Edward MacDowell - Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 23 (1885)
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860 - January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites Woodland Sketches, Sea Pieces and New England Idylls. Woodland Sketches includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose". In 1904 he was one of the first seven Americans honored by membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 23 (1885)
Dedication: Teresa Carreño (1853-1917)
1. Larghetto calmato (0:00)
2. Presto giocoso (13:36)
3. Largo - Molto allegro (18:19)
Naxos recording
Stephen Prutsman, piano and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland conducted by Arthur Fagen
Description by Roger Dettmer [-]
MacDowell composed this work in 1884 and 1885, and played the first performance with Theodore Thomas and his eponymous orchestra in Chickering Hall, New York City, on March 5, 1889. The accompaniment is scored for two each of winds and trumpets, four horns, three trombones, timpani, and strings. In American Music since 1910, Virgil Thomson cited MacDowell as "our nearest to a great composer before [Charles] Ives. His short works for piano still speak to us." Let us add that the Second Piano Concerto remains among the most popular of way too few staples in the concerto genre by American composers. Only Gershwin's Concerto in F, composed 40 years after, enjoys a comparable status in the repertory, followed distantly by Aaron Copland's single endeavor (1926), and Samuel Barber's lone essay.
MacDowell was 15 when his mother took him abroad to study -- at the Paris Conservatoire for three years (where Debussy was a fellow student), then in Stuttgart and Frankfurt for three years (where Joseph Raff was his composition professor and Carl Heymann his piano pedagogue). In 1881 the Darmstadt Conservatory made MacDowell its chief piano instructor. In 1882 he took his First Piano Concerto to Liszt, who advised him to concentrate on composition, and persuaded the Leipzig firm of Breitkopf & Härtel to publish Modern Suites Nos. 1 and 2, thereby establishing MacDowell here and abroad as the first notable "American" composer.
He returned briefly to the U.S. in 1884, to marry, then returned to Germany. On his honeymoon he sketched what became the scherzo in this concerto, which was completed at Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. Grieg (to whom MacDowell dedicated one of his four piano sonatas) is reflexively cited along with Liszt as a major influence on MacDowell's music. But the Second Piano Concerto, not to deny its own voice or expertise, is plainly in the tradition of Saint-Saëns' Second, especially the scherzo movement. MacDowell absorbed more during his unhappy years at Paris than he may consciously have realized.
One of my favourite piano concertos that is criminally underrated and underplayed! The first mvt is my favourite because of its combination of virtuosity and lyricism.
I have listened to this uncounted times over the years. It is awesome!
Again as good as it gets. Another outstanding piano concerto by MacDowell. I don't know which is better, the first or second. All I know is they are magnificent.
I really love this concerto Edward MacDowell created a tapestry of temporal ensembles that totally fills an eager mind with passages of harmony and transcendence.
0:00 - I. Larghetto calmato
13:36 - II. Presto giocoso
18:19 - III. Largo. Molto allegro
Not that I am American but I find it important that these American Romantic composer be more celebrated at least by the broader American concert societies.
We haven’t done a very good job of curating and promoting our 19th century composers, and I agree we need to do more. This piano concerto kind of disappeared from the active repertoire in the 60s and 70s despite being very popular throughout the first half of the 20th century.
You need to check the two piano concerti of Lee Hoiby.
I suspect that there a couple of things that are required for a composer to be really well known (especially a composer of ‘classical’ music.) One is to live a long time! Second is to compose a large body of compositions. Third is to be out there, or have someone out there promoting your music, even after your death (think Clara Schumann) Now, you can die young if you have composed a large enough body of music (Mozart, Schubert, Chopin), but consider how obscure composers like Max Reger and MacDowell, Levitsky, and others, who had the misfortune to die young leaving only a modest sized body of work. In MacDowell’s case, he also had the misfortune of suffering from a mental illness that kept him from composing for some time even before his death! So we enjoy and promote his music as much as we can.
It is one of my favourite composers and I ❤ both the piano concertos.
I imagine I skate on the ice rink whenever I listen to it.
Wow. This sounds absolutely gorgeous. I can’t believe I haven’t found this concerto sooner. I’ve been missing out!
I love the introduction - like an orchestrated lyric piece by Grieg!
unique and beautiful....create the desire to hear it again and again.....never boring
Thanks ! Since years and years one of my favourite piano concertos.
Great piece.... should be played more often....
Sad this isnt played anymore, it could easily replace a few performances of the Grieg
Grieg feels like it’s used to fill out a few programs. The number of times I’ve seen Grieg over the years because it was on the same program as another big piece I wanted to see is more than I’d like to admit. Mostly big works around an hour long like the Alpine Symphony. Throw Grieg in, intermission, big work. It could have easily been this or even Schumann.
@@shadowhegog9798 you're very lucky to hear the Alpine its never done in the UK- ok once in a blue moon
For my money, I'd rather this replace Rachmaninoff 2nd. Easier to play, haha
Grieg's concerto is a hundred times better than this one here.
It's not played because it's mediocre. Decent orchestral writing marred by some of the most insipid virtuosic piano garbage. I'm not even the biggest fan of the Grieg, but it blows this out of the water.
The Romantic period and early 20th century were really a rough time for the piano concerto because it was so often used as an incredibly clumsy vehicle for the composer to get attention from the crowds who demanded more virtuoso performances. There are plenty that have stood the test of time, but there's a laundry list like this, Britten, Thalberg, etc., that languish in the dumpster of history for a reason.
Studied this with Jane Allen... who played it with the Dallas Symphony when she was 16.... WHAT a GREAT work!
Glorious piece of music, wow. I’ve never heard of this composer before!
Me neither. I am absolutely blown away
A wonderful discovery then. Check out Converse and Griffes.
When I was a boy, I thought this Concerto was by Rachmaninoff. Then I bought Sanroma's stunning performance which is only equaled by Earl Wild.
So emotional. Wow. I'm glad you posted this concerto
Great work ! American or other, many great works by not so famous composers are ignored by the industry for whatever (commercial ?) reasons. I'd love to see series of such concerts.
Tnx to BB and those uploading.
Heart warming and so much feeling-----
Have to think Mozkowski and MacDowell would have been fine friends. Always an interesting story to compose.
True their quite similar
@@kofiLjunggren Paderewski as well.
I listen to this piece almost entirely for the opening
BEAUTIFULLY played....
Precious music
Very nice, you can hear many influences, 6:40 and a bit after sounds like Grieg's concerto.
but better
The opening theme is from the Symphony Nr. 9 of Antonín Dvořák
Très joli concerto aux influences multiples mais ne manquant pas d'originalité dans le traitement virtuose de la partie soliste et le dialogue avec l'orchestre. Merci à Bartje Bartmans, ce dénicheur infatigable de joyaux occultes.
Very nice concerto with multiple influences but not lacking originality in the virtuoso treatment of the solo part and dialogue with the orchestra. Thank you to Bartje Bartmans, this tireless scout hidden jewels.
Best piano concerto by an American IMHO.
Menotti's is not too shabby either! Copland's I love as well. Peter Mennin's is probably one of the hardest hitting concertos out there.
@@bartjebartmans Wow, just listened to the Mennin concerto for the first time. Love it! Thanks for the recommendation.
Enchanting
utterly epic
Entre Saint Saens et Gershwin le concerto de Mac Dowell est brillant neo romantique malheureusement jamais donné en concert vue la difficulté de l’œuvre !
brilliant
At 5.50 there is an unmistakable reference to the middle movement of the Tchaikovsky B flat minor.
So I'm not the only one who heard that.
use a colon and we can all link to it 5:50
I'm not sure the dates work out. The MacDowell was written in 1884/5 and the Tchaik was written in 1888. So who influenced who?
@@pwoody1958 So it works the other way round, that's interesting. Very probably Tchaikovsky could have heard Carreno in it.
Indeed there is a similarity but the MacDowell passage you mentioned is in d minor. I also love the Grieg concerto and have a recording of the original version which is fabulous. Grieg continued to revise & degrade his piano concerto throughout his life, draining it of its original intense beauty & dramatic vitality. Pardon me, for this reason I regard Grieg as a composer who destroyed his gift for music composition.
Considering the date (1885) this piano concerto sounds quite innovative.
Liked this. People say it sounds like Grieg as though a criticism. There are many worse things for a piano concerto to sound like!
This is a lovely performance. I heard Stephen Prutsman live only once performig the Prokofiev 3rd, and he played it beautifully. I recall his prominence in a documentary, perhaps in the 90s, of the Tchaikovsky competition. He did not win, though I thought he should have. As others have commented, this concerto and the other by MacDowell should be played frequently but are not. One wonders why. They are excellent compositions and every bit as good as some of the piano concerto warhorses.
This is fantastic. Why do we never hear this in the concerthalls?
Because in the concerthalls they always play the same five or six works. Fortunately there is UA-cam to explore classical music in a more serious way!
Fifth interpretation of this well known piece this far. The others I've heard was Wild, Cliburn, Watts, and Eugene List. All are champions of the piece. This will be added as another among them. Fantastic job with all movements.
Roberto Szidon also recorded this on DGG with on the other side of the LP Gershwin's Concerto. Stellar performance, with a phenomenal Scherzo.
@@bartjebartmans Gerhard Oppitz too recorded it in the 70s for broadcasting.There should be a lot other recordings out there.
Wild as in Earl Wild? That's wild! I want to hear his playing.
Cliburn was my hero growing up! This was the very FIRST COncerto I ever heard from an album (33 RPM) my dad's friend gave me for my 10th birthday (Prokofiev 3 was on the flip side) LOVED both!!
This so very legendary the glory, btw i as learn theory classic n these so very very classically.
1:43 is exactly Grieg Piano Concerto (1st theme with the character of the cadenza)
13:40 sounds like one is traveling by train in the countryside. The American countryside that is. We Americans have a lot of great Romantic composers to be proud of: MacDowell, Fry, Chadwick, Dede, Gottschalk, Foote, Beach, etc.
Without a doubt! Bristow and Paine are included in that etc.
@@jazzstandardman Converse?
wow, definitely Beach, she’s amazing!
Fairies 🧚♂️ driving train.
American composers are very charming in there music!
A big surprise for me! An American composer of this style?!
Tima Liberec -- True....and there's even passages around the middle and later on that recall the Russians!
11:45
Very good, MacDowell deserves more attention in general. Piano opening sounds like the Grieg Cadenza
My favorite piano concerto (after Saint-Saëns' E-flat concerto)!
+Dave Galvin I LOVE The Egyptian Saint Saens....
what are some other favorites of yours?
Very good! Are you familiar with both Mozkowski concerti?
Uffff! So good piano concertos. There are a lot of them, is strange, i love it! Haha! I think it s so difficult to choose to me between many opus magnum... Grieg. Chopin. Mendelssohn. Liszt. Schumann. Bach. Mozart. Saint-Säens. Macdowell. Hummel. Weber. Moscheles. Kalkbrenner. Beethoven. Tchaikovsky. Dvorak. Prokofiev. Shostakovich. Rachmaninov. And more. But what i very lament, is that Schubert didnt write anyone!!!!!!!
@@adriatorras8077 I love your list, and like that you included Dvorak's (a truly underrated concerto). And yes, Schubert should have written one.
Un concerto de grande facture digne des plus grands du post romantisme. Malheureusement très peu joué en France !
Presque totalement inconnu en France...
I wonder what's with that huge pitch bend on the first piano octave? Stringed instruments go sharp when pushed to maximum amplitude. In all my years (well, not that many, but plenty of hours on plenty of pianos) I've never heard that kind of bending on a piano. But what else would explain it? From a sound editing error point of view, there's little I can imagine either. Anyone want to guess?
Für die Ewigkeit, for eternity ...
2nd movement is so American! Sounds like Gershwin could have drawn inspiration from it.
I think - excuse me - the American influence of Dvorak.
Very nice. Interesting... Most scores I've seeing with a second piano doing orchestral parts are written beneath the soloist on the score. This score has orchestral parts piano above the soloist's score.
There is no 2nd piano part. You are seeing a reduced orchestral score (conductor's part) above the piano part. This usually is printed only in very expensive study editions!
If Glenn Miller wrote romantic piano concertos...
... he would not be known.
A very original harmonic writing. in the orchestral introduction, which becomes much more conventional in the answer of the piano.
If you like the harmonic style of the introduction, you may want to look up the piano suites mentioned in the video description.
Like saint saens's Piano Concerto 2
Structure is very similar as well, both have a scherzo esque movement as the second movement in place of an adagio.
Yes, and you can hear the same 5 chords in the middle of the beginning solo
This concerto has the same (or very similar) overall structure as Saint-Saens 2.
Yes but more profound.
@@Piflaser Different kinds of profundity.
@@tfpp1 For me Saint-Saens has a touch of light music.
My question is, wouldn't it be easier to read the first movement as a 3/4 Allegro? Despite being marked larghetto, it fulfills sonata form beautifully. I suppose MacDowell had in mind the close of the movement and the contrast with the scherzo that follows.
Stuart Simon, 3/4 and 6/8 have quite different feels in terms of accent pattern. 6/8 is felt in 2 larger beats.
Someone tell me about the composer.
I first time heard of him
@World Of Faraz Haider Thank you
23:54
09:00, 18:00, 21:00
I might conjecture that this might have been wriyyen in memory of Raff, with whom he studied.
Raff is underrated too. He orchestrated the symphonic poems by Liszt.
3:37
12:30 misprinted
Who is playing?
Other than Stephen Prutsman...
+David Bánóczi-Ruof National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Conductor is Arthur Fagen.
'Un Americano a Parigi'.Per me questo concerto dice poco e gli accostamenti a un Grande come Saint Saints li trovo alquanto pretestuosi.
Un buon concerto ma nulla più. Gli preferisco senz'altro il primo.Moszowsky e Scharwenka ,per esempio , nel periodo,hanno composto ben altri concerti.
The title "Larghetto calmato" is very strange.
a
Who is interested listen to Mario Mueller American Indianists
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk,eu entendi tudo o que esta ai essas letras sei la como chamar isso cifras não esei la so sei que não entendo em grego,kkkkkkkkkkkkkso amo a musica em si.
There is a LOT of Wagner going on here
The ads are obnoxious and disruptive. They appear in the middle of a movement. I'm dropping UA-cam.
First of all, it's free, so your complaining is not particularly relevant. Second, have you ever heard of adblocker? Download it and you will not have to run away.
lots of fluff here but little substance.
neh :)) still not good as rach 3
:))
+bboy jake lam MacDowell concert was written about 25 years earlier than Rach's 3rd. So kind of a silly comparison.
whoa O_O mac is older :)) dang
Ps: a big fan of rach :))
+Lam Sang Rach 3 is an excellent choice! But for me it is Prokoviev 3.
+Sang Lam Not many things are
+Sang Lam rach 3 is for little boys. :P