Posted October 31, 2024
Instrumentation: flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
Ludwig van Beethoven
(Born in Bonn on December 16, 1770; died in Vienna on March 26, 1827)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
- Allegro con brio
- Largo
- Rondo – Allegro scherzando
Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 at the age of 22 to find fame and fortune as a piano virtuoso and as a composer. Naturally, some of the first works Beethoven wrote were piano concertos to show off his extraordinary abilities at the keyboard. He wrote three concertos in his first decade, the third in C Major completed between 1796 – 97, but to keep them out of the hands of his competitors, Beethoven delayed publishing them until 1801. Publishing his most-accomplished concerto first, the third in C Major was issued as No. 1, and is arguably his most beloved of those early three. This gem captures a youthful Beethoven at the brilliant moment when he was first conquering Vienna with his talents.
The first and last movements of his Concerto No. 1 are indebted to the concerto models of Mozart and Haydn, but Beethoven is very much making his own mark. Especially Beethoven-esque is this first movement’s Allegro con brio (fast with vigor), with its extraordinary energy, its many ff (very loud)moments, and its harmonic adventurousness (especially evident at about eight and twelve minutes). But above all is its overt display of virtuosity, which is particularly manifest in Beethoven’s own, jaw-dropping cadenza. This energetic opening movement is followed by the ethereal Largo (slow and dignified) middle movement – a lyrical love song tinged with a hint of touching nostalgia, and some beautiful duets between the soloist and clarinet. The finale, Rondo – Allegro scherzando (fast and playful), opens with the soloist presenting the main theme that is truly playful in manner, especially as the phrases are a little uneven in length, creating an amusingly off-balance romping. The finale recalls the virtuosity and harmonic adventurousness of the first movement, but now with a joie de vivre. The ending features a comical moment – at about nine minutes, the pianist has a brief cadenza that is conspicuously non-virtuosic, which is then followed by a quiet wind chorale at a slow tempo. It sounds as though these are to be the final, somber notes of this Concerto, until everything bursts open with a ff ending of exuberance and joy.