# Need help finding pieces for orchestra and piano - but not solo piano



## Norm87

What are some pieces for the piano with orchestra, where the piano is not a solo instrument?


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## Ignis Fatuus

Piano concerto?


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## emiellucifuge

Many 20th century pieces use the piano as an orchestral instrument. Try Prokofievs symphonies


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## mueske

Shostakovich's first symphony


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## Artemis

Ignis Fatuus said:


> Piano concerto?


I interpreted the request as excluding anything like a piano concerto because the piano is the solo instrument. I assume he wants orchestral works where the piano appears but is not given special prominence.

All one has to do is Google "music for piano and orchestra" and it comes up with hundreds of suggestions. The first on the list is THIS which is some academic study listing of thousands of such works categorised by composer. Just pick your way through this lot ignoring anything that contains the word "concerto" or "concertino". There should be quite a lot.


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## Ignis Fatuus

Oh I see now! Sorry.


Symphony of Psalms has two pianos. Brahm's piano concerti supposedly use the piano as an alternative orchestra, rather than as a solo instrument.


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## Norm87

Thank you for the suggestions. I did in fact find that first website, but it seemed at first to be all piano concertos! I will take a deeper look through the list.


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## Dim7

Alexander Scriabin - Promotheus: The Poem of Fire


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## Aramis

Sinfonia Concertante by Karol Szymanowski.


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## Bobotox

Symphony No. 5 by Gade also has hints of piano in it.


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## altiste

I have a work for orchestra that has a piano part in it, as an orchestral instrument; Symphonic Poem.


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## andruini

John Adam's Harmonielehre. The piano is used very effectively as a percussion instrument almost..


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## qualityaudio

Saint Saens Organ Symphony has parts for piano with two and four hands in addition to the organ. More recently, Philp Glass's 7th Symphony includes a piano in the orchestration.


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## Artemis

Norm87 said:


> Thank you for the suggestions. I did in fact find that first website, but it seemed at first to be all piano concertos! I will take a deeper look through the list.


If you are referring to the website I flagged up in my post #5, the list is certainly not all piano concertos. It contains some 291 pages of works for piano and orchestra. I've just had another quick look through it and can see, at a glance, that there are dozens (if not hundreds) of works that fit the description you are after. For example, have a look at the entry for Schumann and you will see his _Introduction & Allegro_, Op 92, which is a very famous work.

Rather than me list all such works for you I would suggest that you do the work instead: take each of the main composers who are known to have composed for piano (eg Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Weber, Liszt, Brahms. Mendelssohn, Debussy, Ravel etc) and scan down their lists. Many examples of what you are looking for should jump out at you, if you know what's what, that is. If you aren't sure of the status of the piece then check it out using Google.


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## anon2k2

Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals
Many Baroque pieces have orchestra+continuo if that counts
I think the Busoni PC is really more like a Symphony


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## maestro267

Off the top of my head:

Carmina Burana (two pianos)
A few of Martinu's symphonies (can't remember specifically which ones, maybe all of them)
Les noces (four pianos and percussion group, don't know if that counts)
Shostakovich 1, 5, 7, 11 & 13
Glass 'Heroes' Symphony

And many more!


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## Sid James

All of Martinu's symphonies feature the piano as part of the orchestra. A work which features the piano more prominently, though not in a virtuostic sense, is his _Sinfonietta La Jolla_.


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## TWhite

Shostakvoitch's Fifth Symphony has a fairly prominent piano part in the first movement. But I'm still a little unclear as to how the OP wants the piano figured prominently in a symphonic composition. 

Two that I can think of that use the piano as both a solo instrument and a member of the ensemble would be Falla's "Nights In The Gardens Of Spain" and D'indy's "Symphony On A French Mountain Air." Another one would be Bloch's "Concerto Grosso #1", but that's for string orchestra with piano obbligato.

Tom


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## joen_cph

Stravinsky Symphony in 3 Movements
Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion ...
Martinu Double Concerto for 2 String Orchestras (a good work as well)
Shostakovich Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra (nice)
Rochberg Music for the Magic Theatre


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## Tapkaara

If I may suggest, I put forth Sinfonia Concertante for Piano and Orchestra by Akira Ifukube. Perhaps my favorite piano concerto. Not readily available here but the whole work has been uploaded to YouTube. You can read about it here: http://akiraifukube.org/symphony_concertante.htm


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## joen_cph

Interesting, Tapkaara, didn´t know this. Thanks.


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## Tapkaara

joen_cph said:


> Interesting, Tapkaara, didn´t know this. Thanks.


It's a great work, tuneful, modernist but firmly tonal...and even ethnic. Much of the slow movement sounds like it could have come from the pen of Sibelius.

If I were to compare it to any other composer, it sounds a lot like Shotsakovich with some of the orientalist touches of Khachaturian.


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## thatperson

- Many shostakovich symphonies
- Many prokofiev symphonies
- Bernstein West Side Story symphonic dances
- Barber essays 1 and 3
- Orff carmina burana
- Stravinsky petrushka and firebird suite
- Saint saens organ symphony (#3)
- Bartok music for strings, celesta, and percussion
- Bloch concerto grosso 1
- Barber violin concerto

Theres probably much more, but those are the ones i can think of at the top of my head


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## JAKE WYB

*BAX* - Symphony 2 & Spring fire

nicely adds colour and atmosphere - doesnt intrude like piano often can


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## teccomin

In Chopin piano concertos, piano IS the orchestra.


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