Healey Willan - Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 76 (1944)

[@reader1956]

I knew this man's church music but never dreamed he wrote such a majestic piano concerto. It does remind one of Elgar but on its own terms. Thank you for posting it.

[@Wolksby]

Especially in the closing bars, I felt!

[@lightspeed174]

This is a really enjoyable piece of music. New to me and I love it. Thanks for the upload.

[@Discernment-ev5dz]

A sumptuous and lovely piece! Thanks so much for posting!

[@pizzicatoman]

What a shame this music does not seem to get a hearing in the UK. There must be much music of this calibre waiting to be enjoyed over here.

[@VespasianMusic]

Beautiful! Thank-you again for reminding us of yet another neglected 20th Century Romantic . . .

[@davidgriffiths7215]

I've known Healey Willan's organ music for decades but this concerto was news to me. It's an interesting work but I'm not sure how it would stand up to repeated listening. I've always liked Willan's description of himself as "English by birth, Canadian by adoption, Scotch by absorption"!

[@fulviopolce1884]

Compositore post-romantico che è rimasto fedele alla tradizione tonale . Bravo anche tecnicamente.

[@frednapoli1246]

It is sad that a work of such beauty cannot be appreciated for its own self without being compared to other composers or their country of origin, but then this is what Canadians accept and often do to their own. This is a splendid composition which deserves more recognition and respect than it has received.

[@bomcabedal]

One can appreciate the beauty while also acknowledging its indebtedness to others, of course. Particularly when its influences (particularly Elgar, to a somewhat lesser degree Rachmaninoff) are so obvious.

[@rxboy]

Wow! 15:45 - 17:00

[@angeletouche9592]

Tres bon ! On se croirait dans une salle de concert ! J'aime ! beaucoup ! Je suis assise, sur un banc, sur les bords de Marne ! C'est le reve !...

[@pizzicatoman]

There is much owed to Elgar in this music -especially in the 3rd movement, but the influence has been fully assimilated into a richly woven texture giving due prominence to the solo instrument. Delicious!

[@plummlet]

Joyous...and perfect length !

[@helgeevju]

An especially lovely Adagio! I think there may be a theme in the 1st movement that very nearly quotes from Tchaikovsky's G major Concert Fantasy op. 56

[@christophevidal2355]

Il y a beaucoup de John Ireland, surtout dans le mouvement lent ; les harmonies, le cor anglais et le discours. Christophe Vidal.

[@rkentburke]

Great work by a composer known primarily for his church music.

[@musicdirector4825]

Learn more about the music of Healey Willan at the new Willan website - healeywillan.com/

[@marcdekeyser1021]

I bought this CBC-CD years ago, but this concerto can not convince me considering it as a romantic piano concerto. I know better ones

[@PointyTailofSatan]

To be honest, it's quite simplistic harmonically. Like something written by a teen age Rach.

[@simoncapet]

Hi Nikki, try the Canadian Music Centre musiccentre(dot)ca I'm sure they would have a score or know where you could find one.

[@nikkiball3889]

I love this piece! Would love to perform it in the UK but it seems impossible to get a copy!! If anyone has any thoughts or leads on how to get a copy, please let me know!

[@fritstube]

Every now and then I hear MacDowells 2nd concerto passing by. I know MacDowell did not want to look upon his music as being "American", but could these concerto's represent something like "American" music?

[@whollybro]

It sounds a bit like... well, the piano has much of Rachmaninoff, I think, but there are the orchestral parts with strings dominating... umm? Ok, Elgar seems to be the consensus.

[@peterjerg7968]

Erinnert ein wenig an Elgar

[@bomcabedal]

More Elgar than Rachmaninov, it seems.

[@astrophytumvero1102]

[@johnzielinski9951]

This concerto has many wonderful qualities: masterful orchestration, a brilliant piano part, an abundance of emotional contrast, and an epic sweep. But it lacks distinctive, original themes. It's no mystery why Rachmaninoff 2 and 3 and Tchaikovsky 1 and Grieg (to name a few) get frequently played and Willan doesn't.

[@musicmasterplayer4532]

The Willan piano concerto certainly has a plenitude of melodic themes and development. These are not tunes which you would hum while driving a car, but then you would not be humming tunes from the Brahms Third Symphony while driving a car, either. That does not mean that Brahms has no melodic content, but it is not like a hit tune.