List of works for piano left-hand and orchestra

This is a list of concertos and concertante works for piano left-hand and orchestra.

Paul Wittgenstein at the piano

The best known left-hand concerto is the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D by Maurice Ravel, which was written for Paul Wittgenstein between 1929 and 1930. Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I, commissioned a number of such works around that time, as did Otakar Hollmann. More recently, Gary Graffman has commissioned a number of left-hand concertos.

List

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Composer Work Year
Hans Abrahamsen Left, alone 2015
Mario Alfagüell First Concerto for piano left hand and small orchestra, Op. 145 2003
Mario Alfagüell Second Concerto for piano left hand and orchestra, Op. 185 2007
Josef Bartovský Piano Concerto No. 2 for left hand (written for Hollmann) 1952
Arnold Bax Concertante for Piano (Left Hand) and Orchestra 1948
William Bolcom Gaea for Two Pianos Left Hand and Orchestra (commissioned by Graffman for him to play with Leon Fleisher) 1996
Sergei Bortkiewicz Piano Concerto No. 2 for the Left Hand, Op. 28 (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1924
Rudolf Braun Piano Concerto in A minor (written for Wittgenstein) 1927
Benjamin Britten Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1940
C. Curtis-Smith Concerto for piano (left hand) and orchestra (commissioned by Leon Fleisher) 1991
Richard Danielpour Piano Concerto No. 3 Zodiac Variations 2002
Norman Demuth Piano Concerto for the left hand (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1947
Norman Demuth Legend for piano left hand and orchestra (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1949
Lukas Foss Piano Concerto for the Left Hand 1993
Alberto Ginastera Second movement of the Piano concerto no. 2 (Scherzo per la mano sinistra) 1972
Daron Hagen Seven Last Words: Concerto for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra (commissioned by Graffman) 2002
David Haynes Concerto No. 1 for Left Hand and orchestra 1999
Paul Hindemith Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29 (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1923
Shin’ichirō Ikebe Piano Concerto No. 3 2013
Igor Ivanek INRI, Concerto for piano left hand alone and orchestra[1] 2006
Leoš Janáček Capriccio for piano left hand and chamber ensemble (suggested by Otakar Hollmann but not written for him specifically) 1926
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Piano Concerto in C-sharp for the left hand, Op. 17 (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1923
Josef Labor Concert piece in the form of variations for piano left-hand and orchestra (composed for Wittgenstein)[2] 1916
Josef Labor Concert Piece in F minor (commissioned by Wittgenstein, who premiered it in 1936)[2] 1917
Josef Labor Concert Piece in B-flat minor (E flat major?)[2] 1923
Kurt Leimer Piano Concerto No. 2 (in one movement)[2] 1944–48
Ben Lunn History Needs... concerto for left-hand piano and strings (written for Nicholas McCarthy) 2023
Bohuslav Martinů Concertino (later renamed Divertimento) for piano left hand and chamber orchestra, H. 173 (commissioned by Hollmann) 1926
Pehr Henrik Nordgren Concerto for piano left hand and chamber orchestra, Op. 129 2004
Dieter Nowka Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, Op. 71 1971
Luis Prado Piano Concerto for the left hand (Concierto de piano para la mano izquierda, written for Gary Graffman, 2001 and premiered by him in 2002) 2001
Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 4 for the left hand, Op. 53 (commissioned by Wittgenstein but never played by him; premiered in 1956 by Siegfried Rapp) 1931
Maurice Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1929–30
Ned Rorem Piano Concerto No. 4 for the Left Hand (commissioned by Gary Graffman) 1993
Franz Schmidt Concertante Variations on a Theme of Beethoven (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1923
Franz Schmidt Piano Concerto No. 2, for the Left Hand (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1934
Gunther Schuller Concerto for 3 Hands (written for Lorin Hollander and Leon Fleisher)[2] 1990
Eduard Schütt Paraphrase for piano and orchestra (written for Wittgenstein) 1929
Lucijan Marija Škerjanc Concerto for piano left hand and orchestra 1963
Stanisław Skrowaczewski Concerto Niccolò for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra 2003
Raoul Sosa Concerto for piano left hand with string orchestra 1989
Richard Strauss Parergon zur "Sinfonia Domestica" for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73 (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1927
Richard Strauss Panathenäenzug: Sinfonische Etüden in Form einer Passacaglia for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 74 (commissioned by Wittgenstein) 1925
Alexandre Tansman Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra 1943
Johannes Paul Thilman Concertino for piano (left hand) and orchestra, Op. 65 1954
Karl Weigl Concerto for the left hand[2] 1924
Takashi Yoshimatsu Concerto for Piano Left Hand and Chamber Orchestra "Cepheus Note", Op. 102 2007
Géza Zichy Piano Concerto in E-flat for the left hand (written for himself to play) 1895
Ján Zimmer Piano Concerto No. 5 for the Left Hand, Op. 50 1961

Works for the right hand only

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Works for piano right-hand only also exist, but there are far fewer of them than for left-hand only.

Concertante works involving piano right-hand include:

  • Henri Cliquet-Pleyel (1894–1963) – Concerto for Piano Right Hand and Orchestra[2]
  • Arthur Bliss – Concerto for Two Pianos (3 Hands) and Orchestra, Op. 17 (1968; originally for tenor, piano, strings and percussion; then arranged for 2 pianos and orchestra for Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith; then arranged by Bliss and Clifford Phillips for 2 pianos 3 hands and orchestra)[2]
  • Malcolm Arnold – Concerto for Two Pianos Three Hands and Orchestra (also known as Concerto for Phyllis and Cyril), 1969. One pianist plays with both hands, the other with the right hand only.
  • Gordon Jacob – Concerto for Three Hands on One Piano, 1969 (written for Sellick and Smith).[2]

References

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  1. ^ Catalogue – Letter I, Hans Brofeldt, "Piano Music for the Left Hand Alone"
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand by Donald L. Patterson, Greenwood Publishing 1999 ISBN 9780313311796
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