Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart)
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (K. 467) was written in 1785. It is one of Mozart's most popular piano concertos, and has three movements.
The first movement starts off quietly with a jolly march on the lower strings before the upper strings and woodwinds reply. A joyous outburst soon follows before a secondary idea is interwoven with the main theme. The piano makes a quiet entry with a scale configuration, leading to a mini cadenza that ends in a trill before the whole orchestra restates the main theme. The piano then further elaborates before putting forth another idea in G major, which is preceded by a passage that prefigures the main theme of his Symphony No. 40 in G minor. The main theme appears in G major, and goes on to a run of scales from the soloist as the woodwinds play a melancholic figure. This soon leads back to the quiet opening and a restatement of the G major idea in the main key. Soon, the tutti leads to a cadenza before the orchestra ends with the final section of the opening, slightly modified to end on a quiet but distinct note.
The Andante starts with a triplet figuration in the bass supporting a languorous melody. After a leisurely exposition by the orchestra, the soloist takes over the triplets and shares the melody with the ensemble. There are moments of "sadness" that are very brief, but the overall tone of the movement is bright and calm.
The final rondo movement begins with the full orchestra espousing a joyous "jumping" theme. After a short cadenza, the piano joins in and further elaborates. A "call and response" style is apparent, with the piano and ensemble exchanging parts fluidly. The soloist gets scale and arpeggio figurations that enhance the themes, as well as a short cadenza that leads right back to the main theme. The main theme appears one final time, leading to an upward rush of scales that ends on a triumphant note.
[edit] Nickname
The famous second movement was featured in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan. The limpid sounds bring to mind a lazy boat ride on a placid lake, which was the imagery used in the movie. This has led to an anachronistic nickname of Elvira Madigan for the concerto. The use of this nickname has decreased in recent years as memories of the seldom-seen Swedish film have faded.
During Marcel Marceau's funeral this was played along with Bach's Cello Suite No. 5.
[edit] External links
- Konzert in C KV 467: Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
- BBC Discovering Music (browse for .ram file for this work)
- Piano Concerto No. 21 was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
