Review Summary: Originality can come in more ways than one.
The Warsaw Concerto, composed as a contribution towards the soundtrack of the 1941 British film ‘Dangerous Moonlight’, stands somewhat as an oddity as a piece of music. It is an admittedly hugely derivative composition that is based around imitating the piano style of Rachmaninoff, but the way it was composed gave it a niche that would be copied by many other soundtrack writers in the mid-20th century.
What you need to keep in mind is that this is a piece that was designed to sound like Rachmaninoff, and while some people would view this as an instant negative for the piece, one cannot argue that Addinsell does the job very, very well. This imitation is made very clear as the piece starts out with rolling timpani driving through with a theatrical piano boldly stating its presence. The connections become even more apparent as the arpeggios tumble up and down the piano’s entire range at frantic speeds, and there’s even a section that starts just after two minutes in that echoes the mid-section to Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Minor. It’s not just the use of piano that resembles Rachmaninoff; Addinsell also succeeds in producing the semi-chromatic harmonic changes and melodies that typify Rachmaninoff’s work.
Given all the above comparisons, one might be forgiven for wanting to skip this piece of music and listen to a Rachamaninoff concerto instead, but despite all the imitation, the hard work that Addinsell put into this is very much rewarding. Romantic string arrangements add depth spectacularly at just the right times without ever being overbearing, and the textures are constantly varied, with subtle flute trills and a short horn countermelodies decorating the piece towards the end, keeping it interesting all the way through.
What made this concerto unique, however, was a result of what was asked of it as a piece of music for the film it was intended to accompany. This resulted in a very ‘to-the-point’ structure, where every minute the piece moves on to somewhere completely differently but without any jarring transitions or feeling too paced or rushed, like one might expect. Over in 10 minutes, this concerto started a new trend, or even a sub-genre, of concertos used for film that had similarly tight structures, were short in length and had bold Romantic expression.
If anything, this concerto proves that originality can come in more ways than one. Don't let the imitation fool you, it's worth a listen on its own merits.
