| Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? | |
| Composer: | John Adams |
| Period: | Contemporary |
| Composed: | 2018 |
| Duration: | c. 28 minutes |
| Scoring: | Orchestra |
| Premiere Conductor: | Gustavo Dudamel |
| Premiere Location: | Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles |
| Premiere Performers: | Los Angeles Philharmonic, Yuja Wang |
Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? is a piano concerto by the American composer John Adams. Its title is taken from a saying attributed to Martin Luther.[1] The work was premiered on March 7, 2019 by Yuja Wang and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.[2] A recording, made by Wang, Dudamel, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 2019, was released digitally by Deutsche Grammophon on April 17, 2020.[3] [4] The piece is Adams' third piano concerto, after Eros Piano (1989) and Century Rolls (1997).
The piece is in three movements, played without pauses between them:All three movements in total last about 28 minutes.
The piece is scored for the following orchestra:[5]
Piccolo
2 Flutes (1st doubling piccolo 2)
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in B♭ and A (2nd doubling basset horn)
2 Bassoons
Contrabassoon (doubling bassoon 3)
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C
2 Trombones (2nd doubling bass trombone)
Almglocken
Solo piano
Honky-tonk piano
Violin I
Violin II