The Classical Music Book

179

See also: Pièces de clavecin 82–83 ■ Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K.9,

“Pastorale” 90–91 ■ Clementi’s Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor 132–133

ROMANTIC 1810 –1920

T

he French composer

Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano

Concerto No. 2 premiered in

Paris in May 1868. It had taken him

17 days of flat-out labor to finish it

in time for the concert, which his

friend, the Russian musician Anton

Rubinstein, conducted. Saint-Saëns

played the solo part.

Exploring the form

Solo concertos had evolved over the

course of the 19th century. Dazzling

displays by virtuoso performer-

composers, notably violinist

Paganini and pianists Chopin and

Liszt, dominated the years after

1810, with the orchestra providing

little more than a backdrop. Later

figures, such as Robert Schumann,

called for a better balance.

Most major composers of the

time, including Mendelssohn,

Brahms, Grieg, and Dvorˇák, wrote

concertos and experimented

widely with the form. In his Piano

Concerto No. 2, Saint-Saëns ignored

convention by opening not with

the orchestra but with a solo piano

prelude in the style of Bach, and he

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

19th-century solo

concertos

BEFORE

1830 Chopin’s Piano Concerto

No. 1 in E minor is premiered

in Warsaw, Poland.

1836 Clara Schumann writes

her Piano Concerto in A minor,

nine years before her husband,

Robert Schumann, writes his

Piano Concerto in A minor.

1849 Liszt completes the final

version of his Piano Concerto

No. 1 in E-flat major.

AFTER

1868 Grieg composes one

of the most popular piano

concertos ever written, his

Piano Concerto in A minor.

1881 Johannes Brahms

completes his Piano Concerto

No. 2 in B-flat major.

replaced the usual fast-slow-fast

sequence of movements with a

slow-fast-faster progression, giving

rise to the quip that it “begins with

Bach and ends with Offenbach.”

Lack of rehearsal time resulted

in a disappointing premiere, but the

concerto won admirers and remains

a staple of the concert repertoire.

Saint-Saëns wrote another three

concertos for the piano, three for

the violin, and two for the cello. ■

I LIVE IN MUSIC

LIKE A FISH

IN WATER

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN G MINOR ( 1868 ),

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

He who does not get

absolute pleasure from

a simple series of well-

constructed chords, beautiful

only in their arrangement,

is not really fond of music.

Camille Saint-Saëns

US_178-179_J_Strauss_Jr_Saint_Saens.indd 179 26/03/18 1:01 PM