Alwyn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Featuring

James Judd
Peter Donohoe
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
William Alwyn

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Composer Biography

Alwyn entered the Royal Academy of Music at age fifteen as a flute student and later became Professor of Composition there in 1926.

Composition History

Alwyn's Piano Concerto No. 1 was inspired by the musicianship of Clifford Curzon, a fellow-student at the Royal Academy of Music and a lifelong friend.

Composer Biography

William Alwyn, who shares his centenary year with Tippett, Rawsthorne, Lambert, and Seiber, had a significant all-round influence on 20th-century British musical life.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In 1938, William Alwyn withdrew all his compositions, believing them technically unsatisfactory and not personal enough, before building a new body of 'mature' works.

Composition History

William Alwyn's Piano Concerto No. 2 was commissioned by the BBC in 1960, but its premiere was cancelled when the intended soloist, Cor de Groot, suffered arm paralysis.

Compositional Technique

Alwyn's Overture Derby Day uses his own version of twelve-tone technique, which he grounded in tonality, preferring melodic and harmonic richness over mathematical precision.

Recording & Production

The version of Piano Concerto No. 2 on this recording includes the restored central Andante movement, reconstructed by Alwyn's second wife, composer Doreen Carwithen.