IDAGIO | Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83 - Schumann: Fantasia in C Major, Op. 17 040888404422

Featuring

Karl Böhm
Wilhelm Backhaus
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

Brahms considered his Piano Concerto No. 2 a success, a rare instance of him being proud of his own work, which he announced in a letter.

Compositional Technique

Brahms added a scherzo as the second movement to his Piano Concerto No. 2, formally legitimizing it as a 'symphonic piano concerto' and departing from the traditional three-movement form.

Compositional Technique

In Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, the trumpets and timpani are abandoned after the scherzo, creating a highly unusual instrumentation effect that divides the concerto into two distinct moods.

Compositional Technique

Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 is described as a 'major symphony with an obbligato piano,' integrating the piano into the symphonic fabric rather than solely displaying virtuosity.

Compositional Technique

The third movement of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 features a solo cello melody whose opening notes are taken from Brahms' song 'Immer leiser wird der Schlummer' (Ever Quieter Grows My Slumber).

Composition History

The second movement of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 quotes the finale of his earlier, 'unfortunate' First Piano Concerto, fulfilling a promise to make his second concerto sound 'completely different'.

Composition History

Schumann's Fantasy in C Major was originally conceived as a 'Grand Sonata for the Pianoforte' to contribute to a Beethoven monument, with programmatic ideas like 'Ruins - Trophies - Palms'.