Piano Concerto, Op. 54

1. 0:00
   Opening: orchestral E and oboe theme

   The orchestra plays E in unison, and the piano descends in thick chords. An oboe then plays a tune beginning C–B–A–A. The piano takes it up.

2. 1:00
   Oboe theme and the name Chiara

   In German notation B♮ is H, so the oboe’s opening notes are C–H–A–A. Michael Steinberg read them as CHiArA, or Chiara, the Italian Clara that Schumann used in his prose and, as Chiarina, in Carnaval. The tune dominates the movement and returns to link it to the finale.

3. 2:00
   Second subject in C major

   The piano plays the main theme again in C major over a few pizzicato notes in the strings. At the Animato the clarinet takes the theme and the piano accompanies. Schumann built his second theme from the first.

4. 2:38
   Concert Fantasy, 1841

   In May 1841 Schumann wrote this music as a single-movement Concert Fantasy for Clara. Publishers and orchestras showed no interest. Four years later he revised it and added two movements, and the Fantasy became the first movement of his Piano Concerto.

5. 3:25
   Letter to Clara Wieck, 1839

   In 1839 Schumann wrote to Clara that concertos were “hybrids of symphony, concerto, and big sonata”. He saw that he “can’t write a concerto for virtuosi” and would have to think of something else.

6. 4:24
   Andante espressivo in A♭ major

   Andante espressivo, in A♭ major and in 6/4. The clarinet has the melody over wide arpeggios in the piano, and the cellos hold sustained notes.

7. 5:09
   Gewandhaus rehearsal, Leipzig, 1841

   Leipzig, 13 August 1841. At a Gewandhaus rehearsal of the “Spring” Symphony, Clara tried Robert’s new Fantasy with the orchestra for the first time. She wrote that in the empty hall “one can hear neither oneself nor the orchestra”, but she played it twice and “thought it magnificent!”

8. 5:55
   Return of the opening piano flourish

   The piano flourish from the opening interrupts the slow duet. At Allegro, Tempo I the music returns to four beats in a bar. Flutes and strings reply to the descending piano figure, and the principal melody returns.

9. 7:30
   Return of the opening theme, oboe

   After a ritardando, at Tempo I (rehearsal D), the oboe plays the quiet opening tune in A minor, supported by clarinets, bassoons and horns. The piano rests, then replies. The opening exchange returns without the first cascade.

10. 8:40
    Clara Schumann’s diary, 1845

    On 27 June 1845 Clara noted that Robert had added “a beautiful last movement” to his A minor Phantasie. She wrote that she had “always wanted a great bravura piece by him.” By 31 July the concerto was with the copyist, and she was “as happy as a king”.

11. 9:32
    First performance, Dresden, 1845

    Clara Schumann gave the première of the complete concerto in Dresden on 4 December 1845. Ferdinand Hiller, the work’s dedicatee, conducted.

12. 10:25
    Review of the Leipzig performance, 1846

    The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, the journal Schumann founded in 1834 and left in 1844, reviewed the first Leipzig performance, given on New Year’s Day 1846. The critic F.W.M. found the first movement harder to grasp than the other two, because soloist and orchestra exchange so many phrases.

13. 11:32
    Cadenza

    The orchestra stops and the piano plays alone. Schumann wrote out the cadenza in full. The two hands imitate each other and move into chords, then into long trills, and the left hand plays a melody beneath a high trill.

14. 13:40
    Closing Allegro molto, A minor

    The closing Allegro molto sets the familiar tune in two-beat bars. Woodwinds play it over quick figuration in the piano, and the strings punctuate the phrases. The music returns repeatedly to A minor and ends with loud chords for the full orchestra.

Joins

1. 2:00
   Ritardando to the C major melody

   The connecting passage slows with a ritardando. At a tempo the piano plays the principal melody in C major, and the strings add a short pizzicato chord. At Animato the clarinet takes over the melody and the piano accompanies.

2. 4:24
   Into the A♭ major Andante espressivo

   The orchestral fanfare dies away and the metre broadens to 6/4. The music moves to A♭ major, marked Andante espressivo, and the piano plays spread arpeggios over a held A♭ in the cellos. A few bars later the clarinet takes up the melody. Trumpets, timpani and double basses rest.

3. 5:55
   Return of the descending flourish after A♭ major

   The A♭ major duet slows, then Allegro, Tempo I restores common time. The piano’s descending flourish returns with an orchestral accent. Flutes, violins and lower strings follow with the same falling motion. The quiet arpeggios of the A♭ major section are replaced by loud scales and chords.

4. 7:30
   Oboe theme in A minor at Tempo I

   A ritardando stretches the last piano figures over held wind chords and a quiet timpani roll. At Tempo I the oboe begins the A minor theme, accompanied by clarinets, bassoons and horns. Strings and piano stop after the first chord, and the winds finish the phrase alone.

5. 11:32
   From the reprise into the cadenza

   The A major reprise ends with a sharp orchestral accent. The piano continues alone, playing runs up and down before a ritardando. Schumann’s written cadenza follows. Its first figures pass between the hands and thicken into full chords before the long trills.

6. 13:40
   Two-beat phrases in the Allegro molto coda

   This join falls within the coda, marked Allegro molto and written in 2/4. The woodwinds play a shortened form of the theme over quick figures in the piano, and the strings reply with short phrases. Accents and rising runs bring the full ensemble back together, and the harmony moves towards the close in A minor.