Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's Piano Concerto in E flat major,

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. 4, is one of his earlier works, written in 1784 when he was only 14. Only the solo

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

part survives today, although there are some indications in the manuscript for orchestral cues. On the occasions when the work has been performed, the orchestral part has had to be arranged beforehand. The concerto is sometimes referred to as

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

No. 0, as it came before all of Beethoven's other piano concertos. It is rarely performed. Pianists

Howard Shelley Howard Gordon Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara (her death), with whom he has performed and reco ...

Ronald Brautigam Ronald Brautigam (born 1954) is a Dutch concert pianist, best known for his performances of Beethoven's piano works on the fortepiano. Born in Amsterdam, Brautigam studied there with Jan Wijn (1971-79), then he left to study in London with John B ...

and

Philippos Tsalachouris Philippos is a masculine given name, cognate to Philip. Notable people with the surname include: * Philippos Constantinos, Cypriot singer * Philippos Syrigos Philippos Syrigos ( el, Φίλιππος Συρίγος; 1948 – 13 October 2013) was a G ...

, as well as the Swiss musicologist and composer Willy Hess, have each made their own reconstructions of the concerto.

Structure

The work is in three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

as follows: #''Allegro moderato'' #''Larghetto'' #''Rondo allegretto'' The fact that each performance has a different orchestration makes it difficult to describe the work accurately, but in general the concerto has the style of classical composers of the late 18th century such as

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, who would later come to tutor Beethoven. The first movement has a piano part using mainly scale ideas at a fast tempo. The slow second movement is similar in form, with common arpeggiation and ornamenting. The last movement has a jolly melody for the main theme, played very fast, again based on scales. Beethoven most likely composed this concerto in 1784, when he was still in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. During this time period,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

had not yet composed his Symphonies No, 39, 40, or 41. Beethoven went to

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in 1792 at the age of 21.

References

{{Authority control 00 1784 compositions Compositions in E-flat major Musical compositions completed by others Compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven published posthumously