Piano Concerto No. 3 (Villa-Lobos)

The Piano Concerto No. 3, W512, is a composition for piano and orchestra by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1952–57. A performance lasts about 26 minutes.
History.
Villa-Lobos began composing the Third Concerto in Rio de Janeiro in 1952, but interrupted work in favour of other commissions, completing it in New York only in 1957, five years after composing the Fourth Concerto and three years after completing the Fifth Concerto. It was first performed on 24 August 1957 at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, by (to whom the score is dedicated), and the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira; conducted by Eleazar de Carvalho.
Instrumentation.
The work is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (tam-tam, cymbal, vibraphone), celesta, harp, and strings.
Analysis.
The concerto has four movements:
The transparent, Aeolian main theme of the first movement recalls the openings of some of Sergei Prokofiev's concertos and the Third Piano Concerto of Béla Bartók. In general, the concerto is "athematic", avoiding characteristic melodies. The slow movement is an exception, with lyrical, clear themes.