Piano Concerto No. 1 (Liszt)

Franz Liszt composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S.124 over a 26-year period; the main themes date from 1830, while the final version dates 1849. The concerto consists of four movements,^{[verification needed]} which are performed without breaks in between, and lasts approximately 20 minutes. It premiered in Weimar in 1855, with Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.

History

The main themes of Liszt's first piano concerto are written in a sketchbook dated 1830, when Liszt was nineteen years old. He seems to have completed the work in 1849, yet made further adjustments in 1853. It was first performed at Weimar in 1855, with the composer at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting. Liszt made yet more changes before publication in 1856. Béla Bartók wrote of the work as being "the first perfect realisation of cyclic sonata form, with common themes being treated on the variation principle".

The movements of the piano concerto are played without a break.

Form

The concerto consists of four relatively short movements:

Allegro maestoso

The orchestra introduces the main theme of the piece with a powerful motif.^[1] The piano then comes in with an octave passage, spanning 4 octaves.
A quiet duet is formed between the piano and the clarinet in a quiet and peaceful passage, yet this is soon taken over again by the main theme.
Quasi adagio
The cello and double bass introduce the Adagio section in a serene, unison cantabile, before the rest of the string section joins. Again, however, the cellos and double bass descends before the piano joins, in una corda. The piano uses the string theme and develops them further. The section reaches a climax where a strong fortissimo is played before a descending diminuendo scale is played.
After a slight pause, the whole orchestra joins, again following the same theme, however, a cello plays the theme while the piano answers quickly and hurriedly. This develops into a passage where the woodwind section is playing a new theme while the piano is playing decorations in the upper register. The passage is ended by the piano.
Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato
The triangle starts the movement with a string quartet following it. After, the piano plays the same theme, yet develops it further. This occurs over the whole movement, however, previous themes from the last two movements are re-introduced and combined together to give this concerto its unique form.
The movement is ended in the same way as the first movement started, with a blistering piano passage and ending in a F-minor chord.
Allegro marziale animato
A descending E-flat scale is played before the orchestra plays the slow decorated theme that the woodwind section played in the previous movement, however, brass is used to decorate the melody.
The movement continues bringing all the themes out at different times and combining them.
In the final few passages, a new chromatic theme is introduced where the piano is playing semi-quavers and tripleted quavers at the same time, an exercise in polyrhythm.
The piece is finished in the bravura style Liszt is so famous for. The importance of the orchestra is further highlighted in the fact that only they play the last few notes rather than both piano and orchestra.

Orchestration

This concerto is scored for a Romantic orchestra and calls for the following:

Solo Piano

Woodwinds: Piccolo; 2 Flutes; 2 Oboes; 2 Clarinets in B-flat; 2 Bassoons

Brass: 2 Horns in F; 2 Trumpets in B-flat; 3 Trombones (2 Tenor, 1 Bass)

Percussion: Timpani; Bass Drum; Cymbals; Triangle

Strings: Violins I, II; Violas; Violoncellos; Double basses

Concierto para piano n.º 1 (Liszt)

El Concierto para piano y orquesta n.º 1 en mi bemol mayor, R 455, S.124 fue terminado por Franz Liszt en 1849. Fue estrenado seis años más tarde, el 17 de febrero de 1855, con el propio autor actuando como solista y Hector Berlioz al frente de la orquesta.

Movimientos

Allegro maestoso
Quasi adagio
Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato
Allegro marziale animato

Descripción

Este concierto está considerado como el más brillante, perfecto y popular de todos los que Liszt compuso. No expresa ni mundos contemplativos, ni ideas profundas, entre otras cosas porque Liszt nunca estuvo interesado en destacar en sus obras esas características, excepto en contadas ocasiones. El concierto es de una fuerza superior a la de su posible trascendencia. Tal vez la característica más acusada sea la del interés con que, sin que el piano pierda protagonismo, participe la orquesta, ya sea con intervenciones de distintos solistas, ya en los tutti de una formación que emplea, lejos de limitaciones clásicas, todo un conjunto, incluidos los trombones y una rica y brillante percusión.

Music: Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concerto Nº 1 - Martha Argerich - Complete (Live in Japan)

Piano Concerto No. 1 (Chopin)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 by the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin was composed in 1830. It was first performed on 11 October of that year, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during one of his "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland.

It was the first of Chopin's two piano concertos to be published, and was therefore given the designation of Piano Concerto "No. 1" at the time of publication, even though it was actually written immediately after what was later published as Piano Concerto No. 2. It is dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner.

The concerto is scored for solo piano, a pair of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, tenor trombone, timpani and strings.

It contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period:

Allegro maestoso
Romance - Larghetto
Rondo - Vivace

Classical critics usually fall into one of two schools of thought concerning the piece. The first of these says that, given that Chopin was a composer for the piano first and foremost, the orchestral part of this piece acts more as a vehicle for the pianist, with the individual instrumental parts being uninteresting to perform. The second suggests that the orchestral backing is carefully and deliberately written to fit in with the sound of the piano, and that the simplicity of arrangement is in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the harmony.

Chopin preferred to use unusual modulations in his expositions. For example, in the first movement, the exposition modulates to the parallel major, i-I, instead of the expected i-III. In fact, the Romance is the only movement where the second theme of the exposition fits the classical model of modulating to the dominant (I-V), although even there, when the second theme returns, it modulates to the mediant (III).

It has been performed and recorded many times. Mily Balakirev made a well-known arrangement for solo piano of the Larghetto.

Concierto para piano n.º 1 (Chopin)

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

El Concierto para piano n.º 1 en mi menor, op. 11 del compositor polaco Frédéric Chopin fue compuesto en el año 1830. Se lo considera la primer gran creacion de Chopin, debido a su uso del tiempo, su excelsa percusion y su maravillosa templandesidad.

Historia

Este concierto fue estrenado el 11 de octubre de 1830, en Varsovia, con el compositor como solista durante uno de los conciertos de "despedida", antes de que Chopin abandonara Polonia. Ejecutada, según diversos estudios, con el propósito de celebrar el cumpleaños de Fernando VII de España. Aunque también se lo cree dedicado a Friedrich Kalkbrenner. Fue el primero de sus dos conciertos para piano en ser publicado, y por lo tanto se lo denominó Concierto para piano "número 1" en el momento de su publicación, aun cuando en realidad fue compuesto inmediatamente tras el que después sería publicado como Concierto para piano n.º 2.

Fue creado para un piano, un par de flautas, oboes, un xilofón, clarinetes, fagots, 4 cuernos, 2 trompetas, un trombón, timbales y cuerdas.

Estructura

Está estructurado en los tres movimientos típicos:

1.Allegro maestoso

2.Romance - Larghetto

3.Rondo - Vivace

Crítica

Tradicionalmente la crítica se ha mostrado dividida respeto a esta obra. Para unos, Chopin era fundamentalmente un compositor para piano y por lo tanto consideran que en este caso el acompañamiento orquestal no es más que un vehículo para el solista; así, las partes exclusivamente orquestales carecen de interés. Otros son de la opinión de que el acompañamiento orquestal está deliberadamente y cuidadosamente escrito para envolver el sonido del piano, y que la simplicidad de la orquestación es una elección consciente para buscar el contraste con la complejidad de la armonía. El 18 de marzo de 1940 se reunió el Magistrado de la Ópera, con el fin de llegar a un acuerdo entre las partes. Finalmente, no sólo no se llegó a una conclusión, sino que también parte de la crítica se mantuvo escéptica respecto a esta obra debido a que Chopin creía que el "1" era un número de mala suerte.