Piano Concerto (Schumann)

The Piano Concerto in A minor by Robert Schumann was completed in 1845.

Schumann had begun several piano concertos before this one. In 1828 he had begun one in E flat major, from 1829-31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839 he wrote one movement of a concerto in D minor. None of these works were completed.

In 1841, Schumann wrote his Phantasie for piano and orchestra, which would eventually become the first movement of his concerto. In 1845 he added the intermezzo and finale to make the completed work. It turned out to be the only piano concerto Schumann wrote.

The piece is in three movements:

1. Allegro affettuoso
2. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso
3. Allegro vivace

There is no break between these last two movements.

The work was premiered in Leipzig on January 1, 1846 with Clara Schumann, Robert's wife, playing the solo part. Ferdinand Hiller, the work's dedicatee, conducted.

The work may have been used as a model by Edvard Grieg in composing his own Piano Concerto.

Following this concerto, Schumann wrote one other piece for piano and orchestra, the Introduction and Allegro (1853). He also wrote two other concertos for other instruments, the Cello Concerto (1850) and the Violin Concerto (1853).

Further reading

• Donald Francis Tovey, Essays in Musical Analysis: Concertos (London, 1936)
• Alfred Nieman, "The Concertos", in Robert Schumann: The Man and his Music, edited by Alan Walker (London, 1976)

External link

• BBC Radio 3's Discovering Music (includes a .ram file discussing the concerto)