DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (June 27, 2020)
We have made several references to dialogue among the great composers, especially through those compositions in C minor. The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, composed approximately in 1800, was a continuation of that musical dialogue that Beethoven conducted for years with the composers Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Bach’s Musical Offering, from the key of C Minor that he composed at the end of his life, is a benchmark in the entire classical repertoire and has given birth to more compositions in dialogue among Classical composers than perhaps any other work.
In this concerto, Beethoven is conversing particularly with Mozart’s own Concerto No. 24 in C Minor treatment of Bach’s breakthrough, composed in 1785, fifteen years before. Mozart’s first movement, longer than any other he had ever written in the piano concerto form, is echoed in Beethoven’s opening first movement’s tones, which outline the same Bach theme, but in a new way. Beethoven’s third movement commences by referencing Bach’s theme, also known as the Royal Theme.
The surprise of this concerto, however, is the second movement, sung as a piano aria in the key of E major. This is called a “distant key". That is, a key other than the expected keys of E Flat Major (relative Major), A Flat Major (subdominant parallel), or C Major (tonic major). It doesn’t follow the rules, in other words, and the reason is, neither Beethoven nor any other true Classical composer, ever created a great composition by “following the rules.” Beethoven, one of the greatest improvisers—and it was he who first premiered this piece—leads the orchestra, and the audience, to discover a new path, showing that there is a principle of creativity behind and above the rules, that is harmonious, intelligible, and reproducible in the mind of a receptive audience.
We present here two great performances. The first, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, with Murray Perahia and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
00:00 - Allegro
13:28 - Larghetto
20:41 - Allegretto
The second, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, performed by the extraordinary Italian pianist, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
00:00 - Allegro con brio
17:55 - Largo
30:00 - Rondo – Allegro
If you have a favorite version of either piano concertos, please share it with us!