Beethoven began his Fifth Piano Concerto in 1809, during Austria's declaration of war on Napoleon, and expressed his fierce opposition to Napoleon in a cryptic comment on the score.
Compositional Technique
The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, notably excludes a cadenza at the traditional place towards the end of the first movement, as indicated by Beethoven's note: 'Do not make a cadenza here.'
Composition History
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, was first performed by Beethoven himself from a score completed only for the orchestra, with the piano part written out over a year later for his pupil Ferdinand Ries.
Composition History
Beethoven's Piano Concerto in D major, Op. 61a, is an arrangement of his Violin Concerto, created at the request of publisher Muzio Clementi for his London publishing house.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, includes musical quotations from J. S. Bach's Partita in B flat major and Mozart's Idomeneo.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's increasing deafness was a crucial factor in the compositional history of his five great piano concertos, serving as both an impediment and an incentive.
Composition History
The confusing opus numbering of Beethoven's Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 is due to the inverted order of their printing, not their stylistic development.
