Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, op. 15, was started in 1796, and was finished the following year. The first performance was in Prague in 1798, with Beethoven himself playing the piano.

This piece was in fact the composer's third attempt at the genre, following an unpublished piano concerto in E-flat major (not to be mistaken for the Piano Concerto No. 5), and the later-to-be-published Piano Concerto No. 2, which was in fact composed almost ten years earlier, but not published until 1801.

In the standard classical concerto style, it is in three movements:

• Allegro con brio
• Largo
• Rondo. Allegro scherzando

Like the Piano Concerto No. 2, the C major concerto reflects Beethoven's assimilation of the styles of Mozart and Haydn, while its abrupt harmonic shifts demonstrate Beethoven's unique musical personality.