Pitfield: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Xylophone Sonata

Featuring

Andrew Penny
Anthony Goldstone
Peter Donohoe
Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Pitfield

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Composition History

Thomas Pitfield's Piano Concerto No. 1 was initially rejected by the BBC's reading panel, despite having had three broadcasts, much to the composer's dismay.

Composer Biography

Thomas Pitfield was largely self-taught as a composer and also pursued artistic interests, including creating cover designs for Oxford University Press.

Instruments

The Xylophone Sonata by Thomas Pitfield is notable for being the first work for the instrument to use a pair of fixed beaters in each hand.

Performer Biography

Anthony Goldstone, one of the pianists on this album, played Thomas Pitfield's First Piano Concerto at the composer's retirement concert in 1973, where Peter Donohoe, the other pianist on this album, was the timpanist.

Composer Biography

Thomas Pitfield, born in 1903, was initially forced into an engineering apprenticeship at 14, despite his artistic and musical inclinations.

Composition History

Thomas Pitfield's Piano Concerto No. 2 was commissioned to provide a miniature concerto for American university piano students' auditions, but its subtitle 'The Student' caused it to be shunned.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Thomas Pitfield specialized in composing for unusual instruments, including accordion, clarsach, xylophone, and harmonica, and even invented his own instrument, the 'patterphone'.