Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

's Piano Concerto in D-flat major, Op. 38, was composed in 1936. It was his first work to bring him recognition in the West, and it immediately entered the repertoire of many notable pianists. The Piano Concerto was the first of three concertos Khachaturian wrote for the individual members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963. The others were the

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

for

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin w ...

(1940) and the Cello Concerto for

Sviatoslav Knushevitsky Sviatoslav Nikolayevich Knushevitsky (also seen as Knushevitzky; 19 February 1963) was a Soviet-Russian classical cellist. He was particularly noted for his partnership with the violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Lev Oborin in a renowned p ...

(1946). The Piano Concerto in D-flat was written for

Lev Oborin Lev Nikolayevich Oborin (russian: Лев Николаевич Оборин, ''Lev Nikolaevič Oborin''; Moscow, Moscow, 5 January 1974) was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer and pedagogue. He was the winner of the first International Chopin ...

, who premiered it in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on 12 July 1937, with the

Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated wit ...

under

Lev Steinberg Lev Petrovich Steinberg (ru: Штейнберг, Лев Петрович) (Yekaterinoslav 3 September 1870 – Moscow 16 January 1945), was an influential Russian Jewish conductor and composer.Gregor Tassie ''Kirill Kondrashin: His Life in Music'' ...

.Aram Khachaturian, Onno van Rijen
The only piano available for the premiere was an upright piano, and the orchestra had just one rehearsal. The venue was an open-air stage in

Sokolniki Park Sokolniki Park, named for the falcon hunt of the Grand Dukes of Muscovy formerly conducted there, is located in the eponymous Sokolniki District of Moscow. Sokolniki Park is not far from the center of the city, near Sokolnicheskaya Gate. Th ...

, and during the performance a strong wind blew Steinberg's glasses off, so that he could no longer see the score and had to conduct the remainder from memory. The British premiere was on 13 April 1940, at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

, London, with pianist

Moura Lympany Dame Moura Lympany DBE (18 August 191628 March 2005) was an English concert pianist. Biography She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother original ...

(who was approached after

Clifford Curzon Sir Clifford Michael Curzon CBE (né Siegenberg; 18 May 19071 September 1982) was an English classical pianist. Curzon studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and subsequently with Artur Schnabel in Berlin and Wanda Landowska and Nad ...

had declined), conducted by

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...

. It received its American debut on 14 March 1942, by Maro Ajemian at the Juilliard School in New York, conducted by

Albert Stoessel Albert Frederic Stoessel (October 11, 1894 – May 12, 1943) was an American composer, violinist and conductor. Biography He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and ...

Structure and scoring

The piece is in three movements: # ''Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso'' # ''Andante con anima'' # ''Allegro brillante'' The first movement, ''Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso'', makes extensive use of the three-note theme of F, B, and A, illustrated above. Although the term "

flexatone The flexatone or fleximetal is a modern percussion instrument (an indirectly struck idiophone) consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. Used in classic cartoons for its glissando effect, its sou ...

" is used, the second movement, ''Andante con anima'', is one of the few classical pieces to make use of a

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque f ...

, although this instrument is often omitted in performances and recordings of the concerto. The third movement, ''Allegro brillante'', caps the piece in an exciting manner. The work is scored for 2

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s, 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s, 2

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

, 2

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s, 4

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s, two

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s, three

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

, percussion, and strings.

Recordings

The concerto was first recorded in 1945, by

with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

under

Anatole Fistoulari Anatole Fistoulari (20 August 1907 – 21 August 1995) was a Ukrainian conductor, who became a British citizen.Obituary – Anatole Fistoulari. ''Opera'', October 1995, Vol.46 No.10, p1172. A child prodigy, he later conducted around Europe and Ame ...

.Lim, Lemy Sungyoun (2010). ''The Reception of Women Pianists in London, 1950-60''. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London)
/ref> It was recorded the following year by

William Kapell William Kapell (September 20, 1922October 29, 1953) was an American pianist and recording artist, killed at the age of 31 in the crash of a commercial airliner returning from a concert tour in Australia. Biography William Kapell was born in New ...

with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

under Serge Koussevitzky. The Kapell recording became a jukebox favourite, and Kapell was so associated with the work that he was often called "Khachaturian Kapell". Lympany and Fistoulari recorded the work again in the mid 1950s. Since then it has been recorded by, among others,

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for reco ...

Peter Katin Peter Roy Katin ( ) (14 November 193019 March 2015) was a British classical pianist and teacher. Biography Katin was born in London; his father was sign-painter Jerrold Katin (who was born in Lithuania) and mother Gertrude. Katin was educated ...

, Boris Berezovsky,

Mindru Katz Mindru Katz (3 June 192530 January 1978) was a Romanian-Israeli classical pianist. Biography Katz was born to Jewish parents in Bucharest in 1925. He was discovered as a child prodigy by the noted composer George Enescu, and taught by Florica M ...

, Dora Serviarian Kuhn, Constantine Orbelian,

Alicia de Larrocha Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle (23 May 192325 September 2009) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was considered one of the great piano legends of the 20th century. Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", ''Time'' "o ...

Leonard Pennario Leonard Pennario (July 9, 1924 – June 27, 2008) was an American classical pianist and composer. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School remaining in L.A. for his entire career. He firs ...

Lorin Hollander Lorin Hollander (born July 19, 1944) is an American classical concert pianist. He has performed with virtually all of the major symphony orchestras in the United States and many around the world. A ''New York Times'' critic called him in 1964 "the ...

Gintaras Januševičius Gintaras Januševičius (born 16 January 1985) is a Lithuanian pianist, music educator, event producer, radio presenter, and philanthropist. He is renowned for narrative recitals and original interpretations; particularly that of Rachmaninoff, ...

, and

Alberto Portugheis Alberto Portugheis (born January 1, 1941, in La Plata, Argentina) is an Argentine pianist, born to parents of Russian and Romanian descent. He is an international pianist and teacher, now living in London. After winning first prize at the Gene ...

Notes

External links

A performance
by Hayk Melikyan with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

A performance
by

with the

Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra ( lt, Lietuvos valstybinis simfoninis orkestras or LVSO) is one of Lithuania's two national orchestras, founded in 1988. The other, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO, Lietuvos nacionalinis s ...

, on

{{Authority control Compositions by Aram Khachaturian Khachaturian 1936 compositions Compositions in D-flat major