Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major

The year of the composition of this concerto, 1795, was a good one for Beethoven. Having moved from Bonn to Vienna three years earlier, establishing himself gradually while studying with Haydn, he now felt ready to launch his career as a pianist and composer with the publication of his Op. 1 piano trios and the composition of his Op. 2 piano sonatas. Beethoven premiered the Piano Concerto No. 1 in December 1795 or January 1796, and gave numerous performances before it was eventually published as Op. 15 in 1801. Despite its later publication, this is a youthful work, a vehicle for Beethoven’s own prodigious piano playing. Of the traditional three movements, fast-slow-fast, the first is the longest and most complex. The military character of the opening is balanced by a lyrical second theme before the piano enters with new material and a profusion of elaborate figuration. The exuberant virtuosity culminates in a plunging octave scale that heralds the return of the opening theme. Beethoven would have improvised a cadenza; modern pianists have many options to choose from (including three by the composer), but perhaps the most common is one he composed in 1809, the year of the Emperor Concerto, which is thrilling, but clearly in a later style. The central “Largo” sustains a mood of tranquillity throughout its substantial span, an oasis of inward calm amid so much buoyant athleticism, before the rondo finale finds Beethoven at his most high-spirited, the good humour extending to the surprise of the final orchestral outburst.