Piano Concerto in A minor

The A-minor piano concerto came to fruition during a productive time in Schumann’s life. It is one of his best-known works, and one of the most widely performed and recorded piano concertos of the romantic era.

The first movement was originally composed as a “Phantasie” for piano and orchestra in 1839. His wife, Clara, was herself an accomplished pianist, and she encouraged her husband to turn it into a full-scale concerto. Five years later Schumann added an intermezzo and rondo-finale. The full three-movement concerto was premiered by Clara on December 4, 1845.

Schumann himself described this work as “something between symphony, concerto and grand sonata,” and it clearly has elements of all three. The first movement is basically monothematic, with the theme being introduced by the oboe and accompanying wind choir. In line with its origin as a “fantasy-piece,” it features abrupt changes of tempo and mood, highlighting the unusual uses to which Schumann adapts his thematic material. The intermezzo’s main theme is a classically based staccato scale motif (introduced by the piano); a second theme of sweeping lyricism is initiated by the ‘cellos. After a brief return to the first movement’s opening motif by the winds, the intermezzo leads without a break into the exuberant third movement. This finale, in A Major, is in a rondo form based on the first movement’s thematic material. It is punctuated by pianistic flourishes and cross-rhythmic syncopated passages, finishing with a sustained and dashing coda.