DESCRIPTION:
Composer and pianist John McLain Rinehart performs his solo piano transcription of the 2nd movement of his Piano Concerto No.1 "Todtentanz", live in concert February 18, 1995 at the Herndon Art Gallery, Antioch University.

Dr. Rinehart initially composed the concerto from 1960-1961 at age 23, then setting it down for several decades until its premier performance in February, 2002. During that long stretch between its inception and premier he would tinker with it from time to time and performed the 2nd and 3rd movements as 2 piano transcriptions on two different occasions (movement 3 in 1971 and movements 2 and 3 in 1990). He completed the solo piano transcription showcased here in 1995 for a 20th century music seminar he gave at Antioch College. This piece was included in the final segment of the study which focused on contemporary classical works influenced by jazz and blues of the early 20th century.

Due to the fact that the concerto was originally scored for piano and full orchestra, Rinehart had to make necessary cuts in order to play without the accompaniment of a second piano. Regardless, the movement holds up quite well in comparison with its full orchestral counterpart.

Dr. Rinehart's return to the work re-energized his interest in the complete concerto, and in 2001 he finished a revision which was commissioned for performance at Kent State University, his alma mater. Worth noting, the version of the second movement performed in this video differs slightly from the 2001 version of the concerto. A secondary theme performed by the pianist alone (which accompanies the title sequence of this video) was omitted from the 2001 version. It was replaced by a recapitulation of the opening of the 2nd movement which Dr. Rinehart said created a "Golden Mean" in the piece and he felt overall gave the work more balance. In 2007 he again revisited the work and re-added this missing gem (but kept the recapitulation). The final 2007 revision of Piano Concerto No.1 has never been performed.

Anyone interested in acquiring sheet music for this or other compositions by Dr. Rinehart may correspond by email to this account.