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TOWSON UNIVERSITY

Piano Concerto No. 1

Ludwig van Beethoven
When Beethoven arrived in Vienna in
November 1792 to study with the great
Haydn and win fame as a piano virtuoso,
Mozart had been dead for less than a year.
In a city mad for pianists, the throne of
king of the keyboard was vacant, and
Beethoven was quick to fill it. His conquest of Vienna came far more easily and
was more lasting than Mozart’s; within
a year, he had a host of wealthy noble
patrons such as Mozart had only dreamed
about, and was the most sought-after soloist in town. His pupil Carl Czerny recalled
the spell Beethoven’s powerful virtuosity cast over his audiences: “In whatever
company he might chance to be, he knew
how to produce such an effect upon every
hearer that frequently not an eye remained
dry, while many would break out into
loud sobs; for there was something wonderful in his expression in addition to the
beauty and originality of his ideas and his
spirited style of rendering them.”
Although Beethoven had come to Vienna to study composition with Haydn, the
pairing didn’t work. Haydn was a better
composer than teacher and did not know
what to make of the youngster he dubbed
“the Grand Mogul” for his arrogance and
obstinacy. Nevertheless, Beethoven’s reputation as a composer soon began to catch
up with his fame as a pianist. Scholars are
not absolutely certain when he wrote his
First Piano Concerto (actually his second,
since Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat was
written earlier, but published later), but focus on the year 1795. He likely premiered
this concerto at a concert in Vienna on
December 18, 1795, organized by Haydn.
Movement 1: Beethoven’s first two
piano concertos follow the model of
Mozart’s, but this one already shows his
own stamp in its sprawling scale and
combination of boldness and reverie. It
is scored for two trumpets and timpani,
as well as woodwinds and strings, as was
typical for late-18th century compositions
in the “brilliant” key of C Major. The very
military opening theme begins softly in
the strings, but reveals its true character

Department of Music

when it is repeated fortissimo by the full
orchestra. The orchestra also introduces us
to the graceful, downward-curving second
theme, but we just hear the first part of it
as it keeps seeking a way back to C Major.
Only when the piano enters will we hear it
in its entirety.
Much of the piano’s exposition is
devoted to glittering, high-speed passagework to show off Beethoven’s virtuosity,
but he also displayed his poetic side in
some lovely quiet playing toward the end.
The development section, begun by solo
oboe, also is introspective and quiet.
The slow movement is a beautiful
rhapsody, which we want to go on
forever (as it nearly does). The orchestra
is reduced to just strings and the darker
winds — clarinets, bassoons, and horns
— giving it a special moody coloration.
The piano’s long, melancholy melodies, elegantly embellished, introduce a
Romantic world that Mozart never quite
entered. In the extended coda at the end
comes a wonderful, tender duet for the
solo clarinet and the piano.
The pianist launches the rondo finale
with a vivacious, high-spirited rondo
theme that is easy to recognize on its
many returns. The composer includes a
perky dialogue between woodwinds and
soloist near the end as well as a quiet passage for soloist and oboe that sets off the
boisterous finish all the better.

Dr. Eileen M. Hayes, Chairperson
Department of Music

Comprehensive programs
in undergraduate and
graduate music studies.
towson.edu/music

Instrumentation: Flute, two oboes, two clarinets,
two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani,
and strings.

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Ludwig van Beethoven
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