Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote his Piano Concerto No.

3 (subtitled Gift of Dreams) in 1998, nine years after his previous concerto.

The work was commissioned by the eminent conductor/pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy as a concerto which could be conducted from behind the piano, with Ashkenazy serving as soloist and conductor simultaneously.

Ashkenazy did premiere the concerto in this dual role with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999.

The work adopts tonal harmonies, as in Rautavaara's Piano Concerto No.