Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Piano Concerto (2024, 22')

This concerto was commissioned by the BBC and received its world premiere with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Emilia Hoving in February 2025. Scored for symphony orchestra, the piece grew out of Ninfea's fascination with the forms and conventions of nineteenth-century concerto repertoire.

The Larghetto first movement embraces a late nineteenth-century orchestral sound world while gently warping tonal elements with chromatic inflections. The soloist is positioned as a figure adrift upon these subtle sea changes. The Scherzo employs eccentric motifs, percussive attacks and hammering grooves, making the music walk, strut, dance and scurry. Ninfea was particularly attracted to the idea of musical gait and has attempted to capture the mannerisms of a military marching step.

The concerto was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Royal Philharmonic Society, with support from the John Ellerman Foundation. It is approximately 22 minutes in length and is scored for 4.4.4.4 - 4.3.3.1 - timp, 2perc - str.