PIANO CONCERTO No.1（1967）

I composed this work in 1967 for the graduation examination at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. The previous year I had composed a large-scale work for orchestra with the French title Construction: Deux Mouvements pour Orchestre which was awarded first prize at the 1966 Japan Music Competition. My intention as I recall it was to create a contrasting orchestral work with single winds，although inclusion of the celesta and harp in the instrumentation meant that it ended up not exactly on the small scale that I had envisaged. The work consists of three movements played without a break.
The first movement adopts a fairly fast tempo. The opening theme presented by the strings is dodecaphonic and in irregular metre，and the piano part is in the manner of a toccata. The ensuing slow second movement features a dialogue between the soloist and the woodwinds. The second half of the movement is entitled Chorale et Chansonette. The strings play the chorale and the soloist plays the chansonette before moving into the third movement，which begins with a presto cadenza for the soloist. This is followed by a lively divertimento that leads into the closing prestissimo section. The work ends with the opening twelve-tone theme.
The work was premiered at my request by Okitaka Uehara (professor emeritus of Tokyo Gakugei University)，who was my senior by one year at university and enjoyed a high reputation at the time. The orchestra consisted of friends of mine from university and was conducted by my contemporary and close friend Kotaro Sato，whose premature death in 2006 greatly saddened me. The work received its second performance some 56 years later on 15 September 2023 at a concert held at Tokyo Opera City to commemorate my eightieth birthday. It was performed on that occasion by the brilliant young pianist Tomoki Kitamura together with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa，the orchestra with which I have enjoyed the closest relationship over the years，conducted by my esteemed friend Jun-ichi Hirokami.