Piano Concerto (Bliss)

The Piano Concerto in B-flat, Op. 58, F.108, was written by Arthur Bliss in 1938 and premiered in 1939. It is a powerful work in the nineteenth-century Romantic tradition, and at the time it was hoped it could prove to be a British "Emperor" concerto. Nicolas Slonimsky described it as "Lisztomorphic in its sonorous virtuosity, Chopinoid in its chromatic lyricism, and Rachmaninovistic in its chordal expansiveness".

Arthur Bliss had adjudicated at the Ysaye International Competition for Pianists in Belgium in 1938 and was particularly impressed with some of the competitors' performances. He wrote to his wife at the time:

I have heard twenty-two pianists play the same piece by Bach, the same piece by Scarlatti, and expect to hear them sixty-three times more. Never again! ... I am learning a lot by listening to these young players — the standard is high — and my Piano Concerto is going to benefit the experience. ... Hearing hour after hour so much brilliant piano playing made me wish to write an extended work for the instrument myself. I must have put intensive concentration into the wish, for almost immediately afterwards the opportunity arose.

The opportunity that arose was a commission from the British Council for a piano concerto to be performed during British Week at the 1939 New York World's Fair with the pianist Solomon as soloist.

Bliss was then at the height of his powers – he had recently completed Checkmate, a ballet brimful of exuberant vitality. Solomon worked closely with the composer on the scoring and engraving of the work.

Its premiere was given on 10 June 1939 by the British pianist Solomon, with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Adrian Boult, in Carnegie Hall. It was also Solomon's United States debut. The premiere performance of the Bliss Piano Concerto was recorded, has been remastered and is now available.

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