Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - British Piano Concertos, Vol. 3 (2025)

Philip Cannon’s Concertino for Piano and Strings (1951) dates from his formative years. It was written for the Petersfield Festival, where it was premiered on 27 January 1951 by soloist Joseph Cooper, with the Petersfield Orchestra conducted by Kathleen Merritt. This lively, neo-classical piece has achieved over a thousand performances internationally. Though John Addison’s Concertino for Piano and Orchestra is, for the most part, couched in a light-hearted language, it is the product of a serious, and unfailingly inventive, approach to keyboard and orchestral writing. Speaking of the work to Leslie Ayre of the London Evening News, the composer remarked that, ""it is a real concerto in the full sense of the word… I would not be ashamed to show the work to any first-class pianist."" Francis Chagrin maintained an intensely practical and unpretentious attitude towards his own craft, observing that, ""My music is not for first performances – it is just to be played."" His Piano Concerto was first performed by soloist Franz Osborn, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, at an SPNM Experimental Rehearsal held at the Royal College of Music on 4 February 1944. Conversation Piece by John Addison was written in 1958 to a commission from the BBC Concert Orchestra for that year’s British Light Music Festival. John Addison felt that, by the late-1950s, too great a divide had opened up between serious and light music: “Concertgoers think contemporary music is so alarmingly serious that when confronted with a mildly witty turn of phrase, they assume something has gone wrong. I remember the astonished sigh of relief when, in the course of introducing one of my chamber works, I told the audience I would not mind if they smiled.” In Conversation Piece, Addison exploits to the full his talent to amuse and divert.

Simon Callaghan, piano
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
William Boughton, conductor

TRACKLIST

1. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Cannon: Piano Concertino: I. Allegro molto vivace
2. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Cannon: Piano Concertino: II. Andante tranquillo
3. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Cannon: Piano Concertino: III. Presto leggiero
4. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Piano Concertino: I. Allegro moderato
5. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Piano Concertino: II. Andante grazioso
6. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Piano Concertino: III. Vivace
7. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Chagrin: Piano Concerto: I. Risoluto
8. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Chagrin: Piano Concerto: II. Lento. Molto tranquillo
9. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Chagrin: Piano Concerto: III. Allegro vivace
10. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro moderato (1)
11. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Conversation Piece: Andante commodo
12. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro moderato (2)
13. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Conversation Piece: Adagio
14. Simon Callaghan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & William Boughton - Addison: Conversation Piece: Allegro