Famous Piano Concerti: Beethoven’s Last, Tchaikovsky’s First, and Rachmaninoff’s Second

The piano is a truly remarkable instrument — in its range, versatility, and power — so it is not surprising that master composers have written some remarkable concertos for it.

A concerto is a large, complex, and extremely challenging piece, which is usually performed with the accompaniment of a full orchestra. Concertos (or concerti, for purists) have been written for every instrument imaginable and for vocalists as well. A concerto is usually written with 3 movements, or at least is broken up into several clearly-defined sections. The complete concerto is 20 – 40 minutes in duration — and is often memorized by the soloist.

A notable feature of the concerto form is the cadenza. A cadenza is a part of the typical concerto where the soloist is spotlighted for a complex solo part, with no orchestral accompaniment. The cadenza is often improvised — or if not improvised on the spot, the soloist certainly puts his or her personal touches on the cadenza. A version of the cadenza may or may not be written out by the composer in the score, but if it is, it is generally considered a guideline and the soloist is expected to add personal embellishments worthy of his or her mastery of the instrument.

Because of the challenging nature of the concerto form, only performers who have mastered their chosen instrument can even think of attempting one of these grand concert pieces.

Since the dawn of the modern piano, composers have penned these works to showcase the piano’s capabilities. Even early in the piano era, Mozart wrote several well-loved piano concertos – and usually performed them himself, while simultaneously directing the accompanying orchestra! However, many people argue that the most striking of piano concertos were not written until the instrument had matured and its capabilities tested by generations of composers and performers.

As a result, in this article I’m going to be talking about several of the later piano concertos. Of course, in any list of this sort countless contenders will be left out for space reasons, to the wails and woe of people who love them – so if I’ve left off your favorite, please don’t take it personally! Feel free to add your own favorites to the list, in the “Comments” section.

Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto

The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is considered one of the most powerful works in piano literature. It is the last piano concerto that Beethoven wrote, and as such is a true masterwork, written by a musical genius at the height of his form, between 1809 and 1811. It is the last piece that Beethoven himself last performed publicly, due to his growing deafness. It was dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf, a relative of the Austrian Emperor at the time, and Beethoven’s student and patron. (The name “Emperor” was not given to the work by Beethoven himself, but by the man who published the English-language version of it.)

Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 for his friend and supporter Nikolai Rubenstein. Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto was composed starting in the mid-1870’s. To Tchaikovsky’s chagrin, Rubenstein, the person he had hoped to honor with this work, rejected it at first. Tchaikovsky was deeply offended by this but refused to revise it further, and it was premiered by a different pianist, Hans Von Bulow. Later, Rubenstein came to admire it as written, and later still, Tchaikovsky did in fact revise it slightly based on the advice of other pianists.

In 1958, American pianist Van Cliburn became famous for winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, by playing this work.

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto

Sergei Rachmaninoff was considered to be perhaps the best pianist of the 20th Century. His concert touring career made his composing career somewhat erratic, yet he still managed to produce some of the best-beloved works in piano literature. Among these was his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, written in 1900 – 1901. This is considered by many to be among the greatest, if not the greatest, piano concertos. It also represents Rachmaninoff’s regaining his confidence as a composer after the disastrous reception of his First Symphony a few years earlier, which had plunged him into a period of depression and writer’s block.