Piano Concerto in A Minor

It may long have been among the most popular of all such works, but when Grieg completed his Piano Concerto in 1868, he was little known outside his native Norway. The premiere, by Edmund Neupert in Copenhagen on 3 April the following year, was well received, and over the next decade the piece was heard throughout Europe and the U.S. Grieg played it often and made numerous revisions to the orchestration. Drawing on the precedent of Schumann’s concerto (in the same key), the first movement starts with a commanding call to attention, the lively initial theme contrasted with a ruminative melody on cello—though it is the first theme that dominates the thoughtful development, then a dramatic cadenza prior to the return of the opening summons. The slow movement unfolds a warmly expressive theme for strings, which is decorated by the piano before stating it with fervency. As this dies away, the finale steals in with a rhythmically forceful idea—influenced by the halling folk dances of southern Norway—shared between soloist and orchestra. A lyrical second theme is given to flute before being elaborated on by piano; then a reprise of the first section is curtailed by thunderous orchestral chords. The music now surges forth into a majestic restatement of the lyrical theme, piano and orchestra in eloquent accord.