Nov 11

Nov 11 Warsaw Concerto, by Richard Addinsell

“Lest we forget” in the style of a piano concerto

The scheduling for writing about this piece in the playlist happens, quite by chance, to have lined up with Armistice day. Written for the wartime film, ‘Dangerous Moonlight,’ in 1941, it gives us classical drama in the style of Rachmaninov. Whilst it’s called a concerto, it is actually a single movement, not the three movements of this musical form, but boy does it pack a lot into it’s nine minute duration. The film tells the story of the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Germany through the life of a concert pianist. It’s a piece full of passion, longing, anger, grief, and romance. No wonder it’s popularity exceeded that of the film it was written for.

How do they do that?

The drama and tension in this piece is evident from the first downbeat of the conductor. Long bellowing rumbles on the timpani (wartime gunfire?) and the big opening piano chords, in an emphatic, quickening rhythmic pattern, are like a cry of anguish. The full orchestra enters like an advancing army and the piano runs for it’s life, moving rapidly up and down the keyboard using almost it’s full range. Yet contrasted with this are some beautiful passages of calm, which in their opposition are every bit as powerful and moving. As is so often the case in music, the contrasts heighten the impact of each other’s effect.

The influence of Rachmaninov is evident in the pianistic style and chromatic, shifting harmony. Yet, it is a piece that is very much grounded in its own time and place, heard most clearly in the melodic theme that appears around about the middle of the piece. The key has changed and the tune is one that you can almost hear Dame Vera Lynn singing to raise the morale of the troops. There is something very 1940s wartime popular music about the melody and harmony just at this point. It may be this moment, in particular, that resonated so strongly with audiences at the time. This is a piece that captures the collective consciousness and despite being grand and virtuosic in the true concerto fashion, remains accessible to all.

Hope you enjoy it or feel inspired to listen to something new today.

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