A lovely interview. I am a big fan. If I may(without having heard Ms. Saunders concerto), what is your take or her take specifically on her concerto in the continuum of the piano concerto history, especially it being her first. It sounds like a novel and exciting piece. She alluded to Listzian passages in certain sections of the piece, so; what other composers influenced her ideas of the soundscape for this piece, if there are any? Anecdotally, I heard that after the high bar set by Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Brahms felt some trepidation with what to do with the form. He ended up writing a substantial amount of other stuff (chamber music) before adventuring his own symphony. Obviously, despite overwhelming expectations from German audiences in the wake of Beethoven's 9th it was a huge success. Brahms Symphony #1 aka Beethoven's 10th. Did Ms. Saunders have or feel any such pressure with creating this concerto? Thank you for all your posts.😀
A pianist studies 30 years of technique and then finds himself performing "glissandi" and giving elbows and slaps and punches on the keyboard of a piano. An extraordinarily diseducational example. Let's go on like this, at worst there is never an end.
