Program Notes

"Originally, I set out to compose an ambitious and 'grand' piano concerto for Randall Hodgkinson and the Boston Musica Viva. But as musical ideas unfolded, it soon became apparent that my conception was taking a different course. What finally originated was a music of a much more intimate character: shimmering, lambent, and sparked by occasional touches of 'extroverted' brilliance. There is a cadenza for the piano soloist which is essentially introspective and in keeping with the intimate character of the whole form. However, the solo part is not entirely unvirtuosic. There are some concerto like passages which are dif􏰂cult and demand a mastery of legato, rubato, 'bringing out' of singing melody, control of pedalling - partlcularly the una corda, and smooth execution in trills, tremolandi and arpeggio figurations. Perhaps most important is the tone richness and tone projection required of the soloist–the manner in which the soloist is able to dominate and carry the fow of the entire ensemble, creating the forward energy and projecting the 'illusion' of musical light and the poetic shades of musical color which transform from beginning to end."

—William Thomas McKinley (© 1983)