Because many composers were also virtuosi, or wanted to attract the attention of the virtuosi of the day, the concerto became a means for composers to showcase their own or others’ talents. Some, like Schumann, declined to include vulgar virtuosity, but most, like Tchaikovsky and Liszt, saw the box-office benefits of including some pyrotechnics.

Jef Neve is a virtuoso pianist, but in the jazz world. Nevertheless, he’s now composed a piano concerto which will premiere in De Bijloke in Ghent on 1 May, before being performed in Brussels the following day.

“It’s something of a childhood dream of mine to write a concerto,” he explains over the phone from his rehearsal room, where he’s working on the piece before beginning rehearsals with Michel Tabachnik and the Brussels Philharmonic (Vlaams Radio Orkest). “I had classical training as well as jazz training at the Lemmens Institute [in Leuven]. I’ve always been a lover of piano concertos, and I even composed some short ones when I was 12 or 13. I’ve played in concerti by Beethoven, Mozart, the Paganini Variations by Rachmaninov and George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody’ in Blue, which is a sort of concerto.”

The inspiration to compose the new work, though, came from outside. About two years ago, De Bijloke approached him about composing a concerto. “I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to do something I’m not usually busy with,” he says.

De Bijloke has links with the VRO, and Michel Tabachnik leapt at the chance to collaborate and conduct. I reached him at his hotel in Denmark, where he’s been conducting the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra before returning to Brussels for rehearsals with Neve. “It’s part of our mission to help to discover and to perform new Flemish music,” he says. “We’ve played quite a few creations of works by Belgian composers. I didn’t know Jef’s work before, but I believe we should be open to different waves. I am familiar with work by Steve Reich and Philip Glass, for example.”

Looking at the score, his first impression is that the work is written along “traditional” lines. Neve explains further:

“The first movement is a sort of homage to all the composers who inspired me, like Beethoven and Rachmaninov, and even Tchaikovsky, in a way.” It’s written in conventional sonata form, he explains, with a statement of the first musical subject, development of that idea, the introduction of a conflicting or complementary subject, then recapitulation of the original theme.

“In the second movement, my musical language comes through, but it’s very classic. There’s little improvisation; every note is written down.” The second movement of the classical concerto is normally a slow movement, and he adheres to that tradition. “Then the third movement is con fuoco – full of fire,” he says.

“He’s adapted his ideas so as to give the orchestra the maximum opportunity,” notes Tabachnik.

“I’ve never been so nervous,” Neve admits. “Jazz is what I do for enjoyment, it’s not like work. I’m never stressed. But here I have the feeling I really need to deliver a performance. It’s an enormous challenge that takes different sorts of preparation. So I’ve been studying the work for hours, and also relaxing, doing some sport and meditating a little.”

It remains to be seen whether a classical crowd will appreciate the jazz man’s work, and whether his jazz fans will like him against an orchestral setting. “I expect the public also to be open,” Tabachnik declares uncompromisingly. “Most works by most composers never get a chance to be performed at all, especially when they require the massed forces of an orchestra.” That makes it even more of an occasion, he says.

“I hope the work will be interesting enough for people to be able to find enough of me in it,” Neve says.

Incidentally, the main exception to the defining characteristic of the concerto explained at the top of this article was a Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók, in which the orchestra is at one and the same time the soloist. Strange as the idea may seem, it has to be heard to understand the extent to which Bartók succeeded. As luck would have it, that’s possible: Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, together with Wagner’s overture to Tristan une Isolde, bracket Jef Neve’s piano concerto on both evenings.

Jef Neve and the Brussels Philharmonic

1 May, de Bijloke, Ghent

2 May, Flagey, Brussels

www.brusselsphilharmonic.be