Mobberley's Piano Concerto

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

All artists, including composers, are frequently urged to “write what they know.”

Well, if that’s the case, then any new and sleep-deprived parent can relate to music which depicts a late-night session with a newborn baby. It’s the middle movement of a piano concerto that was given its premiere on today’s date in 1994 by the Kansas City Symphony, with Bill McGlaughlin conducting and pianist Richard Cass.

This new Concerto was by Kansas City composer James Mobberley, who wrote: “The piece is in three movements, each of which reflects a different emotional side of parenthood. The first movement represents the excitement and hysteria of forthcoming childbirth. The middle movement begins with amazingly soft moments following childbirth but leads into the period of sleeplessness and total chaos that inevitably follows. The final movement represents the wonderful fun and unpredictable interactions that start to happen, beginning with the child’s first smile.”

Mobberley was born in Iowa in 1954, raised in Pennsylvania, and balances teaching duties at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, with his composition work, which includes a wide range of concert and theatrical pieces, some combining electronic and live performing elements.

Music Played in Today's Program

James Mobberley (b. 1954): Piano Concerto; Richard Cass, piano; Czech National Symphony; Paul Freeman, conductor; Albany 335