Konzert » Beltane – helles Feuer «, DWV 166 (2026)
(for piano and string orchestra)

I wrote this highly virtuosic concerto for piano and orchestra as a result of my collaboration with the pianist Philipp Scheucher.

I also have a long-standing working relationship with the Wiener Concert-Verein, and I am particularly delighted that ‘BELTANE – helles Feuer’ (bright fire) is to be premiered by this orchestra. In this regard, and specifically for this pulsating piece, the conductor Glass Marcano is my ideal choice.

The concerto is divided into three movements, with the second and third movements to be played attacca, without a transition.

Whilst in the first movement, Allegro con brio “Helles Feuer”, I work with a theme that develops and transforms through pulsating soundscapes, engaging in dialogue with the orchestra, the musical material for the piano in the Adagio of the second movement, “Tau” (Dew), remains unchanged throughout the entire movement:

The pianist plays the same chords throughout, whilst the sound of the orchestra gradually thickens around the individual notes – like soft dewdrops falling from the piano – to form a mighty wall of sound.  The third and final movement, ‘Beltane’, is strongly rhythmic and, for the pianist, who must navigate long passages of repeated notes, a tapestry of sound characterised by complex patterns. Beltane – the Celtic festival of abundance, sensuality and joy of life – develops within it into a musical hurricane.

The combination of piano and string orchestra works brilliantly for the rhythmic development of the composition BELTANE; both the piano and the strings are used like a percussion section over long passages.