Tirol Concerto for piano and orchestra / Selections from Passages

I have played and conducted Philip's music for 25 years, including the first performances of all six symphonies, several of the operas, the original 6 piano etudes and the Tirol Concerto. With each new work I have been increasingly impressed by the skill with which Philip has refined and extended the expressive possibilities of his musical language to move his listeners. Learning, practicing and performing the Tirol Concerto has been rewarding and exhilarating from the first conceptual discussions with our Tyrolean friends in Schwaz - pianist Thomas Larcher and art curator Bettina Schlorhaufer, through countless performances before widely varied audiences both in Europe and North America. Philip tailormade the concerto for me together with the brilliant Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and we love performing it.

Passages is Philip's homage to his mentor and friend Ravi Shankar, and in this spirit I have arranged this beautiful musical synthesis to bring together two great ensembles, my Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the incomparable Rascher Saxophone Quartet. As Philip knows, it's fun to write for friends.

- Dennis Russell Davies
February, 2004

Tirol Concerto for piano and orchestra was the music used by the New Zealand Ballet during their March 2010 tour.