in full swing. Here, we must also
mention the very active role of music publishers, especially those who
published arrangements for solo piano of the most famous themes under the
title “Theme from…”. We drew up the following list – as comprehensive as
possible – of the mini piano concertos published in this form (in
chronological order of their dates of publication):
- Richard Addinsell: Theme from Warsaw Concerto (USA: Chappell, 1942, 7 p.,
reduction by William Stickles)
- Hubert Bath: Theme from Cornish Rhapsody (Sydney: W.H. Paling & Co., 1944, 7
p.)
- Albert Arlen: Theme from El Alamein Concerto (Sydney: Chappell & Co., 1945, 8
p.)
- Clive Richardson: Theme from London Fantasia (Chappell & Co, 1945, 7 p.)
- Vivian Ellis: Theme from Piccadilly Incident (Chappell & Co. Ltd., 1946, 7 p.)
- George Melachrino: First Rhapsody: the signature tune of the George Melachrino
Orchestra (London: Arcadia Music Pub. Co., 1946, 5 p., reduction by Harry Ralton)
- Miklos Rozsa: Theme from Spellbound Concerto (Sydney: Chappell & Co., 1946, 6
p.)
- Gerard Tersmeden: Theme from Solitaire (Chappell & Co. Ltd., 1947, reduction by
Albert Sirmay)
- Andre Mathieu: Theme from Quebec Concerto (London: Chappell & Co. Ltd., 1948;
Liber Southern, 1949, 7 p.)
- Charles Wildman: Theme from Swedish Rhapsody (Leeds Music Corporation, 1948,
7 p.)
- Reginald King: Theme from Runnymede Rhapsody (New York: Leeds Music, 1950, 4
p.)
- Alberto Semprini: Themes from Mediterranean Concerto (London: Ascherberg,
Hopwood & Crew, 1950, 4 p.)
- Kenneth Leslie-Smith: Theme from The Mansell Concerto (London: Chappell &
Co., 1952, 6 p., reduction by Robert Gill)
- Stanley Laudan & Gordon Rees: Theme from Rhapsody for Elizabeth (Melbourne:
D. Davis & Co., 1953, 5 p.)
- Jimmy Sheldon: Blue Mist Theme, from Nob Hill Nocturne (Del Courtney Music Co.,
October 19, 1953)
- Reynell Wreford: Theme from The Last Rhapsody (London: Ascherberg, Hopwood
& Crew Ltd., 1953)
- Howard Kasschau: Theme from Candlelight Concerto (Sam Fox, December 24, 1957)
- Michael Inden: Theme from Cote d’Azur (Bosworth & Co. Ltd., May 5, 1965)
- Philip Moody: Theme from Laguna Concerto (Hi-Ti Music Corp., September 23,
68
1966, 15 p.)
186
“Themes” with an “s”, because there are two memorable themes in this 1950 work,
whose original (complete) version for piano and orchestra lasts 7 minutes.
187
Music critic Philip Scowcroft writes: “Alberto Semprini […] produced a large number of
arrangements and some original compositions like Mediterranean Concerto used as the
signature tune for his popular radio feature ‘Semprini Serenade’” [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/July01/britinst.htm, accessed
November 5, 2017]
69
3- The ’50s-’60s: internationalization of the vogue
During the ’50s and ’60s, the congruence between tonal classical music
and film music reached its highest point in the Anglo-Saxon countries. On
both sides of the Atlantic, composers such as the Americans Aaron Copland,
Norman Dello Joio, Paul Creston, Nicolas Flagello, Robert Russell Bennett –
and their English counterparts William Walton, Benjamin Frankel, William
Alwyn, Richard Rodney Bennett and Malcolm Arnold – did not appear to
mark a real stylistic difference between their personal productions and the
music they wrote for the cinema. The first striking examples of this fusion
were given by British Arthur Bliss (1891-1975), who arranged a famous concert
suite from his music for “Things to Come” (William Cameron Manzies, 1936),
and by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958/GB), whose Symphony No. 7 is an
arrangement of his film score “Scott of the Antarctic” (Charles Frend, 1948).
Musicologist John Morris quotes this statement from Arthur Bliss:
“In the last resort film music should be judged solely as music – that is to say, by the
ear alone, and the question of its value depends on whether it can stand up to the test.”188
70
to the mini piano concerto which, by its very nature, is a hybrid genre, as it
results from the effort to combine a compositional quality worth of being
played in concert halls with the three major elements of the cinematographic
writing (melodism/dramatic effects/conciseness). In addition, the film and
recording industries, which were more than ever active, gave composers
opportunities to write for a wide, almost world-sized, audience.
In the United States, the 1950s and 1960s were decades characterized
by the industrial production of short songs catalogued in the Easy Listening
genre, whose duration rarely exceeded three minutes. There were countless
popular orchestras which recorded LPs whose titles (mainly the most
popular tunes of the moment) attracted millions of listeners reluctant
towards so-called “serious” music. Some conductors even became stars192, as
several pianists already were (the most famous of them certainly being
Valentino Liberace). Pianist and arranger George Greeley (1917-2007/USA)
made a bestseller with his album “The World’s Ten Greatest Popular Piano
Concertos”193, which featured only mini piano concertos and concertante
arrangements of famous film themes. Easy Listening arrangements were
suitable for romantic evenings or dance parties, and provided a pleasant
background for those who listened to them on the radio or on a
phonograph/turntable. There are, however, some Easy Listening micro-
concertos which deserve to be mentioned, such as Starlight (1951/3') by Otto
Cesana (1899-1980/USA), who was the music director of Columbia; and the
Prelude to Peace (1953/4') by British female composer Joyce Cochrane (1908-
1988).
In parallel, composers of Light Music produced para Denham
Concertos which were written in a “classical” way, following the lines of the
Warsaw Concerto and Cornish Rhapsody. For example, in 1950 concert pianist
Alberto Semprini (1908-1990/GB) wrote the 7-minute Mediterranean Concerto,
which was frequently played in its shortened three-minute version in order
to fit the Light Music frame. And the same year Robert Docker (1918-
1992/GB) composed Legend (1950/7'), about which the music critic Barry
Knight writes:
“Legend is probably one of Robert Docker’s best-known original compositions. It
represents that particular strand of light music, the ‘concerto-like’ feature for piano and
orchestra, happily ranking alongside The Dream of Olwen by Charles Williams, Hubert
192
Among the many stars of Easy Listening: George Melachrino and His Orchestra, Carmen
Dragon and His Orchestra, Annunzio Mantovani, Morton Gould, Russ Conway, Victor
Young, David Rose, Geoff Love, Percy Faith, Otto Cesana, Andre Kostelanetz, Roger
Williams, Frank Chaksfield, Peter Nero, Ray Coniff, Freddy Martin, Nelson Riddle, Stanley
Black, Les Baxter, Ron Goodwin and His Orchestra… In France: Frank Pourcel et son
orchestre, Grand Prix du disque français in 1956.
193
Warner Bros. Records 1249 (1957).
71
Bath’s Cornish Rhapsody, Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto and Miklos Rosza’s
Spellbound Concerto. While these were all for use in films, Legend has remained essentially a
concert or broadcast piece only. He had taken one of the ideas for the piece from a suite he
had written for piano, viola and horn. While Docker was playing the draft version in the
publisher’s office, Sidney Torch was in earshot and remarked upon its potential. It was
used, however, by the BBC’s Home Service in 1959 during their Saturday Night Theatre
series, having been the inspiration for a play by Merlin Roberts entitled ‘The Long Way
Back’. […] Robert Docker performed this work on many occasions for the BBC and in
public concerts all over this country and in Australia.”194
194
Booklet by Barry Knight for the NAXOS CD “Robert Docker: Orchestral Works”
(8.223837) [online,
http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223837&catNum=223837&
filetype=About+this+Recording&language=English, accessed November 8, 2017]
195
Marjan Rawicz and Walter Landauer started a concert career before specializing in the
Light Music field. Throughout their long career, they recorded about fifty albums.
196
Xavier Puig i Ortiz, presentation of the score, on the publisher’s website [online,
https://www.boileau-music.com/en/works/concierto-magico-b-3593, accessed August 31,
2018]. It should be noted that the poster of the film “Concierto Mágico” (1953), directed by
Rafael J. Salvia, has the peculiarity of presenting only musicians (we see portraits of
Spanish pianist Leopoldo Querol and of Spanish-Catalan conductor Juan Pich
Santasusana), with the following text: “Una película dedicada a todos los que por especial
72
The BBC was not stingy either concerning mini piano concertos.
Listeners could regularly hear The Last Rhapsody (1953/3'), composed by
Reynell Wreford (1898-1976/GB), as the theme for the “Music for Murder”
radio program. In the same way, the piece Journey to Romance (1955/4') is a
concertante arrangement that Richard Addinsell (1904-1977/GB) made of his
earlier orchestral piece Invocation, which was used as the theme for the
“Journey to Romance” radio program, broadcast since 1946. At last, the
“Destiny” radio program familiarized listeners with The Destiny Theme
(1957/3') by "Milton Carson", actually a pseudonym used jointly by three
British composers (Howard Barnes, Harold Fields and Joseph Roncoroni).
Performed by star pianist Alberto Semprini, The Destiny Theme gained some
success.
In 1955, the American piano duo Arthur Ferrante (1921-2009) and Louis
Teicher (1924-2008), stars of Easy Listening, composed and recorded their
Hollywood Rhapsody (7') which is, to our knowledge, the only mini piano
concerto written for two pianos without orchestra.
During the ’50s and ’60s, – two decades which were characterized by
constant internationalization – composers from all countries wrote short
piano concertante works which came straight out of either George
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924) or Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto
(1941). These two styles often blended in works of German composers. The
desire to compete with the USA was already evident during the interwar
period when the UFA (Universum Film AG), founded in 1917, presented in
Germany cinema which was technically close to Hollywood197. Since the
music of German films was quite similar to what was being done on the
other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it was natural for the German composers to
compose mini piano concertos, like their Anglo-Saxon colleagues, in the
field of what they defined as “Gehobene Unterhaltungsmusik/Sophisticated
Light Music”. We can mention the following works written during the
1950s198:
favor de Dios aman la música” “A film dedicated to all those who, by a special favor of God,
love music”.
197
Among the jewels of the UFA, which quickly became a government agency: “Doktor
Mabuse, der Spieler” (1922), “Die Nibelungen” (1924) and “Metropolis” (1927), all three
directed by Fritz Lang, who later emigrated to the United States; “Der blaue Engel” (1930),
directed by Josef von Sternberg who also emigrated to the United States; “Münchhausen”
(1943), directed by Josef von Baky, a blockbuster film realized to celebrate the 25 years of
existence of the UFA. Cf. “La Fabrique du film allemand, l’UFA fête ses 100 ans”,
documentary by Sigrid Faltin (2017)
198
The German mini piano concertos of the ’40s-’60s are very difficult to date. Researching,
even in German language, tends to allow only approximations.
73
- Nico Dostal (1895-1981): Blues-Fantasy (1949/7')199;
- Franz Josef Breuer (1914-1996): Rhapsody to the Night (Rhapsodie einer
Nacht) (?/9');
- Erwin Mausz (1899-1969): Concert Piece (Konzerstück) (?/8');
- Bernd Scholz (1900-1969): Concerto appassionato (?/10');
- Ulrich Sommerlatte (1914-2002): Matinee, miniature concerto (?/7')200;
- Gerhard Winkler (1906-1977): Towards the Sun (Der Sonne entgegen),
concert piece (?/8');
- Willy Czernik (1901-1996): Dionysian Festivity (Dionysisches Fest),
rhapsody (publ. 1954/13');
- Kurt Herrlinger (1918-2003): Klavierismen, rhapsody (1956/8');
- Georg Haentzschel (1907-1992): Romantic Rhapsody (Romantische
Rhapsodie) (1957/10');
- Wolfgang Friebe (1909-1989): Slavic Rhapsody (Slawische Rhapsodie)
(1959/9')
- Klaus Wusthoff (b. 1922): Transatlantic Rhapsody (1959/9').
199
Blues-Fantasy was composed for American pianist Margot Pinter.
200
It is likely that the title Matinee (Matinée), written in French by composer Ulrich
Sommerlatte, does not mean “Morning” (for which he would have used the German word
“Morgen”), but refers to the term which designates a show which takes place in the
afternoon.
201
Peter Deutsch (1911-1965/Ger/Den) published his Queen Elizabeth Concerto under the
ironic pseudonym “Pete Alman”.
202
The Rhapsody for Elizabeth was premiered in 1952 by Alberto Semprini accompanied by
George Melachrino and His Orchestra. In 1958, this recording was released on the B-side of
a LP, with Hubert Bath’s Cornish Rhapsody on the A-side. Cf. The Sydney Morning Herald
from Sydney, New South Wales, July 13, 1958, p. 94. [online,
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/122704764/, accessed October 16, 2017]. In 1956,
German editor Telefunken released a performance of the Rhapsody for Elizabeth by Adolf
Drescher and the Hamburger Rundfunkorchester conducted by Walter Martin, also paired
with the Cornish Rhapsody by the same performers.
74
American radios (and also the BBC on the other side of the Atlantic)
popularized mini piano concertos:
“The abbreviated piano concerto seems to be a special product of the Radio Age.
There is a broad section of the public that upon occasion demands heavier fare than the
usual pop material that dominates radio programming, but is not prepared for the
unadulterated classical repertoire. The three short works presented here by Morton Gould
and the Rochester (N.Y.) Pops Orchestra are likely to satisfy such an audience. The flowing
romantic melodies, the lush orchestration and charged emotion of these one-movement
concertos are ably projected on this disk.”203
During the 1950s, more and more LPs offered anthologies of mini
piano concertos, in which we almost always find the Warsaw Concerto (1941),
in more or less abridged versions, which serves as a reference and guarantees
the romantic “Hollywoodian” quality of the featured works.
Some composers even had the illusion that the fame of a handful of
tabloid concertos would allow them to experience the same success. This
203
The Columbia LP is AL 36. Cf. The Billboard, August 22, 1953, page 38 [online,
https://books.google.fr/books?id=1QoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=morton+go
uld+mediterranean+legend+runnymede, accessed July 27, 2017]
204
From Dusk to Dawn (1953/6') is sometimes wrongly referred to as From Dawn to Dusk or
just Dawn to Dusk.
205
Notes on the back cover of the LP “Concerto for Lovers” (M.G.M. Records C 759, 1954).
75
hope spread to several countries: in the United States, Larry Coleman (b.
1938) composed the Brownstone Concerto (1953/8') in homage to the residential
neighborhood of New York, while Jimmy Sheldon (1926-2000) wrote the Nob
Hill Nocturne (1953/11'), tribute to the famous neighborhood of San Francisco.
The newspaper Billboard describes this last work:
“In the tradition of Rhapsody in Blue, Warsaw Concerto and Cornish Rhapsody, this is a
‘popular concerto’ for piano and orchestra. Composer James Sheldon plays its flowing
themes with finesse, backed by an orchestra conducted by Georges Greeley, who prepared
the orchestration.”206
Hungarian Janos Gyulai Gaal (1924-2009) won the third prize of the
1956 Belgian Radio Light Music Competition with his Concerto in one
movement (12'). Gyulai Gaal based his work (written in sonata form: A-B-
development-A'-B') on two stylistically different themes: the first (energetic
and rhythmic) is written in a “classical” way, while the second (which
concludes the work) is sensual and sounds like Hollywood music.
In Switzerland, Toni Leutwiler (1923-2009), a prolific composer of
Light Music, wrote a Romantic Fantasy (1954/7') in the style of the Warsaw
Concerto, and a Concerto for piano, jazz orchestra and symphony orchestra
(1955/9') in the style of Gershwin. In Sweden, Per Lundkvist (1916-1999)
composed a Mountain Rhapsody (1957/6'), about which piano-concerto-
specialist Maurice Hinson writes: “Flamboyant theatrical style”208; then a
Rhapsody in Red (1964/10'), as well as a Midnight Rhapsody (1975/7') and a Golden
Rhapsody (1990/9'). Also in Sweden, Austrian-born composer Willy Mattes
206
The Billboard, 16 February 1963, page 29 [online,
https://books.google.fr/books?id=cQsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq, accessed
June 8, 2019]
207
Notes on the back cover of the LP WESTMINSTER XWN 18745 (1958).
208
Maurice Hinson, “Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide” Enlarged
Edition (1993), p. 173.
76
(1916-2002), after his famous Swedish Rhapsody (1947/8') published under the
pseudonym Charles Wildman209, composed the Concerto melodioso/Vienna
Concerto (1949/9'), then in the 1950s the Capriccio romantico (?/10')210 and the
Stockholm Concerto (1957/6'). Similarly, his compatriot Gerard Tersmeden
(1920-2004) composed several mini piano concertos throughout his career:
Solitaire (1945/4'), a para Denham Concerto which became rather famous in
England and the United States; Romantic Rhapsody (1947/7') and Mini Concerto
(1972/8'). In contrast, his Mediterranean Rhapsody (before 1973/12'), released on
the B-side of the vinyl which featured the Mini Concerto on the A-side, purely
belongs to the Symphonic Entertainment field, and does not have a
sufficiently concertante piano part, just like his For Hermine (before 1975/6').
In Mexico, film composer Manuel Esperon (1911-2011) wrote a Fantasia
(1951/4') which did not have any success, to our knowledge. In Norway,
Kolbjorn Ofstad (1917-1996) composed his Romantic Rhapsody (before 1957/7').
In Italy, while Camillo Bargoni (1907-?) achieved success with his Autumn
Concerto (before 1956/5'), Teresa Procaccini (b. 1934), who made her career as
a composer of “serious” music, began writing a set of mini piano concertos:
New York Picture (1958/8'); Viaggio a Las Vegas (1958/13'); An Evening in Paris
(1960/7'); Movie Music (1960/7'); Night Music (1960/6') and Sentimental Day
(1960/8').
In the United States, Bernie Wayne (1919-1993) merged symphonic jazz
and Hollywoodian music in his piano concertos Blues on the Rocks (7') and The
Strong and the Tender (8'), both dating from 1957. The same year, famous
“classical” composer Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008/USA) wrote, for the
documentary dedicated to him211 from the TV series “The Seven Lively Arts”,
a Ballad of the Seven Lively Arts (1957/10') in which these two great
complementary styles are also blended. In Argentina, Carlos Guastavino
(1912-2000), famous in his country for his many popular songs, wrote his
Romance de Santa Fe (1952/10'), a work which he premiered himself the
following year. Like almost all mini piano concertos, the work:
“Es un único movimiento con secciones de gran amplitud melódica e intensidad
expresiva […]”212
“is in a single movement with sections of great melodic amplitude and expressive
intensity […]”.
209
About the Swedish Rhapsody, see above, paragraph 2.
210
The Capriccio romantico (?/10') also exists in a very abridged (and reorchestrated) version,
under the title Riviera Concerto (1959/3').
211
“Portrait of a Composer”, aired on CBS on February 3, 1958.
212
Notes by Ana María Portillo for the CD “Guastavino Sinfónico” (2012) [online,
http://bibliotecadigital.uca.edu.ar/repositorio/revistas/revista-instituto-carlos-vega-27.pdf,
accessed October 1, 2017]
77
In Germany, very serious composer Gunter Bialas (1907-1995), known
for his open-mindedness and for his interest in the most modern aspects of
music, orchestrated in 1956 his 1952 Jazz-Promenade for two pianos. The
result is an astonishing 7-minute simili tabloid concerto which had the honor
of being radio broadcast under the direction of Rafael Kubelik. This
recording is so rare that no one seems to have listened to the piece, since all
references give a wrong duration of 10 minutes, including musicologist
Maurice Hinson’s213. The Jazz-Promenade, cast in several short and contrasted
linked sections, is stylistically close to the music of the film noir of this
period; in a sense, it seems to announce the orchestral violence and the
rhythmic-aggressive piano writing of scores composed by Elmer Bernstein
(1922-2004/USA) for the TV series “Johnny Staccato” (1959-1960). In Portugal,
Armando Tavares Belo (1911-1993) wrote a para Denham Concerto entitled
Concerto romantico (1957), which lasts fifteen minutes – an “extreme” duration
for a mini piano concerto.
1957 should have been the year of the tabloid concerto from the famous
Soviet film “The Cranes are Flying”, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, which
won the Palme d’Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. But it does not seem
that composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)214 arranged the various
fragments of the piano concerto supposedly written by one of the characters
of the film. The same year, German composer Paul Haletzki (1911-2000)
arranged these fragments to form a 5-minute tabloid concerto; a work which
has never been recorded, to our knowledge. German musicologist David
Fanning wrote in the music review “Osteuropa”:
“Die Musik wurde so populär, dass Auszüge für diverse Ensembles erschienen.
Weinbergs Musik ‘à la Rachmaninoff’ – für die Szene, in der die Verlobte des Helden von
des-sen feigem Bruder (einem Komponisten) während eines Luftangriffs verführt wird –
wurde von Paul Haletzki zur Fantasie für Klavier und Orchester arrangiert.”215
“The music became so popular that excerpts arranged for various ensembles
appeared. Weinberg’s music ‘à la Rachmaninoff’ – for the scene in which the hero’s
fiancee is seduced and barely avoids being raped by his cowardly cousin Mark (a composer)
during an air raid – was arranged by Paul Haletzki in a ‘Fantasy for piano and orchestra’.”
The hope of writing a hit directly reached composers working for the
Easy Listening industry. In the United States, several composers joined
forces to produce an LP entitled “Concertos U.S.A.”216. Performed by the
famous popular orchestra “101 Strings” (completed for the occasion by other
213
Maurice Hinson, “Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide” Enlarged
Edition (1993), p. 38.
214
This great composer’s name is sometimes spelled Moishe Vainberg.
215
David Fanning, “Mieczyslaw Weinberg, vie et œuvre”, music review “Osteuropa”, n°7,
2010, pp. 5-24.
216
Alshire Records, ALCD 6 (1966).
78
instrumentalists), this LP, released in 1966, consists entirely of no less than
twelve micro-concertos, written in a very “glamorous” style and never
exceeding four minutes. Among them:
All these short compositions are written in the style of the Hollywood
Golden Age, except the jazzy Concerto to St. Louis by Bernie Wayne (1919-
1993/USA). The price of success: the “101 Strings” orchestra released the
following year (in 1967) a triple album entitled “Two Hours in the Wonderful
World of Piano Concertos & Rhapsodies”217.
In 1965, for one of its advertising campaigns, Eastern Airlines
produced the non-commercial LP “Images in Flight, a North American
Odyssey” which brought together several short orchestral pieces evocative of
destinations served by the company. All these pieces were pre-existing “hits”
arranged and conducted by André Kostelanetz (1901-1980/Rus/USA), except
for two works composed for the occasion: famous “classical” composer Paul
Creston (1906-1985/USA) wrote his four-movement Airborne Suite, while Clay
Warnick (1915-1995/USA) composed a micro-concerto entitled Bermuda
Concerto (3')218.
France was not very sensitive to Light Music in general, and to mini
piano concertos in particular. So it is not a surprise that composers such as
Roger Roger (1911-1995), Paul Bonneau (1918-1995) and Wal-Berg (pseudonym
of Voldemar Rosenberg: 1910-1994) were forced to cross the Channel to
practice their art. Wal-Berg, notably, composed his ballade for piano and
orchestra Holiday in Paris (1951/10'), which is undoubtedly one of the best
examples of French mini piano concertos219.
In 1958, American jazzmen Stan Kenton (1911-1979) and Pete Rugolo
(1915-2011) reorchestrated in a much more Hollywoodian way their Theme to
the West first recorded in 1947: the result, lasting five minutes, is a true mini
piano concerto.
Of course, British cinema kept up its momentum:
217
When we come to this kind of anthology, the term “mini piano concerto” is to be taken
in its laxest sense, since in their bulimia of arranging everything for piano and orchestra,
the “101 Strings” also arranged, for example, pieces like the Méditation de Thaïs (1894; arr. in
1965) by Jules Massenet (1842-1912/Fra).
218
Columbia Special Products, prepared exclusively for Eastern Airlines (1965). Collectors’
album, limited edition.
219
Holiday in Paris (1951) occupied the B-side of a Telefunken LP (TW 30017) which had
Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto (1941) on the A-side. Pianist: Willi Stech;
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, conducted by Wal-Berg.
79
- Leslie Bridgewater (1893-1975) composed Legend of Lancelot (3') for the
portmanteau film “Train of Events” (Basil Dearden, 1949);
- Philip Green (1911-1982) wrote Song of Soho: Rhapsody (6') for “Murder
Without Crime” (J. Lee Thompson, 1950), as well as The Hour of Meditation
(3') for “24 Hours of a Woman’s Life/Affair in Monte Carlo” (Victor Saville,
1952);
- Leighton Lucas (1901-1982) composed for Alfred Hitchcock’s film
“Stage Fright” (1950) several segments for piano and orchestra which have
been “reconstructed” by Philip Lane (b. 1950), and recorded in 1994 under
the title Stage Fright Rhapsody (5')220.
In the United States, the virtuoso piece Midnight on the Cliffs, originally
entitled Midnight on the Newport Cliffs, – written for solo piano in 1942 by
future famous pianist of the Hollywood Bowl Leonard Pennario (1924-
2008/USA), then aged 18 – was adapted in 1954 in a 3-minute micro-concerto
by famous arranger and conductor Les Baxter (1922-1996/USA). At the same
time, the original work for solo piano was noticed by actress Doris Day, who
wanted to use it in the next film in which she starred: “Julie” (Andrew L.
Stone, 1956). In this movie, Pennario’s music, used only in its original solo
piano version, gives a strong dramatic tension to two iconic scenes. For the
promotion of the film, MGM studios released a single with a new
arrangement of this work, subtitled for the occasion Theme from “Julie” (3'),
performed by David Rose and His Orchestra. Then, in 1995, British pianist
Philip Fowke recorded a 5-minute version, sublimated by a sumptuous
orchestration by Lucien Cailliet (1891-1985) – a famous orchestrator of French
origin who worked for Hollywood – which transformed the work for solo
piano in a Denham Concerto. About this arrangement/performance, edited
on the 1998 Naxos CD “Warsaw Concerto and Other Piano Concertos From
the Movies”, we need to raise a question that has (so far) not been answered,
despite our research: from when does Lucien Cailliet’s orchestration date,
and why was it done? It does not seem to have been made for the release of
the 1956 film, nor to have been commercially published before the 1998
Naxos CD, whose booklet states many inaccuracies. We wrote to concert
pianist Philip Fowke, who unfortunately replied to us: “[I] do not know the
date of the orchestral score. I used a copy from the BBC Library which was
returned.”221 We also wrote to conductor Proinnsias O’Duinn (who
conducted the RTE Concert Orchestra for the Naxos CD), whose answer
220
In the booklet of the DECCA CD “Love Story: Piano Themes from Cinema’s Golden
Age” (2016), Philip Lane writes: “There is no piano in Leighton Lucas’s score for
Hitchcock’s Stage Fright (1950) […]”, p. 5. But when we watched the film, we noticed that
there is a short passage of solo piano (in a scene in which it is supposed to be played by
one of the characters), as well as a Love Scene with a concertante piano part (non-diegetic).
221
E-mail that Mr. Fowke sent us on January 22, 2018.
80
was: “The recording was made many many years ago. I am not aware of the
details regarding the reproduction of the music.”222 So, to date, the genesis of
this orchestration/arrangement remains unknown to us. For the
“Chronological Repertory”, we decided to put Midnight on the Cliffs in 1954,
which is the date of the first concertante arrangement by Les Baxter.
Also in Hollywood, Harry Sukman (1912-1984/USA) composed for the
film “Gog” (Herbert L. Strock, 1954) a three-minute piece entitled Nightfall;
some years later, the composer produced an extended version under the title
Nightfalls into Starlight (8'), for the British film “The Naked Runner” (Sidney
J. Furie, 1967).
In 1959 Ferde Grofe (1892-1972/USA), who carried out no fewer than
three orchestrations of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue223, finished the Piano
Concerto in D minor (New England Concerto) that he had started composing in
1931 while he was working as an arranger/orchestrator for the popular
conductor Paul Whiteman (1890-1967/USA)224. Like several other works
mentioned above, this “long” mini piano concerto (15 minutes) synthesized
two great popular American musical trends: symphonic jazz and
Hollywoodian music. This synthesis can also be found in several of Grofe’s
orchestral compositions, such as Broadway at Night (1924), Tabloid Suite (1933)
and Hollywood Suite (1938).
The 1960s continued to produce many mini piano concertos, but this
musical genre was already losing momentum since the general public, to
which it was destined, turned its attention towards even shorter works:
namely rock and pop songs, that monopolized the listeners’ attention more
and more. Film music was also threatened, as noted by French musicologist
Michel Chion:
“le renouveau de la musique de cinéma dans les décennies cinquante et soixante
[…] est marqué globalement par l’invasion successive du jazz, puis de la chanson et enfin
de la pop […]. Bernard Herrmann démissionne avec éclat de son association de
compositeurs, pour protester contre la situation.”225
“the revival of cinema music in the fifties and sixties [...] was marked globally by the
successive invasions of jazz, then of songs, and finally of pop music [...]. Bernard Herrmann
resigned ostentatiously from his association of composers, to protest the situation.”
222
E-mail that Mr. O’Duinn sent us on January 23, 2018.
223
Rhapsody in Blue was orchestrated by Ferde Grofe three times: in 1924, in 1926, and
finally in 1942.
224
As Grofe wrote in program notes. Quoted in James Farrington, “Ferdé Grofe: an
investigation into his musical activities and works” (1985), p. 151.
225
Michel Chion, “La Musique au cinéma” (1995), pp. 140 and 142.
81
- “The Third Man” (Carol Reed/Orson Welles, 1949), in which the
entire soundtrack consisted of pieces for solo zither, played by Anton Karas;
- “Jeux interdits/Forbidden Games” (René Clément, 1951), with the
famous guitar theme by Fernando Sor, played by Narciso Yepes;
- “Limelight” (Charlie Chaplin, 1952), with the song Eternally by
Chaplin himself;
- “High Noon” (Fred Zinneman, 1952), with the song Do Not Forsake
Me, Oh My Darling by Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979/Ukr/USA) with lyrics by
Ned Washington;
- “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (David Lean, 1957), in which
everyone whistles the Colonel Bogey March, written in 1914;
- “Alamo” (John Wayne, 1960), in which the trumpet keeps playing the
famous recreation by Dimitri Tiomkin of the Mexican Deguello;
- “Goldfinger” (Guy Hamilton, 1964), where the brass section screams
in the Main Title composed by John Barry (1933-2011/GB) and sung by
Shirley Bassey;
- “Zorba the Greek” (Michael Cacoyannis, 1964), with the famous
Sirtaki dance, adapted by Mikis Theodorakis (b. 1925/Gre);
- “Doctor Zhivago” (David Lean, 1965), with the famous Lara’s Theme
by Maurice Jarre (1924-2009/Fra);
- “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (Sergio Leone, 1966), soundtrack
composed by Ennio Morricone (b. 1928/Ita);
- “The Laureat” (Mike Nichols, 1967), with the song Sound of Silence by
Simon & Garfunkel;
- “The Thomas Crown Affair” (Norman Jewison, 1968), with the song
The Windmills of Your Mind by Michel Legrand (1932-2019/Fra);
- “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (George Roy Hill, 1969), with
the song Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head by Burt Bacharach (b. 1928/USA),
with lyrics by Hal David.
82
“The Appartment” (4'), a piece which had some success and was arranged –
with a more concertante piano part – by Russo-Finnish conductor and
pianist George de Godzinsky (1914-1994).
In France, René Cloerec (1911-1995) composed a Concerto pour piano (5')
for Claude Autant-Lara’s film “The Murderer” (1962), which did not have a
success. Idem concerning the romantic Lolita Theme (5') written by Bob
Harris (1925-2000/USA) for Stanley Kubrick’s homonymous movie, released
in 1962.
In Italy, too, the audience was uninterested in the Windsor Concerto (3')
written by Carlo Rustichelli (1916-2004) for the film “The Whip and the
Body” (Mario Bava, 1963).
In the United States, for the needs of the film “The World of Henry
Orient” (George Roy Hill, 1964), a producer required a tabloid concerto to be
written in a clearly modernist way – for the first time in cinema history. The
result is the Piano Concerto (7')227 composed by Ken Lauber (b. 1941/USA). Of
course this work did not achieve public success.
In 1969, as part of the “Apollo 11” manned lunar mission, the official
documentary “Footprints on the Moon”, directed by Bill Gibson, used the
Laguna Concerto (1960/8'), – a simili tabloid concerto composed by Philip
Moody (1921-2011/GB/USA) – which was abridged and retitled for the occasion
Lunar Concerto, with an added voiceover of the narrator.
Some English composers of the “new” generation started their career
with a mini piano concerto. Such is the case of Howard Blake (b. 1938),
whose Rhapsody for a Summer’s Night (1961/3') was premiered by famous
popular pianist Alberto Semprini228. In an e-mail229 in which we were talking
about this work, Howard Blake confirmed that he had composed it in the
spirit of the Warsaw Concerto, a point he also made in his autobiography:
“I wrote Rhapsody for a Summer’s Night in the tradition of Richard Addinsell’s
Warsaw Concerto or Charles Williams’ The Dream of Olwen. He [Clive Lythgoe] seemed very
pleased, broadcasting it with Paul Fenoulhet conducting the BBC Revue Orchestra.”230
227
Ken Lauber’s Piano Concerto (1964) lasts 7 minutes, but only a 4-minute extract is heard
in the movie.
228
Alberto Semprini (1908-1990/GB) himself composed two mini piano concertos:
Mediterranean Concerto (1950/7') and Concerto appassionato (1956/5'), the latter being a para
Denham Concerto.
229
E-mail that Mr. Blake sent us on January 26, 2017.
230
Cf. Howard Blake, Autobiography [online,
http://www.howardblake.com/music/Verse-Prose/662/WALKING-IN-THE-AIR-CAN-BE-
DANGEROUS.htm, accessed October 21, 2017]
83
Canadian Concerto (1962/12'). German Ralph Siegel (b. 1945) wrote a Dream
Rhapsody/Traum-Rhapsodie (1965/5'). French Michel Legrand (1932-2019)
arranged a Concerto Theme (3') from his score for the musical film “Les
Demoiselles de Rochefort” (Jacques Demy, 1967). Older composers kept
trying to seduce an audience that now turned its back on them. Dutchman
Hans Vlig van der Sys (1917-1983) and German Christian Schmitz-Steinberg
(1920-1980) wrote a para Denham Concerto entitled Rainbow Concerto (7')
which was published in 1967 in a reduction for two pianos arranged by
German Erich Börschel. Swiss Cédric Dumont (1916-2007) did not have more
success with his The Song of the Piano (1967/6'). The same is true concerning
the Autumn Rhapsody (before 1964/5') by Australian Moneta Eagles (1924-
2003), about which Australian musicologist Larry Sitsky writes:
“Moneta Eagles composed two works for piano and orchestra. The shorter of the
two, Autumn Rhapsody, with a slightly reduced orchestra, is in one movement and in a quasi
popular vein, the genre of concerti that used to appear in films, and which gave birth to
works like the Warsaw Concerto and the Cornish Rhapsody.”231
Sign of the times, more and more often, film scores were composed by
pop music stars233.
The last “major” mini piano concerto was the Rhapsody 21 (1961/7')234,
composed for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair by Antoinette “Toni” Mineo (b.
1926) and orchestrated by her husband Attilio Mineo (1918-2010). This work
was simultaneously released in two editions, taken from the same recording
(with pianist Sondra Bianca and conductor Paul Whiteman): a 7-minute
version as part of the merchandising of the World’s Fair, and a 21-minute
231
Larry Sitsky, “Australian Piano Music of the Twentieth Century” (2005), p. 263.
232
Pierre Berthomieu, “La Musique de film” (2004), p. 60.
233
The band Traffic composed the soundtrack of the movie “Here We Go Round the
Mulberry Gush” (1967); the band Pink Floyd: “The Committee” (1968); George Harrison
(one of the Beatles): “Wonderwall” (1968); the band Manfred Mann: “Up the Jonction”
(1968)…
234
In the title Rhapsody 21, “21” stands for “21st century”, since the Seattle World’s Fair was
themed “Century 21 Exposition”. In the official collector’s edition, this mini piano concerto
was presented: “Resolution from Washington State Legislature proclaiming the adoption
of Rhapsody 21 as the official theme music for the Century 21 Exposition”. There was also a
“Letter of congratulations to the composer of Rhapsody 21 from the Junior Senator Henry
M. Jackson”.
84
version on the LP “Paul Whiteman Conducts Rhapsody 21”, which features
many slightly varied repetitions of the principal themes and some short
original sections such as two cadences for solo piano. One of the great
collectors active on the website UnsungComposers (a forum dedicated to rare
recordings of classical music) writes:
“This is Rachmaninoff meeting The Dream of Olwen – cheesy ‘running toward each
other along cliff tops’ music – but quite charming, well to me anyway!”235
235
Semloh (pseudonym), more than 1,200 uploads on UnsungComposers [online,
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3621.150.html, accessed
September 12, 2017]
85
The following year, another French composer, Michel Legrand (1932-
2019), won the “44th Academy Awards Oscar for Original Dramatic Score”
and the “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” for his music for the
American film “Summer of ‘42” (Robert Mulligan, 1971). Michel Legrand
immediately arranged his Main Theme into a micro-concerto, under the title
Concertino pour piano et orchestre (4')236.
In 1973, French Claude Bolling (b. 1930) wrote a parodic Piano Concerto
(3') for Philippe de Broca’s film “Le Magnifique”, but this piece had no
particular success. The same observation can be made of the Concerto for
Harry (9'), written by Roy Budd (1947-1993/GB) for the film “Something to
Hide” (Alastair Reid, 1971), and of the Piano Concerto “Thirty Nine Steps” (12')
that Ed Welch (b. 1947/GB) arranged from his music for the film of the same
name, directed by Don Sharp and released in 1978. Idem concerning the 1994
Piano Concerto “The Forgotten Manuscript” (11') composed by Eduard Artemyev
(b. 1937/Rus) for the Russian film “Burnt by the Sun”, directed by Nikita
Mikhalkov – and this despite the fact that the film won the Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Film.
In 1980, French composer Laurent Petitgirard (b. 1950) arranged three
of his film scores237 into a concertante piece entitled The Rosebud Suite (17'); it
remains, to date, the longest one-movement work for piano and orchestra
arranged from film music.
Since Japan was largely open to Western music, in 1970 popular
composer (who was also a film actor) Dan Kosaku238 composed a 7-minute
mini piano concerto, very influenced by Rachmaninoff, which was premiered
by pianist Kentaro Haneda with the New Japan Philharmonic Symphony
Orchestra. In 1985, it became the first movement of his three-movement
Piano Concerto in D minor, orchestrated with the help of arranger Morioka
Kenichiro (b. 1934). Still in Japan, the film “Suna no Utsuwa/The Castle of
Sand” (Yoshitarō Nomura, 1974) was one of the biggest box office hits of the
’70s – a success partly due to the music by Mitsuaki Kanno (1939-1983),
scored for piano and orchestra because one of the main characters of the
film, Eiryo Waga, is a pianist/composer. In 2004, a TV series adaptation was
made, under the same title, and composer Akira Senju (b. 1960) composed a
tabloid concerto (in 2 movements, 12' and 9'), entitled Shukumei/Fate, – after
the title of the concerto supposedly composed by the character of the film –
which condensed the original score of Mitsuaki Kanno. The first movement
of this work is a kind of mini piano concerto; however it hardly has the
236
The concertino “Summer of ’42” is better known in its version for harp and orchestra,
also arranged by the composer.
237
The films “Rosebud” (Otto Preminger, 1975), “L’Amant de poche/The Pocket Lover”
(Bernard Queysanne, 1978), “Asphalte” (Denis Amar, 1980).
238
Often spelled Kousaku or Kohsaku (pseudonym of Yuzo Kayama, b. 1937).
86
characteristics of those of the Hollywood Golden Age. Nonetheless, the Piano
Concerto “Shukumei” was one of the biggest commercial successes in Japan, in
the category… “Classical Music”!
Since the ’70s, the film music industry multiplied the reissues of the
great soundtracks; it offered a last refuge to the tabloid concertos of the
Golden Age. In the United States, conductors like Charles Gerhardt (1937-
1999), Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004) and William T. Stromberg (b. 1964)
specialized in the field of reinterpretation239. In England, conductor Rumon
Gamba (b. 1972) launched, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the
collection “The Film Music of…”, a collection which continues today. On the
occasion of the recording of a CD devoted to tabloid concertos of the British
Cinema Golden Age, the various fragments of a piece for solo piano
composed by Jack Beaver (1900-1963) for the movie “The Case of the
Frightened Lady” (George King, 1940) – a piece which was supposed to be
played by one of the characters of the film – were arranged by Philip Lane (b.
1950) in 1998 under the title Portrait of Isla (5').
Written by Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985/Rus/USA) for the movie “Idol
of Paris” (Leslie Arliss, 1948), and arranged in a seven-minute version by
George L. Zalva (?-?/USA), the piece Dedication was recorded in 2009 on the
occasion of a CD dedicated to the film music of this somewhat forgotten
composer240.
In Germany, Ernst Brandner (1921-2015) arranged a Carlos-Fantasie
(1971/6') after his music for the TV series “Carlos”; this work went unnoticed.
The same can be said concerning the “Miracle at Midnight” Piano Concerto
(2001/16') adapted by American composer William Goldstein (b. 1942) from
his music for the TV movie of the same name (1997), directed by Ken
Cameron and produced by ABC channel.
Although the popularity of mini piano concertos was on the decline,
composers from various backgrounds continued to write such works,
probably more out of personal taste (or nostalgia) than in the hope of making
a popular success. Thus, British Gordon Langford (1930-2017) composed his
fantasy for piano and orchestra A Song for All Seasons (1997/12'), about which
English music critic Steve Arloff writes:
“A Song for All Seasons is described as a ‘Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra’. It opens
with a theme that is as serious as it is melodic, with a twenties feel to it. In fact it frequently
239
Charles Gerhardt (1927-1999/USA): collection “Classic Film Scores of…”. Elmer
Bernstein (1922-2004/USA): collection “Original Motion Picture Scores”. William T.
Stromberg (b. 1964/USA): collection “Tribute Film Classics”.
240
Mischa Spoliansky’s Dedication (1948) had already been recorded, in a 4-minute Light
Music version, by Sidney Torch (1908-1990/GB) conducting the Queen’s Hall Light
Orchestra.
87
brought Gershwin to mind. This is a miniature gem imbued with excitement and carried
off with panache by William Stephenson as soloist.”241
241
Steve Arloff’s review on the website MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Feb04/langford.htm, accessed
October 22, 2017]
242
On the Ukrainian website “Lviv Philharmonic Society” [online,
http://www.philharmonia.lviv.ua/04-2017/news-20170303-1703/?lang=en, accessed December
6, 2017]
243
Gérald Hugon, booklet of the Naxos CD 8.557692 (2006).
88
élans romantiques, des accents héroïques, des moments de rêve et s’achève par une
vigoureuse coda pleine d’éclat.”244
“Its dominant, more demonstrative piano writing is dazzling, and the work treats us
to romantic impulses, heroic accents and dreamlike moments before ending with a lively
and sparkling coda.”245
244
Ibid.
245
English translation of Gérald Hugon’s texts by Susannah Howe.
246
Latvian Imants Kalnins (b. 1941) composed his Symphony No. 4 “Rock Symphony” (1972/50'),
his compatriot Zigmunds Lorencs (b. 1949) wrote his Concertino for Orchestra and Rock Band
(1977/12'), American David Kraehenbuehl (1923-1997) composed his Rhapsody in Rock for
piano and orchestra (1978/6'), and New Zealander Jenny Helen McLeod (b. 1941) wrote her
Rock Concerto for piano and orchestra (1986/22').
247
The original Bohemian Rhapsody by the band Queen dates from 1975.
248
We have not listed the New World Concerto or the Bohemian Rhapsody in the “First
Repertory” because they are based on pre-existing works (cf. Chapter II, criterion n°7: a
mini piano concerto is not an arrangement of a work from the classical repertoire, or of a
theme from film music, or of a popular song…), unlike the King of the Air Piano Concerto by
Gavin Lockley.
89
As we can see in these last examples, we are very far from the specific
musical genre which elegantly illustrated the Hollywoodian style, about
which French musicologist Pierre Berthomieu writes:
“Le lyrisme hollywoodien aime l’ornement mélodique. L’accompagnement
orchestral est toujours riche, généreux dans ses effets de trilles, de trémolos, ses mélismes,
ses exotismes (seconde augmentée, cinquième ascendante), ses triolets. Lorsque l’écriture
mélodique pratique la dissonance, c’est une dissonance agréable à l’oreille (septième,
neuvième, onzième).”249
“Hollywood lyricism loves melodic ornamentation. The orchestral accompaniment
is always rich, generous in its effects (trills, tremolos), its melismas, its exoticism
(augmented second, ascending fifth), its triplets. When melodic writing uses a dissonance,
it is a dissonance which is pleasant to the ear (seventh, ninth, eleventh).”
After the breaking waves of Disco, Techno and Rap, all this is over. At
the dawn of the 21st century, it even seems impossible to compose a mini
piano concerto stylistically similar to those of the Hollywood Golden Age.
However, in 2014, an mp3 album entitled “Tierra Nueva Antología Musical De
Tabasco Vol. 3” was released by the MultiMusic Mexico label; this album
featured several works for solo piano and four short works for piano and
orchestra, played and conducted by Mexican pianist, composer and
conductor Joaquín Borges, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. The
name(s) of the composer(s) was/were not indicated for any of the works in
this mp3 album. But, concerning the four short concertante works, listening
to them allows us to make this sad observation: these four micro-concertos,
supposedly depicting Mexico, are actually works by composers from the
United States dating from the ’50s-’60s. Each title was “mexicanised”:
90
dubious, as several other mp3 albums supposed to be played and/or
conducted by him also turn out to be recordings “stolen” from other
performers…
So, our story of the vogue of the mini piano concertos ends with a
fraud, which is now referenced as such on “Music for Piano and Orchestra:
The Recorded Repertory” by Dr. Allan B. Ho253.
253
“Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded Repertory”, by Dr. Allan B. Ho,
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (USA) [online,
http://www.siue.edu/~aho/discography/Discography.pdf, accessed October 26, 2017]
91
CHAPTER V
In “The Seven Year Itch” (Billy Wilder, 1955), the (fantasized) character
embodied by Marylin Monroe exclaims, while listening to Rachmaninoff’s
Piano Concerto No. 2:
“Everytime I hear it, I go to pieces!… It shakes me! It quakes me! It makes me feel
goose-pimply all over! I don’t know where I am or who I am or what I’m doing!”
254
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), Chapter II, p. 32.
92
effect could be weakened. In England, Denham Studios255 were the first to
find the solution: convince Rachmaninoff (1873-1943/Rus/USA) to compose
an original tabloid concerto for a film. In 1940, through their Los Angeles
office256, Denham Studios invited Rachmaninoff to work on their anti-fascist
propaganda film “Dangerous Moonlight/Suicide Squadron”, directed by
Brian Desmond Hurst257. It is said that the Russian composer declined the
offer – a choice which probably would not have been that of many of his
confreres, including Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971/Rus/USA), then in Los
Angeles258. Other sources indicate that the producers had also considered
using Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, but they abandoned the idea
because of the copyright price259. These two versions of the facts overlap and
complement each other. The tabloid concerto that Rachmaninoff did not
write was written by Richard Addinsell (1904-1977), a British composer
specialized in film music, with the title Warsaw Concerto260… The enduring
success of this emblematic work deserves a closer look at its genesis. The
context of World War II, which propelled the film “Dangerous Moonlight” in
1941, made the audience very receptive to the anti-Nazi propaganda message
conveyed by the film. It also increased the enthusiasm generated by the
music supposed to be performed by the hero of the movie, who is both a
composer and an aviator. The Warsaw Concerto, of which we hear fragments
255
Denham Studios (London Film Productions), located near London, were created by
director Alexander Korda. As we have already had the occasion to explain, the chief of the
music department was famous arranger and conductor Muir Mathieson (1911-1975/GB). In
particular, he conducted the first recording of the Warsaw Concerto, with the London
Symphony Orchestra and pianist Louis Kentner.
256
RKO, Radio British Productions.
257
Thomas S. Hischak writes: “The producers tried to get Sergei Rachmaninoff to write the
concerto for piano and orchestra that is performed in the film, but he declined.” Thomas
S. Hischak: “The Encyclopedia of Film Composers” (2015), article ADDINSELL, Richard, p.
1. See also what musicologist Ross Care explains: “The celebrated Russian pianist and
composer, Serge Rachmaninov, had been approached about doing the score [one-
movement composition for piano and orchestra], and when he refused it Addinsell cast his
concerto in a Rachmaninovian mode of effusive, appealing lyricism.” Ross Care: “Richard
Addinsell – Writer” on filmreference.com [online,
http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-A-Ba/Addinsell-
Richard.html, accessed October 7, 2017]
258
Stravinsky tried several times to become a film composer in Hollywood, notably for
Henry King’s “The Song of Bernadette” (1943), to which the producers eventually preferred
Alfred Newman (1901-1970/USA). Stravinsky re-used the music written for this film in his
Symphony in Three Movements (1945). Cf. the documentary “Stravinsky à Hollywood” (Marco
Capalbo, 2014).
259
Read the quote from academic Mervyn Cook in Chapter IV “The Vogue of the mini
piano concertos”, paragraph 2.
260
To be very precise, Richard Addinsell wrote the film score, but it is Roy Douglas (1907-
2015/GB) who really “composed” the Warsaw Concerto as it was recorded.
93
during the film (in particular during a concert sequence towards the end) was
so popular that Denham Studios asked orchestrator Roy Douglas (1907-
2015/GB) to arrange a concert version of it. The result was the Warsaw
Concerto as we know it, lasting 9 minutes. Roy Douglas writes:
“While I was orchestrating the Warsaw Concerto, I had around me the miniature
scores of Rach. 2nd, Rach. 3rd, and the Pag-Rhap.”261
The success of the Warsaw Concerto was huge and international. Roy
Douglas testifies, not without humor:
“When I read in the newspapers that three million records had been sold, I meekly
asked if I could be given a small royalty, on the grounds that my scoring had surely helped
to make the work popular. This seemed to me a reasonable request, but it was greeted with
horror and anger.”263
261
Jan G. Swynnoe, “The Best Years of British Film Music, 1936-1958” (2002). Appendix B:
“The True Story of the Warsaw Concerto” by Roy Douglas, p. 216.
262
Blair Johnston, text about the Warsaw Concerto written for the website AllMusic.com
[online,
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/warsaw-concerto-for-piano-orchestra-for-the-film-
dangerous-moonlight-suicide-squadron-mc0002368548, accessed July 27, 2017]
263
Jan G. Swynnoe, “The Best Years of British Film Music, 1936-1958” (2002). Appendix B:
“The True Story of the Warsaw Concerto” by Roy Douglas, p. 216.
94
Such a success logically prompted English and American film studios
to feature original Rachmaninovian piano concertante pieces in several other
films. Kevin J. Donnelly notes:
“In the wake of the Warsaw Concerto, written by Richard Addinsell, many films
surfaced that followed a similar format, including what were termed ‘tabloid concertos’.
The vast majority of these films focused on a central character who was a musician,
allowing the motivation of foreground music within the films.”264
1944 - Hubert Bath (1883-1945/GB): Cornish Rhapsody (7'), from “Love Story/A Lady
Surrenders”266
1946 - Arthur Bliss (1891-1975/GB): Baraza (7'), from “Men of Two Worlds”267
1946 - Vivian Ellis (1904-1996/GB): Piccadilly 1944 (4'), adapted from his score for
“Piccadilly Incident”268
1947 - Charles Williams (1893-1978/GB): The Dream of Olwen (4'), from “While I
264
Kevin J. Donnelly, “British Film Music and Film Musicals” (2007), p. 50.
265
For John Huntley – a historian of British film music – the Warsaw Concerto is “perhaps
the most remarkable piece of film background music ever written…”. In “British Film
Music” (1947) p. 190.
266
In Leslie Arliss’ film “Love Story” (1944), the heroine (a composer), played by Margaret
Lockwood “[…] who has one year to live, falls in love with Stewart Granger in Cornwall
and writes a piano concerto […] and is included as a concert performance finale at the
Albert Hall, at which she is the piano soloist.” Kevin J. Donnelly, “British Film Music and
Film Musicals” (2007), p. 24.
267
Nowadays, “Men of Two Worlds” is a film which is almost impossible to find. Here is its
synopsis: “An African music student returns home and has to defeat the witch doctor who
dominates his tribe and take them to healthier land.” [online,
http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/1845, accessed October 19, 2017]
268
John Huntley specifies: “Special recording of an assembly of material used in the film.”
Roger Manvell & John Huntley, “The Technique of Film Music” (1957, republished in
1967), p. 242.
95
Live”269
1950 - Philip Green (1911-1982/GB): Song of Soho: Rhapsody (6'), adapted from his
score for “Murder Without Crime”
1952 - Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006/GB): A Stolen Face: Ballade (8'), adapted from his
score for “Stolen Face”
1952 - Philip Green (1911-1982/GB): The Hour of Meditation (3'), from “24 Hours of a
Woman’s Life/Affair in Monte Carlo”
1952 - Kenneth Leslie-Smith (1897-1993/GB): The Mansell Concerto (4'), adapted from
his score for “The Woman’s Angle”
1963 - James Bernard (1925-2001/GB): Vampire Rhapsody (7'), adapted from his score
for “Kiss of the Vampire”
1950 - Leighton Lucas (1901-1982/GB): Stage Fright Rhapsody (5'), from “Stage
Fright”, arr. in 1994 by Philip Lane271
269
The Kinematograph Weekly of October 9, 1947, writes that the film is “strenuously
accompanied by the pianoforte…” (vol. 1368, n°2110, p. 22).
270
Here is the text that British arranger Philip Lane (b. 1950) wrote about the music of the
film “The Case of the Frightened Lady”, from which he arranged in 1998 a tabloid concerto
that he entitled Portrait of Isla: “‘The Case of the Frightened Lady’ contains what is
probably the first real piano feature in film – hardly a concertante role being more piano
solo than anything else.” Booklet of the Naxos CD “Warsaw Concerto and Other Piano
Concertos from the Movies” (1998). According to musicologist John Morris, Portrait of Isla
“can be considered the first such Denham Concerto”, in “Two Shadows in the Moonlight,
Music in British Film Melodrama of the 1940s” (2008), p. 91.
271
Philip Lane made a tabloid concerto from various parts of the soundtrack of “Stage
Fright”, but there is no full tabloid concerto in this film (there is just a short passage of
solo piano – in a scene in which it is supposed to be played by one of the characters – as
96
There are two other works which have been adapted from British film
scores that do not include piano; we decided to include them in our
“Repertory” (see Chapter VI) because of their great celebrity, and the fact
that they are traditionally considered Denham Concertos:
1945 - Nicholas Brodszky (1905-1958/Ukr/USA)/orch. by Charles Williams (1893-
1978/GB): The Way to the Stars, Main Theme from “The Way to the Stars/Johnny in the
Clouds” (1945), arr. in 1960 by Russ Conway (4'); another arrangement in 1972 by Geoff Love
(3')
1949 - Nino Rota (1911-1979/Ita): Legend of the Glass Mountain for orchestra without
piano, adapted from his score for “The Glass Mountain” (1949), arr. for piano and orchestra
in 1949 by Arthur Wilkinson (4'); another (free) concertante arrangement in 1952 by George
Melachrino (5')
We must also add to this list the following tabloid concertos made in
Hollywood, which have blatant stylistic affinities with the Denham Concertos:
1943 - Edward Ward (1900-1971/USA): Lullaby of the Bells (6'), adapted from his
score for “Phantom of the Opera”
1944 - Victor Young (1900-1956/USA): Stella by Starlight, Main Theme for piano and
orchestra from “The Uninvited”272, arr. in 1957 by Gordon Robinson (4')
1945 - Roy Webb (1888-1982/USA): Piano Concerto (11'), adapted from his score for
“The Enchanted Cottage”
well as a Love Scene with a non-diegetic concertante piano part). Something which
English music critic John France also notes: “The music nearly, but not quite, becomes
Leighton Lucas’s Warsaw Concerto. It is romantic, well written and finely scored. Just a pity
he did not produce a Piano Concerto!” [online,
http://www.musicwebinternational.com/classrev/2012/Apr12/Benjamin_Lucas_film_CHAN10
713.htm, accessed September 19, 2017]
272
In 1946 Stella by Starlight became a hit song with lyrics by Ned Washington, then a jazz
standard played notably by Stan Kenton and his ensemble, by the trumpet players Harry
James and Miles Davis, by the saxophonist Charlie Parker, by the pianists Bud Powell, Nat
King Cole… and by many, many others.
273
About the Spellbound Concerto, academic John Morris writes: “[…] the publisher
Chappell commissioned Rozsa to write a new version, to take on the success of the Warsaw
Concerto.” in “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), p. 37.
97
1947 - Franz Waxman (1906-1967/Ger/USA): Rhapsody for piano and orchestra
(Moderato Appassionato) (13'), adapted from his score for “The Paradine Case”274
1956 - Leonard Pennario (1924-2008/USA): Midnight on the Cliffs, for solo piano
(1942), used in the film “Julie” (1956), arr. and orch. by Lucien Cailliet (1891-1985/Fra/USA)
(5')
c. 1945 - Hermann Krome (1888-1955/Ger): Call from Afar (Ruf aus der Ferne) (12');
abridged and reorchestrated version by Heinz Schreiter (c. 1960/8')
274
About Franz Waxman’s Rhapsody for piano and orchestra, music critic Joseph Stevenson
writes: “Waxman tried mightily to charge the emotions of this film with the lush, yearning,
‘little Tristan’ style of this score. The yearning, heaving piano writing actually emerges as
possessing convincing and powerful musical argument when divorced from the film and
made into this 12-and-a-half-minute quasi-concerto. It’s a bit of a Johnny One-Note,
emotionally, but given its short length it is quite acceptable.” Article on the website
MusicWeb International [online,
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/rhapsody-for-piano-and-orchestra-mc0002433069,
accessed November 3, 2017]
275
About Clive Richardson’s London Fantasia, musicologist David Ades writes: “Towards
the end of the war the publishers Lawrence Wright asked Richardson to compose an eight-
minute work similar to Richard Addinsell’s hugely successful Warsaw Concerto, which had
been featured in the 1941 film ‘Dangerous Moonlight’ […] The work [London Fantasia] was
originally conceived as ‘The Coventry Concerto’ being a tribute to the Midlands city where
Clive Richardson had been stationed. But as the score developed, the composer realised
that it was more suited to the capital city and it eventually appeared in 1944 as London
Fantasia.” Booklet of the Guild CD “The Golden Age of Light Music, vol. 1” (2006), p. 8.
98
c. 1945 - Sidney Torch (1908-1990/GB): Concerto incognito (4')
1952 - Stanley Laudan (1912-1992/Pol/GB) & Gordon Rees (GB): Rhapsody for
Elizabeth (8')
c. 1955 - Gerhard Winkler (1906-1977/Ger): Towards the Sun (Der sonne entgegen),
concert piece/fantasy (8')
276
According to the habits of the Light Music industry, the title Theme from Runnymede
Rhapsody proves that it is only an excerpt from a work that probably lasts about 8 minutes,
which is the traditional length of a Denham Concerto or a para Denham Concerto.
277
The Queen Elizabeth Concerto was later recorded on the A-side of a vinyl with another
mini piano concerto on the B-side: the Romantic Rhapsody (c. 1960) by Kolbjorn Ofstad
(1917-1996/Nor) [online,
http://www.worldcat.org/title/queen-elizabeth-concerto-romantisk-rapsodi/oclc/874416589,
accessed July 25, 2017]
278
Alberto Semprini’s Concerto appassionato was probably longer, because the recorded 4'50
contains the exposition of a first theme (the first 2'37), then the exposition of a second
theme (the next 1'45); and after that there is a short coda (the last 0'25) which comes
abruptly, without any development or re-exposition. It is very curious, structurally
speaking, and the consistency of the form indicates that the complete work probably lasts
seven to eight minutes.
99
1960 - Philip Moody (1921-2011/GB/USA): Laguna Concerto (8')
1961 - Toni (Antoinette) Mineo (b. 1926/USA) & Attilio Mineo (1918-2010/USA):
Rhapsody 21 (7')
publ. 1967 - Hans Vlig van der Sys [pseudonym of Willem Hans van der Sys] (1917-
1983/Net) & Christian Schmitz-Steinberg (1920-1980/Ger): Rainbow Concerto (7')
279
Jonathan Woolf, booklet of the Guild CD “War and Peace – Light Music of the 1940s.
The Golden Age of Light Music” (GLCD 5171). Also on MusicWeb-International [online,
http://www.musicweb
international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/War_and_Peace_GLCD5171.htm,
accessed September 30, 2017]
280
About Francis Lai’s Love Story Theme, see Chapter IV, paragraph 4.
100
of the finest examples of this practice is the music of Otto Preminger’s movie
“Angel Face” (1952). Throughout this film noir, composer Dimitri Tiomkin
(1894-1979/USA) offers spectators a semblance of a tabloid concerto which
never really materializes281. Moreover, it does not seem that the score of
“Angel Face” was ever composed as a true tabloid concerto. It does not seem
that it has ever been composed as a true tabloid concerto. To stay in the
realm of Hollywood cinema, let us mention the film “New York Confidential”
(1955) directed by Russell Rouse. For this film noir, Joseph Mullendore (1914-
1990/USA) composed a score which features a concertante piano part
(especially in the Main and End Titles, of course) and which could easily
have turned into a tabloid concerto. In France, an example is given by
composer Louiguy (1916-1991/Fra) in his score for the French film “Françoise
ou la Vie conjugale/Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc” (1964),
directed by André Cayatte.
281
We hear this virtual tabloid concerto especially in the Main Title, during a long
speechless sequence, and in several other very short passages, for a total duration of just
over 6 minutes. However, the piano part is never really concertante.
101
Theme of the film, was quickly arranged as a piece for violin and orchestra
and thus became one of the first tabloid/micro-concertos282.
- France: “La Nuit de décembre/Night in December” (Kurt Bernhardt,
1939): a concert pianist falls in love with a young woman who reminds him of
the love of his youth. He will discover that this young woman is the daughter
who was born from this great love. In the film, we listen to pieces by
Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and Berlioz. Non-diegetic music is by Marcel
Delannoy (1898-1962/Fra).
- USA: “The Great Lie” (Edmund Goulding, 1941): the rivalry of a
female concert pianist and another woman for the love of an aviator. For the
needs of the film, the main theme of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (of
which we hear extracts repeatedly) was arranged into a micro-concerto by
Hugo Frey (1873-1952/USA); and the following year (1942), the solo piano
reduction of this arrangement – carried out by Ernest Haywood (1866-
1947/GB) – was published under the title Melody from Tschaikowsky’s Piano
Concerto in B-flat minor.
- France: “Le Lit à colonnes” (Roland Tual, 1942): a composer,
imprisoned for twenty years, falls in love with the daughter of the Director of
the prison where he is detained. While the young woman becomes the
prisoner’s muse, his compositions are played under the name of the prison
Director, in search of social recognition. The works heard in the film are
written by Jean Françaix (1912-1997/Fra), who composed the film score.
- France: “La Fiancée des ténèbres” (Serge de Poligny, 1945): staying in
Carcassonne, composer Roland Samblanca meets a young woman dressed
entirely in black, whom he falls in love with. She is the niece of a savant who
claims to be the last Albigensian bishop, whose cult, considered heretical,
was fought by the Catholic Church at the beginning of the 13th century…
Samblanca’s piano compositions, that we hear in the film, are written by
Marcel Mirouze (1906-1957/Fra), who composed the film score.
- USA: “The Seventh Veil” (Compton Bennett, 1945): through hypnosis
practiced by a psychiatrist, an amnesic young woman (who comes out of a
hospital after an assault) discovers that she is a virtuoso pianist. We listen to
extracts from Grieg’s Piano Concerto, from Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique,
from Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2…
- USA: “Deception” (Irving Rapper, 1946): a love triangle made up of a
cellist, a female pianist and a composer. Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-
1957/Aut/USA) wrote the concerto for cello and orchestra supposed to be the
work of character/composer Alexander Hollenius, played by Claude Rains.
282
About Heinz Provost’s Intermezzo, see Chapter IV, paragraph 1.
102
- USA: “I’ve Always Loved You” (Frank Borzage, 1946) uses
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 to tell the vexed love of an authoritarian
conductor for a virtuoso pianist283.
- USA: “Humoresque” (Jean Negulesco, 1946): the story of a young
violinist in love with an alcoholic woman.
- England: “The Red Shoes” (Michael Powell, 1948): the tragic story of
a love triangle composed of a female dancer, a choreographer and a
composer. For this film, Brian Easdale (1909-1995/GB) composed a 15-minute
ballet, which became the most famous tabloid ballet.
- USA: “September Affair” (William Dieterle, 1950): In Italy, a concert
pianist falls in love with a businessman; with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto
No. 2 played in concert at the end of the film.
- France: “Prélude à la gloire” (Georges Lacombe, 1950): a mostly
fictional adaptation of Roberto Benzi’s discovery of classical music and
conducting. From the age of ten, Benzi (born in 1937) gave concerts that
caused a sensation. The final sequence of the film is a concert during which
the child, at the head of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du
Conservatoire, conducts Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem Les préludes. A suite
also exists: “L’Appel du destin” (Georges Lacombe, 1953).
- France: “Ombre et Lumière” (Henri Calef, 1951): After having suffered
a burnout during a concert tour, a young and very famous pianist finds no
other way to keep the man she loves than to resume a career she wanted to
abandon. We hear various extracts of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1284
throughout the film, especially during the final scene, which is a concert.
To this brief list, we must of course add the numerous (more or less
fictional) biographies of nineteenth-century composers285…
However, the specificity of British studios was to push the effectiveness
of a piece of music as far as to make it the equivalent of a character. This was
283
About this film, academic Ethan Sadoian writes: “The use of Rachmaninoff’s music in
‘I’ve Always Loved You’ is similar to the use of the Warsaw Concerto in ‘Dangerous
Moonlight’. Passages from the concerto, as well as rearrangements of the themes, are used
in the underscore. And it is also frequently used as source music, in the extended concert
sequences and when Myra [the pianist] and Goronoff [the conductor] are practicing at the
piano.” Ethan Sadoian, “The Warsaw Concerto, Analysis, Influences, and Influence” (2014),
p. 84.
284
In the credits of the film, during which we hear the famous incipit, it is indicated:
“Concerto n°2 pour piano et orchestre de Tchaikowsky”, an astonishing error which is
probably due to the huge celebrity of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2…
285
Let us recall that composer Bronislaw Kaper (1902-1983/USA) – or one of his
collaborators – arranged Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (1851) into a 6-minute tabloid
concerto for the film “Schumann’s Love Song” (Clarence Brown, 1947). We have not listed
it in the “First Repertory” because it is based on a pre-existing work (cf. Chapter II,
criterion n°7: a mini piano concerto is not an arrangement of a work from the classical
repertoire, or of a theme from film music, or of a popular song…)
103
the case in 1941 with the Warsaw Concerto, in 1944 with the Cornish Rhapsody
and in 1947 with The Dream of Olwen286. Music, as an essential element of the
scenario, became the hallmark of Denham films. About the Warsaw Concerto,
academic Blair Johnston writes:
“The opening is certainly dramatic enough; the piano enters with a gusto matched
perhaps only by the Grieg Piano Concerto’s opening plunge; tympani alone supports this
first gasp. A deliciously syrupy second theme – a melody once famous and instantly
recognized around the globe – is pure Rachmaninov (its cadence-moment is borrowed
straight from the Piano Concerto No. 2), but one should not think any less of Addinsell’s
effort for its unabashed stylistic borrowings. The effort is supremely skillful, the music
graceful, and not overly self-indulgent.”287
286
Respectively from: “Dangerous Moonlight” (1941, Denham Studios); “Love Story” (1944,
Gainsborough Pictures); “While I Live” (1947, Edward Dryhurst Productions).
287
Blair Johnston, description of the Warsaw Concerto on the website AllMusic.com [online,
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/warsaw-concerto-for-piano-orchestra-for-the-film-
dangerous-moonlight-suicide-squadron-mc0002368548, accessed July 27, 2017]
288
Quoted in Kevin J. Donnelly, “British Film Music and Film Musicals” (2007), p. 50. Also
quoted in Ann Heather Laing, “Wandering Minds and Anchored Bodies: Music, Gender,
and Emotion in Melodrama and the Woman’s Film” (2000), p. 201. Louis Levy was the
musical director of Gainsborough Pictures, which produced “Love Story” (1944).
289
John Huntley, “British Film Music” (1947), p. 69.
104
Warsaw Concerto, 2nd theme (re-exposition)
290
The two major production companies, Denham Studios and Gainsborough Pictures,
were specialized in melodramas and anti-fascist propaganda films. About the “Woman’s
Films”, read Mary Ann Doane, “The Desire to desire: The Woman’s Film of the 1940s”
(1987) and Heather Ann Laing, “Wandering Minds and Anchored Bodies: Music, Gender
and Emotion in Melodrama and the Woman’s Film” (2000).
105
- Betty Humby-Beecham (Charles Williams’ The Dream of Olwen);
- Bronwyn Jones (Malcolm Arnold’s A Stolen Face: Ballade);
- Eileen Joyce (Arthur Bliss’ Baraza); she also performed
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 for David Lean’s emblematic film “Brief
Encounter”, Grand Prix at the 1st Cannes Film Festival in 1946;
- Irene Kohler (Leslie Bridgewater’s Legend of Lancelot);
- Margot Pinter (Nico Dostal’s Blues-Fantasy);
- Catherine Roe-Williams (Leighton Lucas’ Stage Fright Rhapsody);
- Frieda Valenzi (Josef Sirowy’s Memories, Romantic
Concertino/Erinnerungen, Romantische Concertino; Wal-Berg’s Concerto for the
Only One/Konzert für die Einzige);
- Ingeborg Wunder (Nico Dostal’s Romantic Melody; Wolfgang
Gottschalk’s Piano Concerto; Michael Inden’s Cote d’Azur; Hermann Krome’s
Call from Afar/Ruf aus der Ferne; Siegfried Merath’s Concerto d’amore; Gina
Nivelli’s Berlin Concerto).
More than just film music, the Denham Concerto was a kind of catalyst
of emotions that could not be expressed by words. What John Morris wrote
291
It may be useful to indicate the names of the main “characters/composers” supposed to
have written the piano concertante works which are featured in films: see Appendix 3.
292
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), Introduction, p. 12.
293
Mary Ann Doane, “The Desire to desire: The Woman’s Film of the 1940s” (1987), p. 97.
106
about the Woman’s Film “Moonlight Sonata” (Lothar Mendes, 1937) is also
true for “Dangerous Moonlight” (1941), directed by Brian Desmond Hurst:
“Considering that the film was made two years before the invasion of Poland which
prompted the declaration of War, the relationship between Britain and Poland can be
contextualised in a broader cultural milieu of the shared values of democracy and
freedom”294.
Of course what Jane Hines wrote about the 1944 tabloid concerto by
Hubert Bath for “Love Story” [Cornish Rhapsody] and the one written in 1945
by Roy Webb for “The Enchanted Cottage” applies even more to the Warsaw
Concerto (1941) by Richard Addinsell.
Since the novelty (and the strength) of the Denham Concertos has
been to merge the emotions of watching a movie and listening to a concert, it
is useful to show how well some of these films achieved their goal. In order
to check their level of osmosis (film story/characters/Denham Concerto), we
asked ourselves six questions:
294
John Morris, “Two Shadows in the Moonlight, Music in British Film Melodrama of the
1940s” (2008), p. 66.
295
Summary of Jane Hines’ conference “The Enchanted Concerto: World War II,
Propaganda, and Musemes,” Bowling Green State University (USA), June 2, 2013.
107
• “Phantom of the Opera” / Lullaby of the Bells (1943):
Very fragmented concert sequence / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• “The Way to the Stars” / The Way to the Stars Concerto (1945):
No tabloid concerto
108
• “Murder Without Crime” / Song of Soho: Rhapsody (1950):
Listening to a vinyl recording / 1, 4, 5
• “24 Hours of a Woman’s Life/Affair in Monte Carlo” / The Hour of Meditation (1952):
Full listening, solo piano / 1, 2
296
In the concert sequence at the end of the movie “The Woman’s Angle” (Leslie Arliss,
1952), there is a violin solo and a cello solo in addition to the piano, while “The slightly
edited published version features just a piano in the soloist role.” Philip Lane, booklet of
the Decca CD “Love Story: Piano Themes from Cinema’s Golden Age” (2016), p. 4.
109
Works such as the Warsaw Concerto (1941), the Concerto Macabre (1945),
Baraza (1946) and A Stolen Face: Ballade (1952) are also heard in concert with
orchestra, but not in their entirety; the duration of these works (respectively
9, 11, 7 and 8 minutes) probably explains why we do not hear them in full.
Films such as The Way to the Stars (1945) and Spellbound (1946) do not
have a piano in their musical score and have a plot which is unrelated to
music. The arrangers in the first case, and Miklos Rozsa (1907-
1995/Hun/USA) himself in the second case, took advantage of the vogue of
Denham Concertos to arrange such a work from a film score297. About the
Spellbound Concerto (1946/12') by Miklos Rozsa, American musicologist Jack
Sullivan specifies:
“Jerome Kern, part owner of Chappell, asked Rozsa to publish the music under the
title Spellbound Concerto. Concertos culled from movie music constituted an odd new 1940s
crossover genre, exemplified by the enormously popular Warsaw Concerto by Richard
Addinsell (who scored Hitchcock’s ‘Under Capricorn’), and Kern wanted to cash in on this
vogue.”298
297
Miklos Rozsa’s score for Spellbound won the 1945 Academy Award for Best Film Music.
298
Jack Sullivan, “Hitchcock’s Music” (2008), p. 120.
299
“Brief Encounter” comes in second place in the Top 100 British Films, established in
1999 by the British Film Institute.
300
Yvan Raykoff, “Concerto con amore: Relationship and Ritual in the Soundtrack Piano
Concerto” (2000), part III, paragraphs 31 & 32.
110
Although it is incorrect to use the term “tabloid concerto” concerning
the passages of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 used as the soundtrack
of “Brief Encounter” – since the concerto predates the film – it is without
doubt the most successful use of a piano concerto in a film301. It should be
noted that this concerto constitutes the entirety of the film soundtrack302, a
singularity found in no other film, even in the case of a tabloid concerto. The
price of success, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 has been arranged
many times as a pseudo tabloid concerto, and even more often as a micro-
concerto.
Since the stylistic particularity of most Denham Concertos is to be
written “alla Rachmaninoff”, film music specialists Alain Lacombe and
Claude Rocle are right to note:
“La liberté du compositeur hollywoodien réside dans une saturation de la norme. Il
n’est pas possible d’envisager une partition qui aille à l’encontre des canons musicaux à la
mode. Sa possibilité d’intervention consiste, au contraire, à renforcer la rigueur du
déterminisme thématique.”303
“The Hollywood composer’s freedom resided in a saturation of the norm. It was not
possible to consider a score that went against fashionable musical canons. On the contrary,
his possibility of intervention was to reinforce the rigor of thematic determinism.”
301
Piotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was used – less efficiently – in the American film
“The Great Lie” (Edmund Goulding, 1941) and in the British film “The Common Touch”
(John Baxter, 1941).
302
With the exception of two very short extracts of diegetic music, heard in public places
where the two main characters go.
303
Alain Lacombe & Claude Rocle, “La Musique du film” (1979), p. 37.
304
Ibid., p. 145.
111
“Beyond the classic romantic pastiche, this composition [the Warsaw Concerto]
remains stylistically interesting and admirably constructed. Its over-marketing was to result
in the interested awakening of producers to the edition of film music on LP.”
305
See the graph in Chapter I: What is a mini piano concerto?
306
Quoted in “La Musique à l’écran”, under the direction of François Porcile and Alain
Garel (1992), p. 63, col. 2. The translator’s name is not indicated.
307
William Axt notably composed the score of the 1st Ben-Hur (silent film, 1925), directed by
Fred Niblo.
112
Everyone will answer these questions differently, especially since the
answer depends on the film in which the music is featured… and also on the
music itself. For academic Gilles Mouëllic, by listening to a film music
“le spectateur enrichit sa vision d’une qualité nouvelle contenue en réalité dans la
musique ou, pour être plus précis, de la rencontre de cette musique avec les images, sans
avoir conscience que l’absence de musique ou une musique différente modifierait sa
lecture ou sa compréhension de ces mêmes images. Grâce à la musique, le spectateur ‘croit
voir ce qu’il entend’, autre manière de considérer la musique comme une des composantes
de ce ‘tout’ qu’est le film.”308
“the spectator enriches his vision with a new quality actually contained in the music
– or, to be more precise, in the encounter of this music with the images – without realizing
that the absence of music (or different music) would change his understanding of these
same images. Thanks to the music, the spectator ‘thinks he sees what he hears’, another
way of considering music as one of the components of this ‘everything’ that is the film.”
The ambiguity of any film music becomes even more apparent when
the music plays the equivalent of the main role, which is the case of the
Denham Concertos. So we cannot avoid asking ourselves the following
question: is a Denham Concerto movie music?
The term “soundtrack” refers to music that a composer writes for each
scene where it is desired by the director. But precisely, a Denham Concerto
is not music which accompanies the action of the film, but a short piano
concerto which catches the attention of the spectator – and which constitutes
the action of the film by its very presence – during the scene in which it is
featured. Thus highlighted, this concertante work “transcends” the film for
which it was composed. But, following this reasoning, can we state that a
Denham Concerto is not a film score?
The music of the film “Dangerous Moonlight” (Brian Desmond Hurst,
1941) was never commercially released, while more than three million copies
of the Warsaw Concerto (from which it originated) were sold309. Nobody seems
to have listened to the music written by Louis Levy (1894-1957/GB) for the
film “Love Story” (Leslie Arliss, 1944), while the Cornish Rhapsody, composed
by Hubert Bath (1883-1945/GB) for the same film, was very often performed
and recorded. In these two examples – as well as in all the films featuring a
Denham Concerto – film music fades in favor of the Denham Concerto. So it
seems obvious that there is a fundamental difference between the soundtrack
of a film and the Denham Concerto composed for the same film.
Furthermore, a Denham Concerto is generally heard during a more or less
complete concert sequence, or on the occasion of a radio broadcast, or at
308
Gilles Mouëllic, “La Musique de film, pour écouter le cinéma” (2003), p. 54.
309
Jan G. Swynnoe, “The Best Years of British Film Music, 1936-1958” (2002). Appendix B:
“The True Story of the Warsaw Concerto” by Roy Douglas, p. 216. See above, Chapter V,
paragraph 1.
113
least at a privileged moment which does not feature noises and/or words; all
this being at the exact opposite of “normal” movie music. This difference is
particularly highlighted by the fact that the Denham Concerto tended to be
written by a different composer than the rest of the soundtrack. This was
notably the case concerning the following films:
- “Love Story” (Leslie Arliss, 1944): film score by Louis Levy (1894-1957)
– Cornish Rhapsody by Hubert Bath (1883-1945/GB);
- “Piccadilly Incident” (Herbert Wilcox, 1946): film score by Anthony
Collins (1893-1963/GB) – Piccadilly 1944 by Vivian Ellis (1904-1996/GB);
- “The Woman’s Angle” (Leslie Arliss, 1952): film score by Robert Gill
(1916-1955/GB) – Mansell Concerto by Kenneth Leslie-Smith (1897-1993/GB);
-“24 Hours of a Woman’s Life/Affair in Monte Carlo” (Victor Saville,
1952): film score by Robert Gill – The Hour of Meditation by Philip Green (1911-
1982/GB);
- “Foreign Intrigue” (Sheldon Reynolds, 1956): film score by Paul
Durand – Foreign Intrigue Concerto by Charlie Norman (1920-2005/Swe);
- “Julie” (Andrew L. Stone, 1956): film score by Leith Stevens (1909-
1970/USA) – Midnight on the Cliffs by Leonard Pennario (1924-2008/USA);
- “Lolita” (Stanley Kubrick, 1962): film score by Nelson Riddle (1921-
1985/USA) – Lolita Theme by Bob Harris (1925-2000/USA).
310
About fictitious composers of piano concertos in movies, see Appendix 3.
311
Pierre Berthomieu, “La Musique de film” (2004), p. 19.
114
“Can movie music be listened to outside of the movie? Of course. Differently.
Considering cinema music as a form of music equal to symphony or opera, there is indeed
a work by Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, John Williams or Georges Delerue in the sense
that there is a work by Balzac or Ravel, beyond the obsolete debate on cinema music as a
conditioned art.”
312
Alain Lacombe & Claude Rocle, “La Musique du film” (1979), p. 68.
313
John Huntley, “British Film Music” (1948, republished in 1972), pp. 53–54.
115
famous pre-existing piano concerto, fearing that the spectators would not be
able to identify the concerto with the film, and that its presence might even
cause harmful interference with the plot314. As noted by Alain Lacombe and
Claude Rocle:
“D’une manière générale, le choix d’une musique classique en tant que
commentaire musical sur des images relève d’une ambiguïté délicate à assumer. En fait,
dans ces cas-là, la musique prend le dessus sur les images. Elle est une sorte d’esprit
supérieur, ancré dans la culture qui donne gravité et respiration à des propos qui, souvent,
n’en demandent pas tant.”315
“Generally speaking, the choice of classical music as the musical commentary of
images includes assuming a delicate ambiguity. In fact, in these cases, the music surpasses
the images. Music is a kind of superior spirit, rooted in the culture, which gives gravity and
breath to film scenes that often do not ask for so much.”
314
The only exception to this unspoken rule – at least to our knowledge – is the Canadian
film “Whispering City” (Fedor Ozep, 1947), in which one of the main characters (fictitious
composer Michel Lacoste) is supposedly the author of a piano concerto whose extracts are
heard in the film; a concerto which is actually Andre Mathieu’s Quebec Concerto, composed
in 1943, four years before the film. See Chapter IV, paragraph 2.
315
Alain Lacombe & Claude Rocle, “La Musique du film” (1979), p. 126.
316
Ethan Sadoian, “The Warsaw Concerto, Analysis, Influences, and Influence” (2014), p.
102.
317
Maurice Hinson, “Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide” Enlarged
Edition (1993), p. 2.
116
So everyone must make up his own mind, and decide whether
Denham Concertos in particular, and tabloid concertos in general, are film
music (if it is decided that the work is submitted to the film from its very
conception) or concertante works in their own right, which must be listened
to as such. Any answer is equally arbitrary, like the eternal question of the
half-empty vase and the half-full vase…
117
CHAPTER VI
1- Presentation
The vogue of mini piano concertos died out in the ’60s, and today it has
almost completely disappeared from collective memory. It is therefore useful
– and even necessary – to establish a “Repertory” of these almost unknown
works, since most of them have never been released on CD. Of course this
“First chronological (and detailed) Repertory” has gaps; but it is likely that
they will gradually be filled in, thanks to the exponential resources of the
Internet.
Establishing this Repertory forces us to ask ourselves a double question:
where does the field of so-called “classical” piano-and-orchestra pieces
finish; where does that of the mini piano concertos begin? This is the
difficulty of any classification. As we have seen in Chapter II (“The Frontiers
of a Musical Genre”), the border is quite blurred. Except for the piano
concertante pieces written for films (the Denham Concertos and, more
generally, the tabloid concertos) which necessarily belong to our field, it is
sometimes difficult to catalog a particular short concertante post-romantic
work. The fact that it is written in a “Popular Style” is not always enough to
define a mini piano concerto, nor is the fact that it is written by a film or
Light Music composer, since many so-called “serious” composers also
worked in the Symphonic Entertainment field, and conversely many
“popular” composers also wrote serious orchestral works.
Is the glamorous Hollywoodian style inseparable from the mini piano
concerto genre? How long is the maximum duration of a mini piano
concerto? Is the label “Light Music” or “Easy Listening” used by a record
producer a sufficient guarantee? In some cases, the answers are far from
obvious.
Even if we rely on the seven criteria that we have defined (see Chapter
II), the ambiguity persists for some works – a difficulty which exists in any
classification of works of art, since it has its source in the very nature of
artistic creation. Everyone will agree that the style of any composer borrows
more or less from more or less related styles. As a result, many of the works
listed in the following Repertory may be the cause of endless discussions.
But, such as it is, this “First Chronological Repertory” gives an accurate idea
of the field of our research. We also hope that it will give researchers the
desire to complete and improve it.
= Duration (minutes)
F= Written for a Film or arranged from film music
J = Jazz-influenced, often in the style of Gershwin
M = Composed in a more Modernist style
Abbreviations: b. = before
c. = circa (around)
p. = published or premiered
> = longer than
318
See also Appendix 1: Works of which we have no score or recording, but several clues
suggesting that they are mini piano concertos.
A total of 279 composers. As with the “total” number of works, there
are of course many more.
Composers who alternatively used a pseudonym in addition to their
real names are counted as a single composer (eg Willy Mattes = Charles
Wildman; Peter Deutsch = Pete Alman).
Concerning the works written by two composers, both are counted.
The fictional composer Milton Carson (actually a pseudonym used
jointly by the three British composers Howard Barnes, Harold Fields and
Joseph Roncoroni for the 1957-58 radio series “Destiny”) is counted as a
single composer.
The Chinese Collective who wrote the Shanghai Concerto (2010) is also
counted as a single composer.
319
Gavin Borchert, “Swept Away: The Lost genre of film concertos” in Seattle Weekly
News [online,
http://archive.seattleweekly.com/2001-04-25/arts/swept-away/, accessed January 10, 2018]
We decided to include Midnight on the Cliffs (1956) by Leonard
Pennario (1924-2008/USA) because the work was originally entitled Midnight
on the Newport Cliffs320.
We decided to include the Piano Concerto in D minor (1931/59) by Ferde
Grofe (1892-1972/USA) because the work is also entitled New England
Concerto, as evidenced on pages 13 and 14 of the "Ferde Grofé Collection"
from the "Music Division of the Library of Congress"321.
We decided to include the Laguna Concerto (1960) by Philip Moody
(1921-2011/USA) because the title refers to Laguna Beach (in California) where
the composer was staying at the time he wrote his concerto322.
We also decided to include City Melody (c. 1985) by Werner
Bruggemann (1936-1997/Aut) because the original German title is
Hamburgmelodie, which refers to the city of Hamburg.
On the contrary, we decided not to include the Bristol Concerto (1959)
by Trevor Herbert Stanford (1925-2000/GB), alias Russ Conway, since this
work has been recorded only in an abridged version (3') with an added
women’s choir, under the title My Concerto for You. But the composer
originally wanted to give the name of his hometown to his concerto.
We also decided not to include the Kalauer-Konzert (1967) by Karl-
Heinz Koper (1927-2011/Ger) because of the composer’s choice to maintain
the ambiguity between the two possible meanings of the word “Kalauer”:
“Pun” (a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term) and
“of/from Kalau” (which is the name of a small German town), as Christoph
Dohr (the publisher of Karl-Heinz Koper’s works) explained in an e-mail323.
The titles which include names of cities, regions or countries were
intended – above all – to indicate a filiation with the two most famous
Denham Concertos: Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto (1941) and Hubert
Bath’s Cornish Rhapsody (1944). We can also notice that only American and
European place names were used, never exotic places which would imply
using an exotic musical style and/or an instrumentation matching the chosen
place. Hence the surprise of this music critic – who was probably not familiar
with the tradition of the Denham Concertos – who wrote about an LP which
included Hubert Bath’s Cornish Rhapsody, Charles Wildman’s Swedish
320
On the website “Leonard Pennario” [online,
http://www.pennario.org/Pages/Composer/Leonard-Pennario-Midnight.html, accessed
September 15, 2017]
321
Document available online,
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/music/eadxmlmusic/eadpdfmusic/uploaded_pdf/ead_schema_
pdf_batch-31_august_2013/mu013007.pdf, accessed September 23, 2018.
322
Cf. the newspaper Desert Sun of March 15, 1978 [online,
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19780315.2.44, accessed December 7, 2017]
323
E-mail that Mr. Dohr sent us on December 7, 2017.
Rhapsody (1947) and Arthur Ferrante/Louis Teicher’s Hollywood Rhapsody
(1955):
“Modern rhapsodies seem not to involve the emotions of the composer too deeply.
They are written in conservative style (for which the average music lover is infinitely
grateful) and they content themselves with being pleasantly atmospheric rather than
probing the distinctive differences of the locales they are describing. In this category
belong the late Hubert Bath’s Cornish Rhapsody and Ferrante and Teicher’s Hollywood
Rhapsody.”324
We can notice that there are three works written for films (tabloid
concertos) among them:
- Warsaw Concerto (1941);
- Cornish Rhapsody (1944);
- The Dream of Olwen (1947).
These are precisely the three most famous Denham Concertos (see
Chapter V: The most famous mini piano concertos: the Denham Concertos).
We can also notice that six of the seven composers who wrote works
listed in articles of the Grove Dictionary are Anglo-Saxon (four British, two
American).
324
Bernard Lebow, booklet of the LP “Rhapsody” (URANIA, 1955).
PROVISIONAL CONCLUSION
During the 1920s, the mini piano concerto genre was created in the
United States by the jazz piano concertante works composed by George
Gershwin (1898-1937) and George Antheil (1900-1959). In the ’40s in Great
Britain, the huge success of the Warsaw Concerto (1941) by Richard Addinsell
(1904-1977) and the Cornish Rhapsody (1944) by Hubert Bath (1883-1945)
triggered a vogue (maintained by the cinema, radio and recording industries,
as well as by music publishers326) for mini piano concertos written in a
Rachmaninovian post-romantic style, which were dubbed “Denham
Concertos” after the name of the film studios which produced most of
them327. For nearly half a century, many composers from various
backgrounds wrote mini piano concertos, but they never fully succeeded in
establishing them as a new musical genre in its own right because, at the
same time, social-cultural mores were undergoing rapid changes and the
general public, to whom mini piano concertos were destined, lost interest in
classical music (in the broad sense of the term) and in symphonic jazz, and
turned its attention towards rock and pop songs.
Between 1940 and 1960, the mini piano concerto occupied a prominent
place in the “Symphonic Entertainment” repertoire, in which the Anglo-
325
Pierre Berthomieu, “La Musique de film” (2004), p. 18.
326
Especially the reductions for solo piano (see Chapter IV, paragraph 2).
327
About the Denham Concertos, see Chapter IV, paragraph 2, and also Chapter V,
paragraph 1.
142
Saxons made a useful connection between popular music and “serious”
music. But this connection was stifled by the economic imperatives of a
society which was becoming a “consumer society” and which became
culturally monopolized by international pop music. Nowadays, we are far
from the time when British musicologist Howard Mayfair wrote:
“Although frowned open by the purists, it cannot be denied that this type of
composition has proved an important link in the chain which joins the classical and
popular musical worlds.”328
With hindsight, it seems obvious that the mini piano concertos, though
labeled as “Popular Style” compositions by Anglo-Saxons, were really
appreciated only by a narrow fringe of listeners who, while not wanting to
listen only to the classical repertoire stricto sensu, did not want to listen only
to the novelties of pop music. But the power of attraction of pop music was
so strong that it ended up diverting the listeners to whom the mini piano
concertos were destined. At the same time, regulars of concert halls were
gradually listening to more modernist-oriented music.
Thanks to the cinema (which kept the enthusiasm of the public), some
tabloid concertos have been saved from oblivion; the very last public success
is the Love Story Theme (1970/4') by Francis Lai (1932-2018/Fra).
It is common to say that Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943/Rus) is the
composer who personified piano concertante post-romanticism. And since
Rachmaninoff’s concertos were featured in several Hollywood movies and
raised many epigones, one can say, without much risk, that there is a direct
relationship between the post-romantic tradition personified by
Rachmaninoff and the Denham Concertos (which are the must of tabloid
concertos).
But the 20th century was a century of ruptures which continually burned
what people had previously worshipped. Faced with what could be felt as a
persistent lack of interest, many composers of mini piano concertos – who
are now all forgotten or almost unknown329 – probably wondered what was
happening. Film music historian Pierre Berthomieu explains:
328
Text by Howard Mayfair about the mini piano concerto entitled The Last Rhapsody
(1953/3'), composed by Reynell Wreford (1898-1976/GB). Back cover of EMI RECORDS
LIMITED LP 7EG 8053 (1954) [online,
https://img.discogs.com/jz-oXYhVGcEgl92EzGzoz2X_KZs=/fit-
in/600x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7661763-
1446203957-9306.jpeg.jpg, accessed March 14, 2018]
329
We can take the measure of the oblivion in which these composers fell by checking all
the names listed in our “Chronological (and detailed) Repertory of mini piano concertos”
(Chapter VI): barely a dozen of them escaped this cultural sinking, which concerns almost
the entirety of the orchestral music of the second half of the 20th century (see Foreword,
note 4).
143
“Que se passe-t-il donc aujourd’hui, en cette fin du XXe siècle et ce début du XXIe ?
Le monde et la musique perdent l’éternité. La joie de l’instant devient simple plaisir
physique de l’instant. Moins qu’un plaisir : une sensation, une excitation sans saveur, un
stimulus. C’est une nouvelle forme qui s’est installée, la musique-excitation, qui est aussi
une musique-masse, sans tissu dramatique. Hantée par un complexe culturel, cette forme
de composition refuse toute complexité, toute orchestration singulière, et se destine à
souligner la figuration physique d’une action.”330
“What is happening today, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the
st
21 ? The world and music are losing eternity. The joy of the moment is becoming a simple
physical pleasure of the moment. Less than a pleasure: a sensation, a flavorless excitement,
a mere stimulus. It is a new form of music: music-excitement, which is also a mass-music,
without dramatic content. Haunted by a cultural complex, this form of composition refuses
any complexity, any singular orchestration, and its sole purpose is to emphasize the
physical figuration of an action.”
330
Pierre Berthomieu, “La Musique de film” (2004), p. 73.
331
On the website of composer Richard Bissill [online,
http://www.richardbissill.com/biography.html, accessed January 15, 2018]
144
Seville “Expo ’92”332. And what about the mini piano concerto which Expo
2010 Shanghai China commissioned for its promotional video? Written by a
collective of Chinese composers, the seven-minute Shanghai Concerto,
performed by Lang Lang, is far from the mini piano concertos composed half
a century earlier, such as Rhapsody 21 written for the 1962 Seattle World’s
Fair (USA)333. Other times, other customs… and other music.
The cinema world has also evolved. And it is not the least paradox of
the tabloid concerto to become again the central theme of a recent movie.
Indeed, in Eugenio Mira’s Hollywoodian film “Grand Piano” (2013), a piano
concerto334 written by Spanish-born American composer Victor Reyes (b.
1962) occupies a much larger space-time than any other tabloid concertos
ever written: twenty-six minutes of presence on the screen… for a film which
lasts seventy-five minutes in all! The height of paradox: while a tabloid
concerto, because of its function within a film, was always a short one-
movement piece, Victor Reyes’ concerto is in three movements – an ultimate
metamorphosis which proves that the page of the Denham Concertos seems
to be definitely turned, but that of the tabloid concertos is far from being so.
332
The Concierto Evolución, which lasts 12 minutes and is cast in three linked sections,
aimed to synthesize classical music, romantic music and the music of today, that is to say
pop music (in the broad sense of the term) with over-use of drums.
333
Rhapsody 21 (7'), composed by Toni (Antoinette) Mineo (b. 1926/USA) and orchestrated
by her husband Attilio Mineo (1918-2010/USA), is a para Denham Concerto.
334
This tabloid concerto is written in a style which has no direct link with that of its
ancestors, the Denham Concertos.
335
Here is the whole quote from Kaikhosru Sorabji: “When is a Concerto not a Concerto?
The answer is: When a film forms all over it, and when it gets struck by the very dangerous
Moonshine of Hollywood, and when the great, tripe-hearted democracy thinks it is going
all classical and highbrow as it sits and listens, in the Palmers Green or Peckham Rye
Pallas-Athenaeum, to the multitudinous masterpieces of Mr Richard Addinsell, having had,
naturally enough till then, not the slighest idea how nice and easy ‘nice’ music was to listen
145
to movie music? If we think about it, is this not the characteristic of all music
that we do not like – or that we refuse to understand?
Is “Moonshine” not everywhere, even where some would not think to
find it? To answer this question, and not without a touch of humor, here are
the remarks of Elie During, lecturer at the University Paris-Nanterre, about
the work of John Cage entitled 4'33". This work was premiered in 1952 by
pianist David Tudor at the Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock (state of New
York). On the IRCAM website, Elie During writes:
“Dans le "silence" de 4'33" s’engouffre la rumeur du monde et de tous les discours.
Quel plus bel hommage au chef-d’œuvre de Cage, son morceau favori, que de le rejouer et
de le réinterpréter en y joignant une profusion de gloses, d’hypothèses et de spéculations
qui se sont depuis le début projetées sur lui, comme dans un test de Rorschach ? […] C’est
un portrait chinois où chacun s’efforce de tenir une perspective, ou plusieurs à la fois :
4'33" comme œuvre d’art conceptuel, 4'33" comme "tube", 4'33" comme tautologie, 4'33"
comme œuvre expérimentale, 4'33" comme œuvre "queer", 4'33" comme non-œuvre, 4'33"
comme proposition spéculative, etc. […] 4'33" est un "tube" qui est dans toutes les têtes :
avec son format de 45 tours, il est sans conteste l’œuvre la plus connue de Cage, peut-être
le morceau le plus populaire de toute la musique contemporaine.”336
“In the ‘silence’ of 4'33", the rumor of the world and all speeches are engulfed.
What better tribute to Cage’s masterpiece – his favorite piece – than replaying it and
reinterpreting it with a profusion of glosses, assumptions and speculations which have
been projected on it since the beginning, such as in a Rorschach test? […] This is a Chinese
portrait in which everyone tries to hold a perspective, or several at once: 4'33" as a
conceptual work of art, 4'33" as a ‘hit’, 4'33" as a tautology, 4'33" as an experimental work,
4'33" as a ‘queer’ work, 4'33" as non-work, 4'33" as a speculative proposition, and so on […]
4'33" is a ‘hit’ which is in everyone’s mind: with its 45-rpm format, it is without doubt
Cage’s best-known work, perhaps the most popular piece of all contemporary music.”
to.” In “Mi contra fa” (1947), p. 17. Also quoted in Mervyn Cooke, “A History of Film Music”
(2008), Chapter XI, epigram of paragraph 1.
336
Elie During, “Présentation du concert du 25 mars 2010, Centre-Pompidou” [online,
http://brahms.ircam.fr/works/work/7099/, accessed November 4, 2017]
337
In “A Composer’s Confessions”. Quoted in James Pritchett, “The Music of John Cage”
(1993), p. 59.
146
music which joins that of lovers of tabloid concertos, simili tabloid
concertos, Denham Concertos, para Denham Concertos and micro-
concertos… After all, since 4'33" is written “for any instrument or
combination of instruments” (as John Cage has indicated), why would not
4'33", in his necessary version for piano and orchestra, be a common ground
for all music lovers?
And even, why not invite some listeners to listen to 4'33" as an ideal
para Denham Concerto? 1952, which is the date of the world premiere of
4'33", was a year rich in Denham Concertos and para Denham Concertos, as
shown in our “First Chronological Repertory” (see Chapter VI)338.
Since it is recommended to dream about 4'33" – a work which we are
told that everyone can hear according to his possibilities, desires or ideal –
we are allowed to add to “a profusion of glosses, assumptions and
speculations”339 the wish that 4'33" “as a ‘hit’”340 may be, for fans of
experimental music, what a mini piano concerto is for lovers of (post-
)romantic music: the opportunity to get elated, and sometimes even to feel
better.
In the heart of every sincere composer and every true music lover,
Music is one and indivisible.
338
In England alone, the year 1952 is that of the Tune in G major by Richard Addinsell (1904-
1977); the Mansell Concerto by Kenneth Leslie-Smith (1897-1993); The Whispering Valley by
Ronald Binge (1910-1979); the Romantic Rhapsody by Charles Williams (1893-1978). Each of
these mini piano concertos has approximately the same duration as John Cage’s 4'33".
339
Elie During, “Présentation du concert du 25 mars 2010, Centre-Pompidou” [online,
http://brahms.ircam.fr/works/work/7099/, accessed November 4, 2017]
340
Ibid.
147
APPENDIX 1
148
- Ferstl Theo (1910-1981/Aut): Rhapsody to Remember (?/8')
- Fulton Norman (1909-1980/GB): Waltz Rhapsody (1961/?)
- Gabaye Pierre (1930-2000): Mini Rhapsody (Mini-rapsodie) (1967/3')
- Giuffre Gaetano (1918-?/Gre/USA): New York Concerto (1949/c. 12')
- Grenz Artur (1909-1988/Ger): Manhattan Capriccio (1953/11')
- Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger): Impromptu, valse bleu, for piano and small
orchestra, from “Furioso” (1950/5')
- Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger) & Alexander Axel (1926-2016/Ger): Piano
Concerto [main theme based on Grothe’s song “A New Life begins” written
for the 1936 film “The Castle in Flanders”] (publ. posthumously in 1983/10')
- Gyldmark Oskar (1893-1977/Den): Capriccio (1943/c. 5')
- Gyulai Gaal Janos (1924-2009/Hun): The Source (A forrás), symphonic
picture (1961/8')
- Hagen Hans (1915-1979/Aut): Concert Piece (Konzertstück) (?/?)
- Haletzki Paul (1911-2000/Ger):
Concerto amoroso (?/5'30)
Fantasy for Piano and Small orchestra (?/6')
- Herrlinger Kurt (1918-2003/Ger): Concerto d'amore (1968/5')
- Hötter (Hoetter) Heinz (1923-2000/Ger):
Ballade of the Stars (Sternenballade) (?/5')
Rhapsody for Silvia (Rhapsodie für Silvia) (?/4')
- Hyde Miriam (1913-2005/Aus): Fantasy-Romantic (premiered 1942/?)
- Inden Michael [pseud. of Michael Stenz, b. 1930] (Ger): Irish Sea (?/6')
- Jack Alfred (?-?/Ger): Schauinsland (?/8')
- Jaksch Erik (1904-1976/Aut): Notturno (?/6')
- Jones Kenneth Baden (1915-2013/GB): Rhapsody (?/?)
- Kartun Leon (1895-1982/Fra): Rhapsodic Poem (Poème rapsodique), for piano
and jazz orchestra (1935/c. 8')
- King Stanford F. (1912-2010/USA): Pocket Concerto (1952/?)
- Kleinsinger George (1914-1982/USA): Dawn to Dawn in New York (1955/9')
- Kuhlman Elzard (1904-?/Net): Jazz Concerto (1935/?)
149
- Kuster Herbert (1909-1986/Ger):
Cleopatra, fantasy for piano and strings (1953/?)
Concerto in the Night (?/10')
Atlantis, impression (1954/?)
- Landauer Walter (1909-1983/Aut): Vienna Concerto (LP COLUMBIA
DB3526, 1954/c. 8')
- Lombardo Mario (1931-2012/USA): Blue Interlude, rhapsody (publ. 1961/?)
- Lovelock William (1899-1986/GB/Aus): Raggy Rhapsody (1976/10')
- Marky Paul de (1897-1982/Hun/Can): Ballade (performed in 1944/?)
- Martin (Leon) Georges (?/?): American Caprice (1954/?)
- Mc Carthy John B. (?/Ger): Impression (?/?)
- McKalip Mansell Brown (1915-?/USA): Central Park South, fantasy (1955/?)
- Pelz William (1908-1962/USA): Sentimental Rhapsody (1938/4')341
- Putz Johannes (1926-1971/Ger): Fantasy (Fantasie) (?/6')
- Reinl Franz (1903-1977/Aut): Romantic Rhapsody (Romantische Rhapsodie)
(1942/7'30)
- Rizo Marco (1920-1998/Cub/USA): Broadway Concerto (publ. 1962/?)
- Roger Roger (1911-1995/Fra): Jazz Concerto No. 2 “Concerto romantique”
(1947/14')
- Savino Domenico (1882-1973/Ita/USA): Cuban Concerto (1946/7')
- Schmitz Manfred (1939-2014/Ger): Romantic Rhapsody (Romantische
Rhapsodie) (?/10')
- Schobert Hans (1921-?/Ger): Germany-Concerto (?/9')
- Sirowy Josef (1901-1971/Aut): Memories, Romantic Concertino (Erinnerungen,
Romantische Concertino) (?/8')
- Spear Eric (1908-1966/GB): Concerto for Fun (publ. 1951/?)
- Storrle Heinz (1933-1999/Ger): California, concerto (1961/?)
- Strassner Rudolf (1927-2013/Ger): Romantic Piano Concerto No. 1
(Romantischen Klavierkonzert Nr.1) “Hollywood Concerto” (before 1966/?)
341
According to musicologist William Phemister, pianist Guy Maier, for whom William Pelz
composed his Sentimental Rhapsody, characterizes this work as “a miniature Rhapsody in
Blue”. In “Beyond Rhapsody in Blue: Other Great American Piano Concerto,” National
Conference, Spokane, Washington (USA), March 18, 2019.
150
- Stuart Coolidge Peggy (1913-1981/USA):
Cracked Ice, A Miniature Rhapsody (1937/?)
Boston Concerto (performed in 1950/?)
American Sketch (c. 1950?/?)
- Suesse Dana (1909-1987/USA): Concertino (1945/10')
- Swain Freda (1902-1985/GB): Airmail Concerto (1940s/?)
- Templeton Alec (1910-1963/GB/USA): Rhapsodie harmonique (1954/11')
- Thompson Randall (1899-1984/USA): Jazz Poem (1928/14')
- Trommer Jack (1905-1990/Swi): Odine (?/6')
- Wagner Joseph (1900-1974/USA): Fantasy in Technicolor, for piano and band
(1948/13')
- Waldenmaier August Peter (1915-1995/Ger): Legende appassionata, op.37 (?/?)
- Waslohn Al(vin) (1925-1977/USA): Jazz Rhapsody (premiered 1946/8')
- Wehding Hans-Hendrik (1915-1975/Ger): Rhapsody (c. 1960/12')
- Wilden Gerd (1917-2015/Ger): Little Experience in a Big City (Kleines Erlebnis in
einer großen Stadt), sketch for piano and strings (1955/6'30)
- Wirth Carl Anton (1912-1986/USA): Rhapsody (1947/?)342
- Wurz Richard (1885-1965/Ger): Scenes, concert piece (Scenen, konzertstück)
(?/?)
***
342
William Phemister describes Carl Anton Wirth’s Rhapsody this way: “The Wirth
Rhapsody, if it gets proper promotion, could well take the place of the popular Warsaw
Concerto.” In “The American Piano Concerto Compendium” (second edition, 2018), p. 241.
151
APPENDIX 2
- Addinsell Richard (1904-1977/GB): Festival, from the incidental music for the play
“Trespass” (1947/5')
- Addinsell Richard (1904-1977/GB): Tune in G major (orig. for solo piano 1943; orch.
1952/5')
152
• Allan Esther (1914-1985/Pol/USA): Norman Concerto (c. 1945/6')
- Allan Esther (1914-1985/Pol/USA): Meditation for piano, strings and harp (c. 1945/7')
• Alman Pete [see also real name Deutsch Peter, 1901-1965] (Ger/Den): Queen
Elizabeth Concerto (1952/7') [composed for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]
• Arnold Malcolm (1921-2006/GB): A Stolen Face: Ballade, adapted from his score for
“Stolen Face” (1952/8')
• Artemyev Eduard (b. 1937/Rus): Piano Concerto “The Forgotten Manuscript”, from
“Burnt by the Sun” (1994/11')
• Bargoni Camillo (1907-?/Ita): Autumn Concerto (Concerto d’Automno), for piano and
strings (publ. 1956/5'); also arr. by Brian Fahey (for the pianist Russ Conway) with
orchestra and women’s choir (1960/3')
• Beaver Jack (1900-1963/GB): Portrait of Isla, from “The Case of the Frightened Lady”
(1940), arr. by Philip Lane (1998/5')
• Beffa Karol (b. 1973/Fra): Dark, for piano and strings (2013/7')
• Bergen Hans Willy (1920-1997/Ger): Amoretta, rondo for piano and strings (1958/4')
• Bernard James (1925-2001/GB): Vampire Rhapsody, adapted from his score for “Kiss
of the Vampire” (1963/7')
153
• Bernard Jean (b. 1923/Fra): Concerto for Marianne (c. 1970/8')
• Binge Ronald (1910-1979/GB): The Whispering Valley, intermezzo for piano and
strings (publ. 1952/4')
• Bliss Arthur (1891-1975/GB): Baraza, concert piece for piano, male chorus and
orchestra, from “Men of Two Worlds” (1945/7')
- Bolling Claude (b. 1930/Fra): Piano Concerto, from “Le Magnifique” (1973/3')
• Bonneau Paul (1918-1995/Fra): Rhapsody (1945/12'); also abridged versions (4' and 2')
• Breuer Franz Josef (1914-1996/Ger): Rhapsody to the Night (Rhapsodie einer Nacht) (c.
1955/9'); also abridged version (1965/5')
- Bruggemann Werner (1936-1997/Aut): One Day in my Life, for piano and concert
band (c. 1985/5')
• Buch Wolfgang (?-?/Ger): Poem azul [includes a quote from Enrique Granados’
Quejas, o La Maja y el Ruiseñor for piano, 1911] (c. 1960/6')
• Budd Roy (1947-1993/GB): Concerto for Harry, from “Something to Hide” (1971/9')
154
• Buder Ernst Erich (1896-1962/Ger): Fantasy in Blue (Fantasie in blue) (c. 1935/9')
• Carson Milton [collective alias of the three British composers Howard Barnes,
Harold Fields and Joseph Roncoroni]/arr. by Alberto Semprini: The Destiny Theme,
for the radio program “Destiny” (1957/3')
• Chinese Collective: Shanghai Concerto (2010/7') [composed for the Shanghai World
Expo]
• Conway Russ [pseud. of Trevor Herbert Stanford, 1925-2000] (GB): Concerto for
Dreamers (1959/4')
- Conway Russ [pseud. of Trevor Herbert Stanford, 1925-2000] (GB): Concerto for
Lovers (1959/3')
- Conway Russ [pseud. of Trevor Herbert Stanford, 1925-2000] (GB): My Concerto for
You, for piano, women’s choir and orchestra (1960/3'); abridged version of the
apparently unrecorded Bristol Concerto (without women’s choir) (1959/?)
• Dello Joio Norman (1913-2008/USA): A Ballad of the Seven Lively Arts (1957/10')
• De Luca Edmond (1909-2004/USA): Lone Star Concerto (Dallas) (c. 1945; publ.
1966/3')
155
- De Luca Edmond (1909-2004/USA): Motor City Concerto (Detroit) (publ. 1966/3')
• Deutsch Peter (1901-1965/Ger/Den) [see also pseud. Alman Pete]: The Magic Picture,
concerto/fantasy (1950/15')
- Deutsch Peter (1901-1965/Ger/Den) [see also pseud. Alman Pete]: The Beginning of a
Romance (before 1961/3')
• Duchac Miroslav (1924-2008/Cze): Concertino for piano and jazz orchestra (1953/5')
• Dumont Cedric (1916-2007/Swi): The Song of the Piano, concerto (publ. 1967/6')
• Eisbrenner Werner (1908-1981/Ger): Cavatina for piano and strings (c. 1950/7')
• Eliezer Benzion (1920-1993/Bul): Fantasy for piano and jazz orchestra (1962/7')
156
• Escobar Maria Luisa (1898 or 1903-1985/Ven): Sentimental Concerto (Concierto
sentimental) (1948/15')
• Farnon Robert (1917-2005/Can): Mid-Ocean for orchestra; arr. for two pianos and
orchestra by Marjan Rawicz and Walter Landauer (1954/5')
• Fink Nataliya (b. ?/Rus): Nostalgia (Nostalgie), for piano and pops orchestra (2014/6');
also version for piano and concert band
• Fischer Ernst (1900-1975/Ger): Visions (Visionen), nocturno for piano, strings and
four horns (1949/6')
• Gebhardt Rio (1907-1944/Ger): Concerto in E-flat major for piano and jazz band
(1932/11')
• Goldstein William (b. 1942/USA): Miracle at Midnight, piano concerto, arr. from his
157
score for the film of same name, 1997 (2001/16')
• Green Philip (1911-1982/GB): Song of Soho: Rhapsody, from “Murder Without Crime”
(1950/6')
- Green Philip (1911-1982/GB): The Hour of Meditation, from “24 Hours of a Woman’s
Life/Affair in Monte Carlo” (1952/3')
• Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger): Illusion, Valse lente, arr. for piano and orchestra from
“Illusion” (1941/4')
- Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger): Vision, for piano, strings, oboe and harp, from “Vom
Teufel gejagt/Chased by the Devil” (1950/5')
- Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger): Tender Reverie (Zärtliche Träumerei), for piano, strings
and harp (publ. 1954/5')
- Grothe Franz (1908-1982/Ger): Madame Bovary Melodie, from the TV film “Madame
Bovary” (1968/5')
• Gubin Sol (1928-1996/USA): Nights at Beacon Hill (Boston Concerto) (before 1966/3')
• Haentzschel Georg (1907-1992/Ger): Nocturne for piano, strings and harp (c. 1950/4')
- Haentzschel Georg (1907-1992/Ger): Valse rubato-nocturne, for piano and strings (c.
1950/4')
158
- Haentzschel Georg (1907-1992/Ger): Romantic Episode (Romantische Episode), for
piano, four horns and strings (c. 1955/4')
• Hallberg Bengt (1932-2013/Swe): Rhapsody, adapted from his score for the 1973 TV
series “Den vita stenen/The White Stone” (1977/10')
159
• Horan Edward (1898-?/USA/GB): The Lonely Melody (perf. 1960/2')
• Inden Michael [pseud. of Michael Stenz, b. 1930] (Ger): Cote d’Azur (Côte d’Azur)
(before 1965/8')
- Inden Michael [pseud. of Michael Stenz, b. 1930] (Ger): Lost in Dreams, intermezzo
for piano and strings (c. 1965/5')
- Inden Michael [pseud. of Michael Stenz, b. 1930] (Ger): Romantic Sketch (Romantische
Skizze) (before 1966/6')
• Jenkins Gordon (1910-1984/USA): Twilight Interlude, for piano and strings (1939/3')
• Jernestrand Lennart (1929-2007/Swe): Impromptu, for piano and strings (c. 1960/4')
• Kalman Charles (1920-2015/Aut): Hudson Concerto (orig. for solo piano 1948; orch.
1960/9')
• Kasschau Howard (1913-1994/USA): Candlelight Concerto, for piano and band (1957/?)
• Kenton Stan (1911-1979/USA) & Rugolo Pete (1915-2011/Ita/USA): Theme to the West
(1958/5’); the original version is more jazzy and in a less hollywoodian style (1947/4')
• King Reginald (1904-1991/GB): Fantasy (1946, adapted from an earlier version from
1923/13')
160
Romanian TV program “Teleenciclopedia”] (1946/7')
• Koetsier Jan (1911-2006/Net): Musical Sketch (1948; rev. 1956/9') [later integrated as the
first movement of his three-movement “Homage to Gershwin”, 1969]
• Kosaku Dan [pseud. of Yuzo Kayama, b. 1937] (Jap): Piano Concerto (1970/7') [later
integrated as the first movement of his Piano Concerto in D minor, 1985]
- Krome Hermann (1888-1955/Ger): Call from Afar (Ruf aus der Ferne) (c. 1945/12');
abridged and reorchestrated version by Heinz Schreiter (c. 1960/8')
• Lai Francis (1932-2018/Fra): Love Story Theme, from “Love Story” (1970/4')
• Lauber Ken (b. 1941/USA): Piano Concerto, from “The World of Henry Orient”
(1964/7') [only 4 minutes are heard in the movie]
161
• Laudan Stanley (1912-1992/Pol/GB) & Rees Gordon (?-?/GB): Rhapsody for Elizabeth
(1952/8') [composed for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]
- Legrand Michel (1932-2019/Fra): Concertino for piano and orchestra, adapted from his
score for “Summer of ‘42” (1971/4')
- Leutwiler Toni (1923-2009/Swi): Concerto for piano, jazz orchestra and symphony
orchestra (1955/9')
• Lockley Gavin (b. 1978/Aus): King of the Air, piano concerto, from his score for the
musical of same name (2014/14')
• Lucas Leighton (1901-1982/GB): Stage Fright Rhapsody, from “Stage Fright” (1950),
arr. by Philip Lane (1994/5')
- Lundkvist Per (1916-1999/Swe): Rhapsody in Red (Rapsodi i rött) [arranged for piano
and concert band in 1978] (1964/10')
162
• Lyadova Lyudmila (b. 1925/Rus): Gypsy Rhapsody (c. 1970?/7')
- Mathieu Andre (1929-1968/Que/Can): Nocturne [arr. from the 2nd movement of his
Piano Concerto No. 4, 1947] (1948/4')
- Mattes Willy (1916-2002/Aut) [see also pseud. Wildman Charles]: Capriccio romantico
(c. 1955/10'); abridged and reorchestrated version of the principal theme as Riviera
Concerto (1959/3')
- Mattes Willy (1916-2002/Aut) [see also pseud. Wildman Charles]: Stockholm Concerto
(1957/6')
163
reedited in 1970 under the title Las Palmas Concerto
• Mineo Toni (Antoinette) (b. 1926/USA) & Mineo Attilio (1918-2010/USA): Rhapsody
21 (1961/7') [composed for the Seattle World’s Fair]
• North Alex (1910-1991/USA): Blues (Lament for Gershwin) (1939/9'); later integrated as
the slow movement of his three-movement Rhapsody for “Four Girls in Town” (1957)
[entitled Piano Concerto with Trumpet obbligato in a 1995 CD]
164
• Ofstad Kolbjorn (1917-1996/Nor): Romantic Rhapsody (Romantisk rapsodi) (before
1957/7')
• Paramor Norrie (1914-1979/GB): Cancerian Concerto, for piano and orchestra with
woman’s voice (1957/3')
• Parker Jim (b. 1934/GB): Midsomer Rhapsody, from the TV series “Midsomer
Murders”, season 8, episode 8 “Midsomer Rhapsody” (2005/3')
• Pauls Raimonds (b. 1936/Lat): Rhapsody for piano and light music orchestra (1964/8')
• Petitgirard Laurent (b. 1950/Fra): The Rosebud Suite (1980/17') [it is not actually a true
suite, but a one-movement work with recurring themes taken from his scores for
“Rosebud” (1975), “L’Amant de poche” (1978) and “Asphalte” (1980)]
• Portnoff Mischa (1901-1979/USA): 57th Street Rhapsody [with solo trumpet], from
“Carnegie Hall” (1947/5')
165
1957/8')
• Procaccini Teresa (b. 1934/Ita): New York Picture [also entitled Rapsodia americana in
the version for piano and concert band] (1958/8')
- Procaccini Teresa (b. 1934/Ita): Viaggio a Las Vegas [also entitled Ritmo fantasia in the
version for concert band without piano] (1958/13')
- Procaccini Teresa (b. 1934/Ita): An Evening in Paris (Una sera a Parigi) (1960/7')
- Procaccini Teresa (b. 1934/Ita): Sentimental Day [also entitled Fantasia romantica in
the version for piano and concert band] (1960/8')
- Procaccini Teresa (b. 1934/Ita): Night Music [also entitled Musica notturna in the
version for piano and concert band] (1960/6')
• Provenzano Aldo (1930-1999/USA): Sunset Boulevard Concerto (c. 1955; publ. 1966/3')
• Putz Johannes (1926-1971/Ger): The Black Swan (Der schwarze Schwan) (c. 1955/5')
• Reisman Joe (1924-1987/USA): Ballad of the Sea, arr. for two pianos, women’s choir
and orchestra by Walter Landauer (1962/3')
166
• Rene Henri (1906-1993/USA)/arr. Ulrich Sommerlatte (1914-2002/Ger): Californian
Rhapsody (Kalifornische Rhapsodie/Californische Rhapsodie) (1958/6')
• Roger Roger (1911-1995/Fra): Jazz Concerto; also version for harp and orchestra
(1943/7')
• Rota Nino (1911-1979/Ita): Legend of the Glass Mountain, for orchestra without piano,
adapted from his score for “The Glass Mountain” (1949); arr. for piano and orchestra
by Arthur Wilkinson (1949/4'); another concertante arrangement by George
Melachrino (1952/5')
- Rozsa Miklos (1907-1995/Hun/USA): New England Concerto, for two pianos and
orchestra (1984/15'), based on the themes from his scores for “Lydia” (1941) and “Time
out of Mind” (1947)
• Rustichelli Carlo (1916-2004/Ita): Windsor Concerto, from “The Whip and the Body”
(1963/3')
• Saint-Preux (b. 1950/Fra): Piano Concerto in G minor “Il y a sur la Terre” (1991/6')
• Sandner Ronald (b. ?/Ger)/arr. by Harald Heinemann (b. ?/Ger) & Helmut Sommer
(b. ?/Ger): Romantic Fantasy (Romantische Fantasie), for piano and concert band
(1987/8')
• Savino Domenico (1882-1973/Ita/USA): A Study in Blue, for piano and jazz orchestra
(1928/5')
167
- Savino Domenico (1882-1973/Ita/USA): American Concerto (1944/11')
• Seiter Herbert (1921-1996/Aut): Meeting at the Sea (Begegnung am Meer), for piano and
strings, from “Das grosse Wunschkonzert/Big Request Concert” (1960/5')
• Smith Ronnie (b. ?/GB)/orch. by Paul Bateman (b. ?/GB): Rhapsody (2009/10')
168
• Spoliansky Mischa (1898-1985/Pol/GB): A Voice in the Night, from “Wanted for
Murder” (1946/6’); new arrangement by Heinz Walter Florin (before 2009/5')
• Steck Arnold [pseud. of Frank Leslie Statham, 1905-1974] (GB): Riviera Rhapsody
(publ. 1955/5')
• Stevens Leith (1909-1970/USA): Piano Concerto in C minor [also known as Concerto for
Sweeney], from “Night Song” (1947/8'); extended version by Santiago Rodriguez with
an added 2-minute solo piano piece taken from the movie score (1995/10')
- Stuart Coolidge Peggy (1913-1981/USA): Out of the Night, rhapsody (before 1960/10');
abridged version under the title Melody Out of the Night (1960/4')
• Sukman Harry (1912-1984/USA): Nightfalls into Starlight; orig. under the title
Nightfall, from “Gog” (1954/3'); extended version in “The Naked Runner” (1967/8')
• Sys, Hans Vlig van der [pseud. of Willem Hans van der Sys, 1917-1983] (Net) &
Schmitz-Steinberg Christian (1920-1980/Ger): Rainbow Concerto (before 1967/7')
169
• Teruzzi Tarcisio (1930-2007/Ita): Nordic Legend (Leggenda Nordica) (c. 1960/7')
• Tsfasman Alexander (1906-1971/Rus): Concerto No. 1 for piano and jazz band (1941/14')
• Tura Will (b. 1940/Bel)/arr. and orch. by Robert Groslot (b. 1951/Bel): Fantasy in Blue
(c. 1980/3')
- Tura Will (b. 1940/Bel)/arr. and orch. by Robert Groslot (b. 1951/Bel): Urban
Rhapsody (c. 1980/4')
• Vlak Kees (1938-2014/Net): West Coast Concerto, for piano and concert band (1999/12')
- Wal-Berg [pseud. of Voldemar Rosenberg, 1910-1994] (Fra): Concerto for the Only One,
Lyric Rhapsody (Konzert für die Einzige, Lyrische Rhapsodie) (1961/9')
• Ward Edward (1900-1971/USA): Lullaby of the Bells, piano concerto (1944/6’), adapted
from his score for “Phantom of the Opera” (1943); also arrangement by Santiago
Rodriguez (1995/6')
• Wayne Bernie (1919-1993/USA): Concerto to the Golden Gate (San Francisco) (c. 1950;
publ. 1966/3')
170
- Wayne Bernie (1919-1993/USA): Blues on the Rocks (1957/7')
• Webb Roy (1888-1982/USA): Piano Concerto, from “The Enchanted Cottage” (1945/11')
• Weedon Penny (Penelope) (b. ?/GB): Gower Rhapsody (2013/6') [piano + VST]
• Welch Ed (b. 1947/GB): Thirty Nine Steps Concerto, adapted from his score for “The
Thirty Nine Steps” (1978/12')
• Wildman Charles [see also real name Mattes Willy, 1916-2002] (Aut): Swedish
Rhapsody (1947/8'), originally entitled Romance in Minor (Romans i moll) written for
“Brott i sol/Crime in the Sun” (1947); later retitled Swedish Rhapsody and featured in
“Madame X” (1966)
• Williams Charles (1893-1978/GB): The Dream of Olwen, from “While I Live” (1947/4')
[film reissued as “The Dream of Olwen” in 1950]; reorchestrated and slightly arranged
version by Sidney Torch (5')
• Winkler Gerhard (1906-1977/Ger): Towards the Sun (Der sonne entgegen), concert
piece/fantasy (c. 1955/8')
171
• Wittstatt Hans-Arthur (1923-1988/Ger): Rhapsodie abbandona (c. 1960/4')
• Wreford Reynell (1898-1976/GB): The Last Rhapsody, theme for the radio program
“Music for Murder” (1953/3')
****
172
APPENDIX 3
173
Title of the concertante work in the movie: Piano Concerto
Film: “Hangover Square” (USA)
Release date: 1945
Directed by: John Brahm
Music by: Bernard Herrmann – Concerto Macabre (11')
174
Release date: 1947
Directed by: John Harlow
Music by: Charles Williams – The Dream of Olwen (4')
175
• Fictitious name: Eiryo Waga
Title of the concertante work in the movie: Piano Concerto
Film: “Suna no Utsuwa/The Castle of Sand” (Japan)
Release date: 1974
Directed by: Yoshitaro Nomura
Music by: Original soundtrack by Mitsuaki Kanno, arranged by Akira Senju
in 2004 under the title Shukumei Concerto/Destiny Concerto (in two movements,
21')
***
176
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AND
“SITOGRAPHY”
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177
Hinson Maurice, Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide, USA:
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179
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University Press, 2016, 277 p.
Articles:
Ades David, “The Golden Age of Light Music, vol. 1 ‘The Hall of Fame’”,
booklet of the GUILD CD GLCD 5120 (2006)
Battioni Isabelle, “Warsaw Concerto and other Piano Concertos from the
Movies”, booklet of the NAXOS CD 8.554323 (1997)
Cox James, “The Film Music of Sir Malcolm Arnold, vol. 2”, booklet of the
CHANDOS CD CHAN 9851 (2000)
Lane Philip, “Warsaw Concerto and Other Piano Concertos from the
Movies”, booklet of the NAXOS CD 8.554323 (1998)
Lane Philip, “Love Story: Piano Themes from Cinema’s Golden Age”,
booklet of the DECCA CD (2016)
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“Sitography”
Blair Johnston, “Richard Addinsell, Warsaw Concerto”, article on
AllMusic.com [online,
https://www.allmusic.com/composition/warsaw-concerto-for-piano-orchestra-
for-the-film-dangerous-moonlight-suicide-squadron-mc0002368548,
accessed March 18, 2018]
Ho Allan B., Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded Repertory (Southern
Illinois University Edwardsville, USA)
[online, http://www.siue.edu/~aho/discography/Discography.pdf, accessed
March 18, 2018]
Long Harry, “Hail, Britannia!, Richard Addinsell: Film Music”, review of the
CD, on Film Score Monthly Online Magazine, February 29, 2000
[online,
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2000/29_Feb---
Richard_Addinsell_CD_Reviews.asp, accessed December 22, 2016]
Raykoff Ivan, Concerto con amore: Relationship and Ritual in the Soundtrack
Piano Concerto, thesis (2000) – in Echo: An Online Journal, vol. 2
[online,
http://www.echo.ucla.edu/Volume2-Issue1/raykoff/raykoff-article.html,
accessed December 26, 2017]
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Stevenson Joseph, “Franz Wawman, Rhapsody for piano and orchestra”, article
on AllMusic.com [online,
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/rhapsody-for-piano-and-orchestra-
mc0002433069, accessed November 3, 2017]
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Biography
Corentin Boissier has been composing with musical scores since he was 6 years old.
He is discovered by the composer Thierry Escaich: « He already owns true qualities that
will make him an accomplished musician. He already has a genuine sense of harmonic
color, of rythmic invention and of renewal of thematic material. All these qualities show an
open-minded spirit indicating a real gift for composition ».
He studied at the CRR of Paris in the Specialized Classes of Musical Writing and
Orchestration where he got both Diplomas of Musical Studies (DEM) “With Highest
Distinction”. In 2019 he obtained the Master of Superior Musical Writing at the National
Superior Conservatory of Music (CNSM) of Paris, with four Prizes “With Highest
Distinction”: Harmony, Counterpoint, Fugue & Forms, Polyphony; and seven Certificates
(Orchestration, Arrangement, Analysis…) His thesis The Mini Piano Concerto from the years
40-60: a trend triggered by Richard Addinsell’s “Warsaw Concerto” got the congratulations of
the jury.
Eager to write a directly accessible classical music, Corentin Boissier composed to
date more than twenty works in a neo-romantic spirit. His ballade for alto saxophone and
piano From Midnight to Dawn is premiered during the 2014 Musical Festival of Bagnac-sur-
Célé by the duo Christine Marchais and Marc Sieffert. His encounter with the young
several-award-winning pianist Philippe Hattat results in the performances of his Piano
Sonata No. 1 « Romantica », his Double Toccata, his concert piece Solitude as well as three of
his 24 Preludes to Travel. His three pieces for piano Romantic Young Ladies are recorded and
uploaded on YouTube by the Italian concert pianist Annarita Santagada.
His Glamour Concerto, version for solo piano, is recorded in 2016 in Quebec by the
concert pianist Minna Re Shin. The Aria of Past Times is successively performed by the
soprano Sayuri Araida, the baritone Aurélien Gasse, the harmonicist Claude Saubestre, the
flutist Iris Daverio and the cellist Eric Tinkerhess, who also gives the world premiere of the
Sonata for Cello and Piano with the composer at the piano.
Interested in different sides of musical writing, Corentin Boissier is also active as an
orchestrator and arranger. Notably, his orchestration of the 9th of Alfredo Casella’s Nine
Pieces for piano op. 24 is performed in concert by the Orchestra of the Gardiens de la Paix
in 2016 at the Church « Saint-Joseph des Nations »; his orchestration of Debussy’s Passepied
is performed in concert in the Auditorium Marcel Landowski in Paris; his arrangement of
the jazz standard Caravan, written for the Local Brass Quintet, is performed live in the
Musée de l’Orangerie, in Paris, in 2017. About his orchestration of Francis Poulenc’s
Humoresque, the composer Nicolas Bacri wrote: « Congratulations for your orchestration.
It’s very well rendered and perfectly in the style ».
In February 2018 his Piano Sonata No. 2 « Appassionata » was premiered by concert
pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid at the Salle Cortot, in Paris. A video recording, made in
studio, has been uploaded on YouTube.
In March 2019, for an upcoming CD release, his two piano concertos (Glamour
Concerto and Philip Marlowe Concerto) were recorded by British concertist Valentina
Seferinova and the Ukrainian Festival Orchestra under the direction of American
conductor John McLaughlin Williams.
Contact: corentin.boissier@free.fr
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