• Helen Grime
  • Piano Concerto (2017)

  • Chester Music Ltd (World)

Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall, with the generous support of The Marchus Trust, and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, with financial assistance from the Arts Council, Britten-Pears Foundation and other individuals through BCMG’s Sound Investment Scheme

  • fl[afl].cl[bcl]/perc/hp/vn.vc
  • Piano
  • 12 min

Programme Note

Scored for solo piano and duos of flute and clarinet and violin and cello with harp and percussion, my intention was to create an intimate piece which is as much about chamber music as moments of great virtuosity and stillness.

The piece is also a sort of mini homage to Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez. Two works that are very close to my heart are Carter’s Triple Duo and sur Incises by Boulez. Consequently, the flute and clarinet and violin and cello are always treated as separate duos and the music each duo plays is often in contrast to the other in mood, speed, texture or gesture. Used sparingly throughout, these strands collide and interact at various points and in a range of ways throughout the piece. The percussion and harp, inspired by sur Incises (which is scored for three pianos, three harps, and three percussion) act as a kind of extension to the piano, often expanding on, amplifying or echoing it.

The piece is cast in three movements; the second and third movements transform and reflect on the material in the opening movement in different ways.

Programme note © 2017 Helen Grime

Scores

Preview the score

Reviews

Just right. That was my first thought at the end of Helen Grime’s Piano Concerto. One note more would have been to many, one note fewer, not enough. Instead the Scottish artist... had judged the scale, shape and pace of this new piece perfectly. That’s rarer than you might think. ...This 15-minute piece is as much a chamber work as a concerto, and the six instrumentalists – the superb Birmingham Contemporary Music Group – have soloistic roles; the piano part is simply the brightest thread in the tapestry. Grime has an ear for colour, a knack for telling contrasts. Harp and vibraphone darted around the piano, phosphorescent and otherworldly, while flute and clarinet, just visible through the stage door, called from afar....
Rebecca Franks, The Times (London)
7th March 2017
...like Grime’s 2009 orchestral piece, A Cold Spring, [the Piano Concerto] imbues every instrument with personality.
Hannah Nepil, Financial Times
7th March 2017
...a compact work of glittering sonorities carefully applied, with a hectic finale that explodes and then vanishes into thin air...
...the Piano Concerto is a demonstration of Grime’s ability to create dense and fascinating textures with the utmost economy....
Erica Jeal, The Guardian
6th March 2017
...a bracing density of musical incident that demanded and rewarded alert listening...
Roy Westbrook, Bachtrack
5th March 2017