Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra op.119

西澤健一：2台のピアノのための協奏曲(2022)

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0:36 I. Con brio
7:28 II. Allegro
12:30 III. Adagio sostenuto
21:04 IV. Allegro vivace

Scoring: 2 Solo Pianos, Orchestra (2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Bsn, 4 Hrn, 2 Tp, Timp, S.D, B.D, Trg, Rachet, Castanets, Glockenspiel, Str)
Dedicated to: Harumi Hanafusa, Mami Hanafusa
Performance: Oct. 2022 at Tokyo, Meguro Persimmon Hall – Main Hall / Harumi Hanafusa, Mami Hanafusa (Pf) Manji Project Orchestra, Kenichi Nishizawa (Cond)

This work is a twin piece to “Concerto for Two Violins,” both in the sense of form as a concerto for two identical instruments and in the sense that they were being written almost simultaneously. They are also twins in the sense of resources. The second and fourth movements contain quotations from “The Mitten” and “The Flying Ship” mentioned above. The music for these readings was originally written for a charity performance in support of Ukraine, and was performed on April 28 this year with readings by Yoko Takematsu, Chie Sawada on violin, and myself on piano. There is no doubt that both these concertos were rooted in what I received from the peaceful and serene worldview of animals gathering and warming up in a winter forest from the folktales.

The only difference between these two pieces is their personalities. Whereas “Concerto for Two Violins” is a work that accompanies Ukraine in the real world suffering from the invasion, “Concerto for Two Pianos” is a piece about what kind of festive music I would have written to celebrate if there had been no invasion. It is the kind of festive divertimento that I listened to at the beginning of this year while fantasizing about Ukrainian food and drinks. I would like that kind of happiness to be experienced again after a free and democratic future is secured.

The first movement is a grand imposing sonata form. The second movement is a scherzo-like ternary form, with passionate main parts and a middle part in which the small animals from “The Mitten” and the fool from “The Flying Ship” gently frolic. The third movement is a slow movement in a gentle binary form, where the first part has a lyrically sung theme, which slowly disintegrates as it heats up in the second part.

The fourth movement is in the style of a rondo sonata. The opening phrase is repeated 15 times throughout the piece (sometimes as a fugue). The piece also uses episodes and the melody from “The Flying Ship” twice. Each time either of these parts or the opening phrase recurs, the key is shifted, to a total of 12 times. Incidentally, the folk tale melody sung in high spirits at the end represents a man who drinks up 40 barrels of wine in a single gulp.