Piano Concerto No. 2 (MacDowell)

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 23 by Edward MacDowell was completed in late 1885. Although some obvious similarities with Edvard Grieg's, Camille Saint-Saëns's and Franz Liszt's concertos have often been stated, Macdowell's composition proves to be quite original, at least it shows much more originality than his First Concerto. It was the first major piano concerto written by an American. It was also the only large-scale composition by MacDowell to remain in standard repertoire.

Macdowell's First Concerto was written and performed in 1882, when he was only 22. In was published in 1884. The composer soon began working on his Second. Finished in Wiesbaden in late 1885, for some years it remained unperformed. In 1888 MacDowell returned to America. On 5 March 1889 he performed the new concerto in Chickering Hall (New York City) with New York Philharmonic under Theodore Thomas. The program of this concert also included the American premiere of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. Next year (1890) Breitkopf & Härtel published the orchestral score and an arrangement for 2 pianos (prepared by MacDowell himself). It was dedicated to Teresa Carreño, a famous pianist, who used to be one of MacDowell's earliest piano teachers. The first recording of this concerto was made by Jesús Maria Sanromá in 1934 with Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler.Van Cliburn chose this concerto for his professional debut when he was eighteen.

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