The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by György Ligeti is a five-movement piano concerto. Ligeti wrote:I present my artistic credo in the Piano Concerto: I demonstrate my independence from criteria of the traditional avantgarde, as well as the fashionable postmodernism. Musical illusions which I consider to be also so important are not a goal in itself for me, but a foundation for my aesthetical attitude. I prefer musical forms which have a more object-like than processual character. Music as "frozen" time, as an object in imaginary space evoked by music in our imagination, as a creation which really develops in time, but in imagination it exists simultaneously in all its moments. The spell of time, the enduring its passing by, closing it in a moment of the present is my main intention as a composer.It is dedicated to the American conductor Mario di Bonaventura who premiered the work. History Initial sketches of the Concerto began in 1980, but it was not until 1985 that he found a way forward and the work proceeded more quickly. In his book on Ligeti, Richard Steinitz documents the composer's many attempts to begin the piece, noting that it was not until the twenty-first attempt, dated 1985–1986, that he gets the first page right. The first three movements were premiered in Graz, Austria on October 23, 1986 by pianist Anthony di Bonaventura and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Mario di Bonaventura. The following year, Ligeti added another two movements, the fourth and fifth, and the final autograph of the last movement was ready in January 1988. Ligeti wrote that “[a]fter hearing the work twice [in 1986], I came to the conclusion that the third movement is not an adequate finale; my feeling of form demanded continuation, a supplement.” The five-movement concerto was premiered on February 29, 1988 with Anthony di Bonaventura and the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario di Bonaventura in the Vienna Konzerthaus. Instrumentation The concerto is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of flute (doubling piccolo), oboe, clarinet (doubling alto ocarina), bassoon, horn, trumpet, tenor trombone, percussion, and strings. For balance, Ligeti recommends the strings to be 6–8 violin I's, 6–8 violin II's, 4–6 violas, 4–6 cellos, and 3–4 double basses. The percussion consists of triangle, crotales (in pairs), 2 suspended cymbals (small/normal size), 4 woodblocks, 5 templeblocks, tambourine, snare drum, 3 bongos, 4 tomtoms, bass drum, guero, castanets,