January 1, 1942

New York, New York. New York Philharmonic. Eugene List; piano. Dimitri Mitropolous; conductor.

Introduction

It was the year 1940 when the 41-year-old composer Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (in short Carlos Chavez) composed one of the most carefully crafted piano concertos in the world. It might be rarely heard today, but the composition received a really insightful and compelling premiere on January 1, 1942, by highly regarded musicians. The composition was widely discussed in the early 1940s because it was performed in various nations, and on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In Spanish, this work was given the title “Concierto Para Piano,” and I believe that it provides a great illustration of Chavez’s vision for composing the piece in a modern and a nationalistic way. He tends to combine both his local Mexican and the world's traditions to provide an overall universal resonance.

Being a composer, conductor, educator and musical organizer, Chávez was multi skilled and multi-talented. His immense creative talent had a positive impact on Latin American cultural life; indeed, after the Mexican Revolution, Chavez actually became one of the first composers to create Mexican Nationalist Music inspired by Aztec culture. Sinfonía india (1935-36), has gained international popularity, with the inclusion of the melody which apparently originated from the Native American tribes of Northern Mexico (similar to the Aztec influence mentioned before).

World Premiere of the Piece

As was described by Diane Nordyke in her dissertation, Chávez received a grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation late in the year 1938, which resulted in the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Chávez set to work on his composition during the spring of 1938, and he was able to complete the short version of the score by the end of the year. The completion of the orchestral score was interrupted several times for various reasons. Chavez and the composer Aaron Copland were good friends who tried to create a distinct musical sound which showcased their home countries in their music. Chavez and Copland have written letters back to back and Chavez received comments and reviews from Copland. Taking the advice from Copland, it was not until October 1940 that Chávez could resume his work at a faster pace, completing the piece on the last day of that year..

Premieres of the Composition across nations

The concerto’s premiere took place on January 1, 1942, under the supervision of conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos leading the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with Eugene List on the piano at Carnegie Hall. It was performed again on Sunday afternoon, January 4.

According to the Nordyke, Chavez’s primary intention was to showcase this piece as a virtuoso concerto with the orchestra and the piano sharing the virtuosity, rather than emphasizing the solo part and reducing the rest to a subsidiary role of the accompaniment. As Nordyke has noted, when Chavez first showed the piece to Mitropoulos, he recommended the title “Concerto Sinfonico” as a more appropriate title than just “Concerto.”

About nine months after the premiere, the piece had its European premiere on September 6, 1942, by the pianist Tom Bromley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. The Mexican premiere took place on August 13, 1943, with Claudio Arrau on the piano and the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, and this performance was conducted by Carlos Chávez himself.

Music in the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is a work composed both for the solo piano part and the orchestra. The instrumentation of the composition includes a part for the solo piano and the orchestra along with a significant number of percussion instruments, including some Latin percussion instruments such as the claves and the maracas, which allowed Chavez to showcase the Mexican influences that he had while he was composing this piece. This blending of the instruments showcases the meeting of different worlds — the traditional Latin American music and the Western Classical Orchestra.

The Concerto is made up of three movements: 

1. Largo Non Troppo - Allegro Agitato - Largo Non Troppo 

2. Molto Lento - Poco Meno Lento - Andante Tranquillo 

3. Allegro Non Troppo - The Finale 

The entire composition was performed as one whole piece and did not have any breaks in between, which recalls the Violin concerto of Felix Mendelssohn (1844).

Recording link (1962)

Here is some further discussion of the music. 

The first movement seems to be the primary one. It is unusually lengthy, around 20 minutes long. It is composed in a loose sonata form and includes an Introduction and Coda. The orchestral passage comes along at the conclusion of the Development. We have many variations in the tempo (Largo at the start, followed by the Allegro section and finally the Largo ending). The first movement presents us two distinct themes, one presented by the piano and the other by the orchestra.

Important timestamps: 

• Piano theme presented (0:55; the main theme of the movement is heard in 0:00 - 0:53).

• Orchestral theme presented (9:42)

According to Nordyke, the piano solos in the entire concerto have a "Bach Invention'' flavor. While listening to the second movement, one senses that it releases the intensity of the first movement. It is more soothing ,and the fading out of the sustained strings gives us a dream-like feel. In terms of texture, the movement is more chordal and homophonic. At the end of the movement, the strings tend to build intensity to lead into the next one, which is the Finale.

The Finale shares some similarity with the first movement. The primary theme of the finale is also depicted in two distinct ways, one with the piano and the other with the orchestra.

Important Timestamps 

• Piano theme - 29:29 - 32:44

• Orchestral theme - 32:45 - 34:00

Overall, the composition consists of a wide range of interesting elements such as nice syncopation, texture developments, and great rhythmic vitality. The orchestral sound is colorful and bright to listen to because of the mixed sound. All these aspects contribute to showcase the individualistic style of Chavez in composing his music. 

Questions for Classroom Discussion

1. We know that Chavez started working on the Piano Concerto after he received the grant in 1938 and immediately started composing. What do you think about this idea that it took four years to write the piece? Have you ever experienced any such similar events in your own lives (for example, completing  a project that took a similar length of time)?

• Optional Question: It was not until the last day of 1942 that Chavez completed the composition along with the modifications. What were the reasons that he made these modifications? Did he take an opinion from the other composers about his own composition? Why was the Concerto for the Piano and Orchestra so important for him?

2. After the first movement, which was 20 minutes long, there is a second movement, and then for the Finale we notice the usage of interrupting rests and shorts motives. Is the composer trying to tell a concrete story or program with this piece? Keeping in mind the music that you have listened to, what kind of story could these sudden rests and short motives tell the audience? 

3. After listening to the entire 40-minute Concerto, we have noticed that the entire piece did not consist of any breaks between each movement. Are there any precedents for Chavez’s decision to not have breaks between the movements? How would the piece sound like if it had been different breaks?  

• Optional Question: What influenced Chavez to have no breaks in the composition? Was he influenced by Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, which also did not have any breaks within?

4. What sensibility does the Concerto, overall, tend to generate within the audience (based on the movements)? How does the second movement contrast to the other movements, what is it about it that differentiates it from the others? 

Bibliography/Further Reading

Primary Sources

Copland, Aaron, Elizabeth B. Crist, and Wayne Shirley. The Selected Correspondence of Aaron Copland. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. 134-135.

LA Philharmonic. "Get to Know: Carlos Chavez." Biography. Accessed 2023. https://www.laphil.com/about/watch-and-listen/get-to-know-carlos-chavez.

New York Philharmonic. "1942 Jan 04." Program. 1942. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/71df6d02-85f7-429d-a3ee-faff8727f661-0.1/fullview#page/8/mode/2up.

Robin, William. "Carlos Chavez, Mexican Modernist." The New York Times (July 20, 2015). 

Straus, Noel. "Chavez Concerto by Philharmonic." The New York Times (January 2, 1942). 

Secondary Sources

Burwasser, Peter and Scott Phillip. "Chavez: Piano Concerto." Tenafly 37, no. 1 (Fall 2013): 301-2. 

Koegel, John. "Book Review." Journal of the Society for American Music 9, no. 1 (February 2015): 108-126.

Orzoff, A. "Citizen of the Staatsoper: Erich Kleiber's Musical Migration." Central European History 54, no. 2 (2021): 326-51.