Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra

Dessner met Katia and Marielle Labèque at rehearsals in Los Angeles, where the Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel premiered a piece of his and the sisters played Philip Glass's concerto for two pianos. He had just moved to Paris; the Labèques, he has said, quickly became a second family there. The concerto was written for them and the London Philharmonic in 2017, worked out largely in the sisters' piano studio on the Rue Quincampoix and at their house on the Basque coast. Dessner came to concert composition from the rock band The National.