Piano Concerto no. 4, op. 48

The Fourth Piano Concerto, in G major, dates from 1953, from the years when Vladigerov was head of composition at the State Academy of Music in Sofia and the dominant figure in Bulgarian musical life. It is lighter and more transparent than the two concertos that precede it, with a reduced orchestral apparatus and a solo part that carries the argument through figuration rather than through weight. The folk-derived rhythmic material is worked into the thematic substance instead of being set off against it, as in the earlier works.