Concertante Works

              Five of the six Chopin concertante works were composed before Chopin 
              left Poland in November of 1830.  Although Chopin may have started 
              another piano concerto years later, he never finished it (see Allegro de 

             concert in A major, Op. 46 on the 'Chopin on YouTube' page). 

         Variations on "Là ci darem la mano"  (There we will give each other 

                                                   our hands)  in B-flat major, Op. 2  (1827)

                  Composed when Chopin was 17, this set of variations on a duet from 
                  Mozart's Don Giovanni was well-received at its premier in Vienna on 
                  August 11, 1829.  

                  Upon hearing this work in 1831, the composer and music critic Robert 
                  Schumann wrote "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!" in the December 7,  

                  1831 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung.  Clara Weick, later 

                  Schumann's wife, played the piece publicly beginning at age 12.  She  

                  would become one of the great 19th century piano virtuosos and she  

                  played Chopin's music throughout her long career.  

                  This work is still played and recorded today, sometimes in a solo piano version.


                          Yuya Tonouchi, piano.  Orchestra del Conservatorio g. Nicolini
                                                                di Piacenza, Domenico Tondo, cond.  (18:30)

           Fantasy on Polish Airs, in A major, Op. 13  (1828) 

           Rondo à la Krakowiak, in F major,  Op. 14   (1828) 

           Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, in E♭ major, Op. 22  (1830–1834) 

                 This is a two part work.  The Grand polonaise brillante for piano and 

                 orchestra was written in 1830–1831.  It is often played as a solo piano 

                 work.  It is one of Chopin's most popular pieces.  

                 The gentle piano piece Andante spianato was written in 1834 and placed 

                 as an introduction to the bolder Grand polonaise brillante.  The combined 

                 work was published in 1836.  

 The Two Piano Concertos

          The modern piano concerto had its roots in Johann Sebastian Bach's Baroque 

          harpsichord concertos.  His son Johann Christian Bach was among the first to 

          write piano concertos in the Classical era, and he influenced Wolfgang Amadeus

          Mozart who raised the sophistication and the popularity to new heights.  Post-

          Mozart composers, particularly Ludwig van Beethoven, moved the concerto 

          towards Romanticism.  

          While Beethoven added a fourth movement to piano sonatas, and Chopin 

          followed suit, concertos remained in the original three movement structure 

          throughout the Romantic era.  The movements came in a fast→ slow → fast 

          order with the first movement being the most complicated, the second move-

          ment focusing on pure beauty, and the last being a simpler, energic closing.   

          For someone of Chopin's stature as a piano composer, his concertos not especially 

          highly thought of.  In a poll of the top 100 keyboard concerti, his second concerto 

          ranked 23rd and his first ranked 34th.  

          For those who do not think highly of them, Chopin's orchestral composing is often 

          blamed (the piano parts are generally highly regarded).  However, many disagree  

          with this assessment of Chopin's concertos and hold them in very high esteem. 

          Both concertos have a lot of the flashy style Brilliante that was popular in Chopin's 

          youth and that he would move away from in a couple years. 


          Piano Concerto No. 1 was written a few months after Concerto No. 2 but was 

          published first, hence its designation as Concerto 1.    

         Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11   (1830)


         Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21   (1829–1830)

1. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 20  (proto-romantic)

2. Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2  (Romantic)

3. Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2  (Romantic - 1902)

4. Grieg - Piano Concerto  "Norwegian"  (Romantic)

5. Schumann - Piano Concerto  (Romantic)

6. Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"

7. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3  (20th century)

8. Ravel - Piano Concerto (in G major)  (20th century)

9. Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4

10. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 23  (Classical)

11. Bach - Harpsichord Concerto No. 3 (BWV 1054)

12. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21  (Classical)

13. Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 3  (Romantic - 1909)

14. Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1  (Romantic)

15. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 27  (Classical)

16. Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 3

17. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2  (20th century)

18. Ravel - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand  (20th century)

19. Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1  (Romantic)

20. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 24  (proto-romantic)

21. Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

22. Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 25  (Classical)

23. Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 2  (Romantic)