Performing instrumental concertos with piano accompaniment can often be a frustrating experience for both the soloist and accompanist. For the soloist, the textures and sonorities of the orchestra are missing and the piano reduction can sound thick and cumbersome. The pianist is confronted with a difficult piano reduction that is usually not idiomatically written for the piano.

One solution to this problem is a further reduction and rearrangement of the piano accompaniment. This enables the pianist to create a more "pianistic" accompaniment which provides clarity and transparency to the piano lines and textures. A second solution is the use of MIDI sequencer technology. With basic computer and audio equipment, students and teachers have virtually unlimited access to concerto accompaniment literature for study, rehearsal, and performance.

Both of these solutions will now be demonstrated through a performance of "Concerto pour Batterie et Petite Orchestra" by Darius Milhaud. Using reduction and rearranging techniques, this orchestral accompaniment will be realized using a computer music sequencer and MIDI electronic sound sources.

The first problem with concerto accompaniments realized on piano is the thick and cumbersome arrangement of the piano part. Although this part can provide harmonic support, it is frequently the cause of under-tempo performances, numerous balance problems, and unhappy performers and audience members. For those who prefer to use a live piano accompaniment, the solution to this problem is the reduction and rearrangement of the written piano accompaniment. Important in this process is the maintenance of salient aspects of the orchestral accompaniment such as structural bass lines, countermelodies, and accompaniment solos that interact with the soloist. This suggests a more linear texture than is frequently written in standard concerto piano reductions. Time may have to be invested dictating such lines from a recording of the work if these musical lines do not appear in the published piano reduction. Musical theater piano scores frequently include these salient lines written as cues along with a rather thick rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment. Unfortunately, concerto reductions usually do not contain these important lines. The time spent rewriting the piano accompaniment in these instances will be worth the effort musically, and the accompanist should be compensated or, at minimum, acknowledged for the work.

Using the Milhaud Concerto as a point of departure, note that measures fifteen through seventeen and twenty-four through twenty seven serve well to illustrate the clarity and transparency of a well-arranged piano reduction. These two musical excerpts are actually from the original piano reduction score and do not require any editing to clarify lines or make the part more pianistic. Measures twenty-eight and twenty-nine, however, are not idiomatically written for the piano and lack clarity. A simple rewrite can solve this problem and create a more effective performance.

The second problem with concerto accompaniments realized on the piano is the lack of textures and sonorities that are characteristic of the original orchestral score. For those who wish to have the sonorities and textures realized, the use of MIDI sequencer technology offers a viable solution plus some other advantages.

I was introduced to MIDI accompaniment technology in December of 1990, when I was assigned the responsibility of providing pre-recorded track accompaniment for a professional musical theater company sponsored by the University where I teach. In order to save on budget the first two years of operation, it was decided to pre-record the instrumental accompaniment sound track using MIDI sources. That summer, the repertoire that I had to sequence for the company included "Hello Dolly", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", and "No, No, Nanette". I received the scores in January and began sequencing day and night for the next five and one-half months in order to meet an opening night deadline in the middle of June. I had no experience with electronic musical instruments at that time, but did have some experience with computers and MS DOS. My learning curve was necessarily short, but I amazingly met the deadlines and discovered, in the process, that this type of solution was viable for other musical uses such as making accompaniment tapes for performances and rehearsals for both myself, my students, and my wife’s elementary music programs.

There are many advantages to do-it-yourself MIDI arrangements. This process makes all accompaniments readily available, not just those that are commercially available. In situations where accompanying rehearsal time is limited due to time and load demands, the MIDI solution can decrease the demand for live accompanist’s rehearsal time, while actually enabling a performer to increase their contact time with the accompaniment track because of the fact that the MIDI track can be played over and over, even varying the tempo to accommodate slower tempi for rehearsals. In this situation, a performer could elect to use a live pianist for the performance or continue to use the MIDI track. Whatever the decision, accompanist time is saved in the process.

Another advantage of learning how to create MIDI accompaniments is that a performer will become intimately familiar with the entire score of the work and the interaction of the solo part with the accompaniment. This broadens the performer’s understanding of the entire composition.

Personal MIDI arrangements also allow the performer to customize the composition through changes of key, tempi, and the implementation of subtle personal musical decisions. Not all accompaniments are available commercially, and being able to do-it-yourself makes available virtually any composition.

This technology is also portable, making it possible to perform with an accompaniment anywhere, anytime. The soloist becomes self-sufficient, opening up performance possibilities that might be limited if contracting a live pianist and securing a piano become part of the process. I personally have used this technology with great success for benefit concerts, school performances, recruitment visits, and community arts series.

Finally, this is fun. You and your students will become more motivated to practice and perform with the knowledge of how to use MIDI effectively as a rehearsal and performance tool.

The following steps will provide assistance to those who wish to produce a musical and convincing accompaniment sequence:

I hope that this presentation encourages you to try these approaches to the problems of concerto reductions for yourself. For my audiences and students, many enjoyable performance and practice hours have been generated by the use of these techniques.