Letter excerpts

The following are a few brief excerpts from letters regarding the genesis of Nancarrow’s Pianola Concerto followed by some notes about the sketches and the ‘Nancarrow Concerto’ taken from an article I wrote for the Journal of the Pianola Institute

1981: ‘..a piece for player piano and live performers has too many problems…’

Letter from Nancarrow to Rex Lawson Feb 3^rd 1986: ‘I will think about doing a concerto for you…’ & May 25^th 1987 [hopes to start concerto soon]

1986: ‘After hearing what performers can do now I am thinking of doing a concerto for Pianola with that fantastic Pianola virtuoso [Rex Lawson]

1986: ‘ It would be wonderful if you could write a Concerto for Pianola and orchestra for Rex Lawson. He is a very engaged Pianolist and a great admirer of your music. I might ask Dr. Becker from the WDR if it is possible to give you an order for this composition!’

Letter from Nancarrow to Dr. Becker October 19^th 1986: ‘...I have been thinking about the Conc. For Pianola. However, I am very busy now…follow Stravinsky’s advice: Compose a piece and then get it commissioned. I do not work well under pressure…

1989: ‘…The piece will be a concerto for pianola and large orchestra, including a sizable percussion section…Probably the maximum number of tempi at any given moment would be about eight. Of course, most of the time, less…Any given instrument or group of instruments would not be always playing at the same tempo.’