Piano Concerto (Grieg)
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, is the only concerto by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg that he has completed.
history
Even while studying at the conservatory in Leipzig he heard about 1858 Clara Schumann , the A minor Concerto her husband play and was inspired. The Grieg concert originated in Søllerød , Denmark, where Grieg was on vacation with his bride Nina Hagerup . It was composed in 1868 and premiered in Copenhagen on April 3, 1869 . The soloist was Edmund Neupert .
Thereafter, up to 1907, Grieg made changes to it at least seven times. When Grieg met Franz Liszt in Rome in 1870 , he played the concert and was very enthusiastic about it, but made some compositional suggestions to Grieg. It was first published in 1872.
instrumentation
Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones as well as timpani , solo instrument and strings .
To the music
Edvard Grieg was an admirer of Robert Schumann . His Piano Concerto is similar to Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, and has the key in common with him. It is even more similar, however, especially the significant opening bars of the first movement, to the piano concerto (A minor) written by his good friend August Winding in 1867 . Both concerts were premiered in quick succession, with the Orchester des musikerforeningen , Grieg's Opus 16 after Windings Opus 16, in the great hall of the Copenhagen Casino Teatret .
Furthermore, Grieg was inspired by the Norwegian jumping dance Halling , whose rhythm appears in the first and third movements.
First sentence
The first movement is a short Allegro molto Moderato . Formally, it is structured according to the sonata form . However, the introductory orchestral prelude, which introduces the two themes, as was customary in classical music and can also be found in Chopin's two piano concertos, is omitted. The orchestral prelude is rather reduced to a timpani crescendo after the piano begins with falling triads in A minor, similar to Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor. With the entry of the orchestra in bar 7, the exposition of the movement begins with the introduction of the first theme . This first march-like theme, performed by the woodwinds and horns, is continued through to the closing chords at M.18. At bar 19, the piano begins repeating the first theme exactly as the orchestra performed it. This is followed (T.31) by a passage with falling chords with suggestions in the piano, which are repeated twice and finally lead with a chromatic third scale directly into a final group of the first theme, a short duet between piano and oboe that plays the echo. An ascending arpeggio in the piano leads to the second theme (T.48),
With its calm and endless space, it forms the perfect contrast to the marching first theme. Again the theme is first played by the orchestra and then repeated by the soloist (from bar 53). There is an increasing continuation up to the trill in the right hand of the solo part and the following orchestral interlude at the same time as the final section. The implementation relies on the first topic in flute and horn, they are accompanied by arpeggios in the piano. This melody needs two attempts until the piano has turned the mood with a large arpeggio the third time (T.101). The first theme in the brass section now appears almost angrily. The piano continues again and at the latest with the chord fall in bar 110 it becomes clear that the recapitulation is approaching.
The recapitulation begins in bar 117 with the piano, the orchestra performance is omitted. At the beginning it resembles the exposition exactly, only in the passage with the above-mentioned falling chords with the suggestions (now m.129) does it take a turn, so that the final section of the first theme with the duet between piano and oboe (m.141) now appears in D major, matching the key of the now following second theme in A major, also indicated by a change in accidentals (bar 147). This theme is continued similarly to the exposition and brought to a double trill. The orchestra now leads over to the solo cadenza in five bars . This takes up the first theme in its middle section (bar 177); even after a chromatic departure, the first theme can be heard again in bar 187. Towards the end of the cadenza it gets strong and the dynamic climax of the final trill suggests the strong onset of the orchestra. Instead, the trill fades away softly and the orchestra also begins softly. In the coda the tempo changes again (m.210) and a new theme appears in oboe and bassoon, the piano takes up the theme briefly, but climbs up to the falling chords as at the beginning, and with powerful A minor chords the sentence ends.
Second sentence
The second movement is an adagio . At the beginning of the second movement the strings introduce a dreamy melody in detail, in which the winds finally also speak. The piano responds with its own motifs. The piano and orchestra now enter into a dialogue until the piano finally repeats the initial string theme of this movement in a more powerful way. A quieter dialogue between piano and orchestra now follows. After a few trills accompanied by the horn , the piano concludes the movement.
Third sentence
The third movement is called Allegro moderato molto e marcato . After a short, cautious but determined introduction by the woodwinds, the piano takes over and introduces the main rhythmic theme of the movement. After a short answer from the orchestra, the piano continues to develop its theme until, after a dialogue between the piano and the strings, the orchestra speaks up again and is supported by the trombones. Here the piano intervenes again to vary its theme, a project that is carried out by the orchestra. The solo flute answers with its own melody, which is carried by more and more instruments. The piano repeats the flute's melody to vary it, accompanied by the strings. When there is a temporary calm afterwards, the piano takes up its main theme of this movement again in order to develop it in dialogue with the orchestra. After an orchestral tutti gives the piano a short break, the piano and orchestra outbid each other in solemnly closing the concert.
effect
In 1885 Hugo Wolf considered the work to be just good enough to “lull spectacles into dreams or arouse rhythmic feelings in trained bears” and said: “… it is not good in the concert hall”. However, posterity does not share this judgment: Grieg's Piano Concerto was a complete success when it was first performed and is now one of the most popular piano concertos.
Audio samples
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- The University of Washington Symphony Orchestra (Seattle) will play under the baton of Peter Erős with Neal O'Doan, piano.
Web links
- Piano Concerto (Grieg) : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
Footnotes
- ^ Alan Walker: Franz Liszt: The Final Years, 1861–1886 . Cornell University Press, Ithaka NY 1997
- ↑ Wolf about Grieg ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ With the kind permission of Musopen
