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Paul Bowles composed the 'The Concerto for Two Pianos, Winds and Percussion' in 1946-47 on commission from the pianists Arthur Gold & Robert Fizdale, who presented its premiere performance in New York on November 14, 1948. In its original form, as played at the premiere, it is a chamber music piece for septet: two woodwinds, trumpet, two percussion and the two pianos. At the request of Gold and Fizdale, Bowles then agreed to prepare an expanded version for orchestra. The orchestration was delayed somewhat by his departure for Tangier and finishing work on his first novel, 'The Sheltering Sky'. The orchestrated version, 'The Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra', premiered in 1949. ====================================================== Program notes by Peter Garland *Paul Bowles is a wonderful composer, one whose reputation will certainly increase with time. It will grow, because his music has remained virtually unknown to today's musicians. This situation is changing, as his art songs become better known, indeed are becoming standards of the repertoire. Just as he has the "underground" reputation of being one of the USA's greatest short story writers, so is he known as one of our best art song composers. The 'unknown' Bowles, then, is the person you might call the 'working composer,' as he was in the 1930's-40's (he did not assume his professional writing career until the late 1940's, though he made earlier and ongoing attempts at poetry). As a working composer, Bowles left many utilitarian pieces for the theatre. They were jobs that paid the rent. Yet in the case of his musical association with Tennessee Williams, in both theatre and song, these led to transcendent collaborations. And it is certainly true that Bowles has written some of the most beautiful -- and modern, in an intrinsic sense -- art songs of this century. The instrumental work now deserves similar attention. Many of the same musical qualities we admire in the songs are found here: simplicity, directness, honesty. There is a harmonic transparency to Bowles' music that makes it appear simpler than it is. Like Satie, Bowles has been accused of being 'amateurish' by other composers -- and for many of the same reasons. Both eschewed excessive development or complexity in their music; the clear straightforward exposition of the musical idea suffices, and form is determined more by the balances of repetition. The classic song form, of course -- A B A -- uses just that kind of repetition, and it is this sensibility that extends into Bowles' instrumental writing also. Perhaps that is what distinguishes Bowles' simplicity from Copland's -- where the latter has a concept of form more based on harmonic development (and consequently certain aspects of Copland's musical language are richer than Bowles' austerity). Yet Bowles makes such perfectly shaped, succinct pieces, where Copland would tend to ramble (with the obligatory 'development'...). All asides aside, this quality is what makes Bowles' music sound fresher to my ears now than Copland's. One must also note the relative simplicity of Bowles' rhythm and meter -- it has a clarity that matches the tonal transparency. There's a certain 'dance hall' quality that infuses many pieces -- aside from the fact that he was a Broadway composer. Bowles again uses these rhythms (waltzes, two-steps, etc.) much as Satie does. It relieves the music of any kind of expressive 'angst,' in the nineteenth century Romantic sense (in that way, Bowles is certainly of the 'French' school, although his rhythms are American). There is very little use of dynamics for expressive purposes, either. Dynamic changes tend to be terraced, like in Baroque music. Not to say that Bowles' music isn't expressive. It is, but it is subtle, ironic at times, to be found in a little chromatic twist that a melody takes, or a slightly ominous-sounding chord progression. And Bowles' harmonic language is not as simple as I may be implying here: an examination especially of the various two-piano works with their closer, denser textures (such as Night Waltz or the Sonata for two Pianos) reveals an advanced harmonic technique. Which brings us to the Concerto for Two Pianos, Winds and Percussion. Written from 1946-47, it is perhaps his major work, in terms of both musical dimensions and technical expressive skill. Despite its slightly forbidding title, the piece is actually only a septet: oboe (English horn), clarinet (bass clarinet), trumpet, two pianos and two percussionists. There is also a slightly later, expanded version of the piece for orchestra. The title makes sense in terms of the richness of the piano writing, and the fact that the winds and pianos tend to play in a kind of concertante relationship. The piano playing carries the piece and literally flies along -- following the score, in places one is flipping the pages as fast as in Nancarrrow's music. Fantastic piano writing -- who can possibly call this 'amateur'? (It is worth noting that Bowles' music -- which people tend to categorize as fairly 'conservative' -- is admired by such radical composers as Nancarrow, Lou Harrison and John Cage.) Aside from all this, the Concerto looks (and sounds) like it would be a hell of a lot of fun to play! And a real challenge -- The Concerto was written for, and premiered (a young Lukas Foss conducting) by duo pianists Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale. It was released on a 10-inch 33 RPM album by Columbia Records in 1950.*
Recordings: LP: Paul Bowles,
Concerto for Two Pianos, Winds & Percussion 1950
Migrations, Paul Bowles - Polifonica, 1995
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