in preparation

In Francisco Coll’s three-movement Piano Concerto the soloist acts as a catalyst for character and tension. Moments of prominence alternate with passages where it dissolves into the orchestral fabric, within a language shaped by strong physicality and gesture. The orchestra plays an active rather than merely accompanying role, commenting on, amplifying, and transforming the soloist’s discourse. The cadenza is placed at the very of the concert, as the work’s final surge of energy and its expressive culmination.

I. Humoresque (impromptu)

The first movement takes the form of a freely-conceived Humoresque, close in spirit to the impromptu, yet permeated by a violent, rhythmic, and almost mechanical energy. The writing suggests immediacy and formal elasticity: ideas emerge abruptly, are interrupted, and reformulated with shifting ingenuity; there is humour, but it is tense, biting, anarchic, and unpredictable in character.

II. Paisaje

Contemplative and almost narrative in character, the second movement – whose title suggests a panorama or landscape – opens with a nocturnal and spectral atmosphere. The piano unfolds introspective, suspended cantabile lines, while the orchestra periodically erupts into dense, large-scale chorales suggestive of a ritual character. The movement’s poetic tension and emotional depth comes from the unstable balance between the intimacy of the soloist’s writing and the vast orchestral scenery.  

III. Rag

The finale is a Rag of overflowing energy and extreme virtuosity: hard, urban, percussive, and aggressive, with a pulse at constant risk of fracture. Obsessive, motoric rhythms evoke Conlon Nancarrow and boogie-woogie; it is built around a motif reminiscent of a Cádiz-style swing—albeit without direct references to Spanish or flamenco music. It concludes with a delirious cadenza.