Piano Concerto in c minor, "Dies Irae"

This is is one of my largest original piece. It is composed in 2007-2008. This concerto is premiered on August 2, 2008 in "A Piano Chronicle" concert. Performed by me, Andreas, as soloist and conductor from the piano, accompanied by Young Boys and Yamaha Girls as the digital electronic orchestra and choir. The performance was held in Yamaha Music Center Concert Hall, Jakarta, Indonesia. The 350 capacity concert hall was occupied by more than 500 audience as the young audiences were standing and sitting on the floor in the aisle to watch the performance. The 25 minutes-long  piece is supposed to be performed on July 31, 2010 but due some circumstances the concert was postponed.

Here is the program notes that I wrote on this piece.

Piano Concerto in c minor, “Dies Irae” (2007-2008)

“Dies Irae” means “Day of Wrath” in which represented in the "End Of Time:. This piano concerto mirrors the chaotic atmosphere on the judgment day. As can be heard the army of hell marching onto the earth to collect the damned souls, the scorching hellfire that burn everything standing in their way, and cries of fear and despair of the accursed souls are projected through the ironically lamenting melody in the middle section. How they are trembling of what awaits them as their price of a depraved life. The dramatic atmosphere--fear of hell’s wrath--is spread through the entire piece. Although there are still victorious cheers from the redeemed souls for their battle on the earth is over and they have triumph over hell.  Cheer of salvation.

The gigantic size of the orchestra magnitudes a very strong atmosphere. Not to mention the unusual use of choir in a piano concerto to thicken the “haunting” atmosphere. The incredibly long cadenza indicates the heavy loads the soloist holds. Designed solely for the purpose of showing off the pianist musically and technically, Andreas creates the orchestra accompaniment as supportive as possible, enabling the pianist to explore much more virtuoso figures. The pianist is required a great amount of imagination and mental strength to produce an atmosphere of such magnitude along with the stamina and energy needed to master the technical difficulties and produce a very strong sound to keep up with the large sound of the orchestra and choir accompaniment.