Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)
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The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800, and first performed on April 5, 1803 with the composer as soloist. The Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives also received their first performances during the concert.[1] The composition was dedicated to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia.
The piece is scored for flutes, oboes, clarinets in B-flat, bassoons, horns in E-flat, trumpet in C, timpani in C and G, and strings.
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[edit] Movements
As is standard for concertos, the work is in three movements:
[edit] I. Allegro con brio
This movement is known to make forceful use of the theme (direct and indirect) throughout.
[edit] Orchestral Exposition
In the orchestral exposition, The theme is calmly introduced by the strings, and used menacingly throughout the movement either in its clear, original form, or with the last notes (indirect, rhythmic form). It is developed several times before the second subject. A motive is introduced to serve as a simple transition to the next part of the exposition, in the relative key, E-flat major. The music stays in major mode until an important motive (used later on). In the third section (second subject), the clarinet introduces the second main theme, which is in the relative key. That theme is developed before the music returns to the main subject in C Minor, where the main theme is developed yet again, with another motif introduced. The music calms down until a tutti occurs; the entire orchestra plays forcefully only moments before the soloist enters.
[edit] Second exposition
The piano enters with forceful scales, then stating the first subject in four octaves. The structure of the second exposition strictly adheres to that of the orchestral exposition. A transition leads before the key turns into the relative major. After a series of exchanges between soloist and orchestra, the piano enters, playing a calm and expressive motive. The music has a passage leading to the second subject. The piano plays the subordinate theme in its entirety before the orchestra does so. A motif introduced in the orchestral exposition is used before the piano plays rapid scales. Virtually unprecedented in the classical concerto, Beethoven finishes off the section with the piano playing a scale, not a trill.
A transition follows with Beethoven using clever usage of successive scale notes to transition into G minor.
[edit] Development
The piano enters, playing similar scales used in the beginning of the second exposition. The music is generally quiet and develops the first theme well. After a series of triplets played by piano and wind instruments, the piano plays broken chords, building in intensity until the main subject comes back again.
[edit] Recapitulation
The orchestra restates the theme in fortissimo octaves, with the wind instruments responding by building up a minor 9th chord as in the exposition. The piano plays light notes in the manner of an arpeggio until an earlier motif is repeated, in C Minor, not in the original E-flat minor. A simple transition consisting of broken chords and descending trills occurs before the subordinate theme is played again. From hereon, the structure follows that of the second exposition.
A dark transition to the cadenza occurs, immediately switching from C Major to C Minor through the use of the tonic scale note. It is typical of classical concerti.
Beethoven wrote one cadenza for this movement, and it is known that Brahms did so as well (http://www.bh2000.net/score/pianbrah/). The cadenza Beethoven wrote is stormy and makes good use of the main theme and the subordinate theme. It ends on a series of trills that calm down to pianissimo.
[edit] Coda
The listener is left surprised when the cadenza ends on a major chord, not the expected tonic minor. The piano plays a series of arpeggios before the music settles into the tonic. The music intensifies before a tutti occurs, following by the piano playing descending arpeggios and then an ascending scale. The movement resolutely ends on C.
[edit] II. Largo
The second movement is in E major opens with a CALM melody for the solo piano. It is noted that the pedaling instructions Beethoven tried to use are impossible on modern pianos.
[edit] III. Rondo - Allegro
The finale, a rondo, begins in C minor and ends with a presto in C major. The structure of the rondo of Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 is heavily based on that of this one.[citation needed]
The score was incomplete at its first performance. Beethoven's friend, Ignaz von Seyfried, who turned the pages of the music for him that night, later wrote:[1]
"I saw almost nothing but empty leaves; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me were scribbled down to serve as clues for him; for he played nearly all the solo part from memory since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to set it all down on paper."
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Musopen.com Piano Concerto No. 3 sheet music
- Aperçu of Apotheosis, Program Notes on the Third Piano Concerto by Ron Drummond
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