Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra

Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra was written in 2006 for Lois Bliss Herbine. The composer intended to utilize such qualities of the piccolo as its expressivity, poetics, tenderness, soft humor, and drama. The music represents the mentality of Slavic people such as Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs and Poles. In the first movement there are two ?dancing? theme-images: a light-hearted, playful one and a stern, whining theme. This stern, whining theme becomes later a dreamy and intimate melody like a meditation in the solo instrument part. There are also a screaming chord progression which represents an expression of pain and lullaby-like melody which appears with different ?faces? in the beginning of the second movement and in a bombastic ?procession? in the final movement. A dramatic development of all these theme-images culminates in the solo piccolo cadenza followed by a vigorous conclusion. The second movement is a slow aria-like love song. The piccolo sings tender, peaceful, happy duets with the oboe, clarinet and French horn of the orchestra. The final movement is energetic and humorous. Some sections from the previous movements appear again before a bombastic humorous episode concludes the concerto.