View source for Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)

{{Short description|Work by Ludwig van Beethoven}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = Piano Concerto in C minor
| subtitle            = No.3
| image               = Beethoven piano concerto 3 (page de garde).png
| image_upright       = 1.3
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Title page of the first edition
| composer            = [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
| opus                = 37
| style               = [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]]
| year                = 1800
| performed           = {{start date and age|1803|04|05}} <br>[[Vienna]]
| dedication          = [[Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772–1806)|Louis Ferdinand of Prussia]]
| published           = {{start date|1804}}
| movements           = {{hlist|3 (''Allegro con brio'' | ''Largo'' | ''Rondo. Allegro - Presto'')}}
| scoring             = {{hlist|Piano|orchestra}}
}}
Beethoven's '''Piano Concerto No. 3''' in [[C minor]], [[opus number|Op.]] 37 is thought to have been composed in [[1800 in music|1800]], although the year of its composition has been questioned by some contemporary musicologists. It was first performed on 5 April 1803, with the composer as soloist.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=763602|title=When Did Beethoven Compose His Third Piano Concerto?|first=Leon|last=Platinga|authorlink=Leon Plantinga|journal=[[The Journal of Musicology]]|volume=7|number=3|date=Summer 1989|pages=275–307|doi=10.2307/763602}} {{subscription required}}</ref> During that same performance, the [[Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)|Second Symphony]] and the oratorio ''[[Christ on the Mount of Olives (Beethoven)|Christ on the Mount of Olives]]'' were also premiered.<ref name="Steinberg">[[Michael Steinberg (music critic)|Steinberg, Michael]], ''The Concerto: A Listener's Guide'', pp. 59–63, Oxford (1998).</ref> The composition was published in 1804 and was dedicated to [[Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772–1806)|Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia]]. The first primary theme is reminiscent of that of [[Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto]], also in C minor.

==Structure==
The [[Piano concerto|concerto]] is scored for 2 [[western concert flute|flute]]s, 2 [[oboe]]s, 2 [[clarinet]]s in B{{music|flat}}, 2 [[bassoon]]s, 2 [[Horn (instrument)|horns]] in E{{music|flat}}, E and C, 2 [[trumpets]] in C, [[timpani]], [[String instrument|strings]], and piano soloist.

As is standard for [[Classical period (music)|Classical]]/[[Romantic music|Romantic]]-era concertos, the work is in three [[Movement (music)|movements]]:
{{Ordered list|list-style-type=upper-roman
|[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] con brio
|[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Largo]]
|[[Rondo]]. Allegro - Presto
}}

===I. Allegro con brio===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Beethoven piano concerto 3 - 1rst mvt.ogg|title=First movement}}
[[File:Beethoven piano concerto 3 cadence (Original score).png|thumb|300px|Cadenza of the first movement]]
This movement is known to make forceful use of the theme (direct and indirect) throughout.

'''Orchestral exposition''': In the orchestral [[Exposition (music)|exposition]], the [[Theme (music)|theme]] is introduced by the [[String section|strings]] and used throughout the movement. It is [[Musical development|developed]] several times. In the third section (second subject), the [[clarinet]] and violin 1 introduce the second main theme, which is initially in the [[relative key]], [[E-flat major|E{{music|flat}} major]], and then in the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] major, C major, finally back to C minor.

'''Second exposition''': The piano enters with an ascending scale [[Motif (music)|motif]]. The structure of the exposition in the piano solo is similar to that of the orchestral exposition.

'''Development''': The piano enters, playing similar scales used in the beginning of the second exposition, this time in [[D major]] rather than [[C minor]]. The music is generally quiet.

'''Recapitulation''': The orchestra [[Recapitulation (music)|restates]] the theme in [[fortissimo]], with the wind instruments responding by building up a minor [[ninth chord]] as in the exposition. For the return of the second subject, Beethoven [[Modulation (music)|modulates]] to the tonic major, [[C major]]. A dark transition to the [[cadenza]] occurs, immediately switching from C major to C minor.

'''Cadenza''': Beethoven wrote one cadenza for this movement, which is at times stormy and ends on a series of [[Trill (music)|trill]]s that calm down to pianissimo. Many other composers and pianists, such as [[Charles Alkan]], [[Gabriel Fauré]], [[Edwin Fischer]], [[Wilhelm Kempff]], [[Franz Liszt]], [[Ignaz Moscheles]] (whose cadenza was misattributed to [[Johannes Brahms]]), [[Carl Reinecke]], [[Fazıl Say]], [[Clara Schumann]], and [[Bedřich Smetana]], have written alternative cadenzas.

'''Coda''': Beethoven subverts the expectation of a return to the tonic at the end of the cadenza by prolonging the final trill and eventually arriving on a dominant [[Seventh chord|seventh]]. The piano plays a series of [[arpeggio]]s before the music settles into the home key of C minor. Then the music intensifies before a full [[tutti]] occurs, followed by the piano playing descending arpeggios, the ascending scale from the second exposition, and finally a resolute ending on C.

===II. Largo===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Beethoven piano concerto 3 - 2nd mvt.ogg|title=Second movement
|filename2=Beethoven piano concerto 3 - 3rd mvt.ogg|title2=Third movement}}
The second movement is in the key of [[E major]], in this context a key relatively remote from the concerto's opening key of C minor (another example being the much later [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Brahms's first symphony]]). If the movement adhered to traditional form, its key would be E{{music|flat}} major (the [[relative key]]), A{{music|flat}} major (the [[submediant key|submediant major]] or [[subdominant parallel]]) or C major (the tonic major or [[parallel key]]). The movement opens with the solo piano, and the opening is marked with detailed [[Piano pedals| pedaling]] instructions.

===III. Rondo – Allegro - Presto===
The finale is in [[sonata rondo form]]. The movement begins in C minor with an agitated theme played only by the piano. The movement ends with a [[C major]] coda marked [[Presto (music)|presto]].

==First performance==
The score was incomplete at its first performance. Beethoven's friend [[Ignaz von Seyfried]], who [[Page-turner|turned the pages]] of the music for him that night, later wrote:<ref name="Steinberg" />
<blockquote>
I saw almost nothing but empty pages; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me were scribbled down to serve as clues for him; for he played nearly all the solo part from memory since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to set it all down on paper.
</blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)}}
* {{IMSLP2|work=Piano Concerto No.3, Op.37 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname=Piano Concerto No. 3}} 
* [https://musopen.org/music/61-piano-concerto-no-3-in-cm-op-37/ Sheetmusic], [[Musopen]]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031009080536/http://www.nwsinfonietta.com/notes3Oct03.htm Aperçu of Apotheosis]}}, Program Notes on the Third Piano Concerto by [[Ron Drummond]]

{{Beethoven concertos}}{{authority control}}

[[Category:Piano concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven|03]]
[[Category:1800 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions in C minor]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty]]