Rota: Piano Works

Nino Rota’s relationship with the piano began early in his life, as his grandfather, Giovanni Rinaldi was a renowned piano composer. A child prodigy, his mother wrote, “At the age of eight Nino was improvising on the piano and producing harmonies so naturally that it was as if the keys were doing it for him on their own.” Despite his close relationship to the instrument, Rota only composed fourteen opus numbers of piano music. Variations and Fugue in Twelve Tones on the Name of Bach, composed in 1950, was an outstanding work with a majestic fugue showing a deep understanding of chromaticism and posing a challenge to the pianist tackling the performance of the work. His most ambitious work is his 15 Preludi, which also displays chromatic motifs ascending and descending in ways that challenge the difficulty of Max Reger’s complex works.