The Piano Concerto in

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

, Op. 17, is the only

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

written by the Polish composer and pianist

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

. It was written in the composer's twenties, with the first movement dating back to 1882, although the majority of the work was composed in 1888 and scored in 1889. After its completion, the composer showed the concerto to his friend Saint-Saëns, who admired it, and especially the andante movement. It premiered the same year in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, achieving great success, where it was conducted by Hans Richter. The work was dedicated to Paderewski's teacher

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

Composition

The

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

is scored for solo piano,

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

, 2

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, 2

oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

(2nd doubling

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

), 2

clarinets The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodwin ...

, 2

bassoons The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

, 4

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

, 2

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B o ...

, 3

trombones The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. It is divided into three movements: # ''Allegro'' # ''Romanze. Andante'' # ''Finale. Allegro molto vivace'' (

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

) The piano concerto usually lasts from 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the interpretation.

Notable recordings

Earl Wild Earl Wild (November 26, 1915January 23, 2010) was an American pianist known for his transcriptions of jazz and classical music. Biography Royland Earl Wild was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1915. Wild was a musically precocious child and ...

in 1971 with

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American Conductor (music), conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Pops orchestras. With a combi ...

and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

* Piers Lane in 1991 with

Jerzy Maksymiuk Jerzy Jan Maksymiuk (born 9 April 1936) is a Polish composer, pianist and orchestra conductor. Personal life Maksymiuk was born in Grodno, Second Polish Republic (now Belarus). He studied violin, piano, conducting and composition at the Warsaw ...

and the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

. *

Janina Fialkowska Janina Fialkowska, (born May 7, 1951) is a Canadian classical pianist. A specialist of the Classic and Romantic repertoires, for more than thirty years she has appeared regularly with professional orchestras around the world, often performing the ...

in 1999 with

Antoni Wit Antoni Wit (born 7 February 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra. Life a ...

and the

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra ( (NOSPR)) is one of Poland's radio orchestras and premier musical institutions. It was founded in 1935 in Warsaw and was later re-established in Katowice in 1945. Since 2006 it has been a "National ...

. *

Ian Hobson Ian Hobson is an English pianist, conductor and teacher, and is a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and at Florida State University. His pianistic repertoire spans the baroque to the contemporary, but he specialises in t ...

in 2002 with

and

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is a Polish orchestra and musical institution based in Warsaw. The orchestra gives its concerts principally at its eponymous institution, located on Grochowska Street, Warsaw. History Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek W ...

. * Dang Thai Son in 2018 with

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

and

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

. *

Claire Huangci Claire Huangci (; born March 22, 1990) is an American classical pianist. She lives in Frankfurt am Main. Early life Huangci was born in Rochester, New York to Chinese immigrant parents, both scientists. Claire started playing piano at the age o ...

in 2019 with Shi-Yeon Sung and

Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP; German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern) is a German radio orchestra. Its administrative headquarters is in Saarbrücken, at the ''Funkhaus Halberg''. The ...

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Classical music Compositions by Ignacy Jan Paderewski Piano concertos 1888 compositions Compositions in A minor