Piano Concerto No. 5 in E‑Flat Major

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the last of his concertos, was composed in the early months of 1809, shortly before the invasion by Napoleon’s French army disrupted life in Vienna. Its nickname of Emperor, common in English-speaking countries, would have met with the composer’s profound disapproval, although it arose from the music’s noble grandeur rather than out of any association with Napoleon. The key is E-flat major, the same as the similarly majestic Eroica Symphony (1803-04). As with the Piano Concerto No. 4, the opening is strikingly original: imposing chords lead three times to cadenza-like flourishes from the pianist, in the manner of written-out preludes designed to allow the soloist to warm up. The main substance of the first movement, the longest in all Beethoven’s piano concertos, contains so much ornate passagework that a full-blown traditional cadenza is superfluous. The slow movement, in the remote key of B major, is gently lyrical, with more decorative piano writing. At the end of the movement, the soloist preempts the theme of the finale in a slow tempo before the closing rondo launches without a break. This boisterous finale is, like so much in this concerto, built on a simple thematic building block—in this case, a rhythmically enlivened arpeggio—as Beethoven takes us on an ingenious harmonic tour away from the home key and back again.