Even in his youth, Ludwig van Beethoven, when appearing as a pianist, stunned audiences with the innovative nature of his style, his bravura and the expressiveness of his improvisations. In 1787, during a brief sojourn in Vienna, he visited Mozart and drew the latter’s admiration with his art.
Following his eventual move to the Austrian capital, Beethoven won widespread acclaim, performing in the townhouses of philanthropic aristocrats, at concerts and at “academies” – as composers’ evenings with varied programmes were known – where composers introduced audiences to their latest works. They also included a demonstration of the composers’ performing abilities – they had to appear as the soloist in a concert work and improvise on a given theme. This is how Beethoven’s piano concerti appeared. He composed them for his own performances at the academies whereas the violin concerto was composed for the well known virtuoso violinist Franz Clement. Besides those concerti the composer also wrote the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano, the Fantasy for piano, chorus and orchestra whose hymn to the glory of art anticipates the Ode to Joy from the finale of the famous Symphony No. 9.
Beethoven’s piano concerti opened a new chapter in the history of the genre. The composer elevated the concerto to the level of the symphony and underlined the leading role played by the soloist, in each and every case uniquely and inimitably rethinking the comparison between the solo part and the orchestra. Forming a unique “portrait” of Beethoven at a specific stage in his life, the concerti give us a wonderful opportunity to follow the evolution of the composer’s creative style. For example, in his first two concerti – in C Major and particularly in B Flat Major, which in terms of the chronology of composition and performance preceded the former – there is still a clear “genetic” link to concerto works by Mozart and Haydn. But through the normal shading of a classical concerto, here the image of Beethoven himself can be distinguished: we cannot but notice the new scale of the entire composition, the new qualities of the dynamism of sound, the energy of development and the expression. The composer’s inventiveness is amazing in the finale of the first concerto, where we can distinctly make out Beethoven’s sheer “impertinence”. A decisive break came with the Third Concerto in C Minor. Beethoven presented a new concept in concerto music – here the contrast of the soloist and the orchestra take on a new dramatic meaning and serve as an expression of the conflicting content. According to Alfred Cortot, “the piano grows through the orchestra like an opponent in some heroic battle; the sound entrusted to him is so mighty and its development just as powerful as Beethoven’s interpretation of the orchestral mass.”
In the two last concerti the soloist’s priority is indicated in even greater relief thanks to the unusual introduction: instead of a traditional orchestral exposition, the Fourth Concerto in G Major actually begins with the pianist’s solo, while the Fifth Concerto in E Flat Major has a virtuoso cadenza that emerges following just one chord from the orchestra. The Concerto in G Major stands apart for its particularly lyrical structure, while the grandiose Fifth became known as the Emperor Concerto even during the composer’s lifetime. Dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf, an Archbishop, direct descendant of the Austrian monarchy, a captain and a brilliant musician, it surpassed everything that had yet been written for piano solo thanks to the capaciousness of its content. Few years before that, counting on the pianistic gift of the Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven composed one of the solo parts of the unique Triple Concerto. The orchestra plays a secondary role in this piece. The cello leads the soloists giving the start in every part of the concerto. A light and celebrating mood of the music always attracts the audience however this piece is rarely performed because it requires a perfectly orchestrated ensemble of the three soloists.
The Violin Concerto has a very interesting story. Being one of the best works of Beethoven it was not successful during composer’s lifetime. They used to say that it took Beethoven so long to polish the part of the violin that the soloist had no time left to learn it. So when the time came to perform the concerto the violinist was in fact sight-reading it. After being upset with the unsuccessful premiere, on Clement’s advice Beethoven adapted the violin part for the piano – this is how this piece transformed into Piano Concerto No. 6. In 1844 Mendelssohn decided to revive the original version in which the solo part was brilliantly played by the thirteen year old virtuoso Josef Joachim. Since then this Beethoven’s masterpiece has held the most important place in the violin concerto repertoire.
Nadezhda Koulygina
