Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23

Introduction

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in the summer of 1879 and again in December 1888. The first version received heavy criticism from Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky's desired pianist. Rubinstein later repudiated his previous accusations and became a fervent champion of the work. It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concertos.

Structure

Movements

The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:

1. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito (B-flat minor – B-flat major)
2. Andantino semplice – Prestissimo—Tempo I (D-flat major)
3. Allegro con fuoco—Molto meno mosso—Allegro vivo (B-flat minor – B-flat major)

A standard performance lasts between 30 and 35 minutes, the majority of which is taken up by the first movement.

First movement

The first movement is initiated with four emphatic B-flat minor chords, which lead to a lyrical and passionate theme in D-flat major. This subsidiary theme is heard three times, the last of which is preceded by a piano cadenza, and never appears again throughout the movement. The introduction ends in a subdued manner. The exposition proper then begins in the concerto's tonic minor key, with a Ukrainian folk theme based on a melody that Tchaikovsky heard performed by blind beggar-musicians at a market in Kamenka (near Kiev). The second subject group consists of two alternating themes: the first is mournful and plaintive, featuring some of the melodic contours from the introduction. This is answered by a smoother and more consoling second theme, played by the strings and set in the subtonic key (A-flat major) over a pedal point, before a more turbulent reappearance of the woodwind theme, this time re-enforced by driving piano arpeggios, gradually builds to a stormy climax in C minor that ends in a perfect cadence on the piano (V7-i). After a short pause, a variation of the consoling theme closes the exposition in A-flat major.

The development section transforms this theme into an ominously building sequence, punctuated with snatches of the first subject material. After a flurry of piano octaves, fragments of the "plaintive" theme are revisited for the first time in E-flat major, then for the second time in G minor, and then the piano and the strings take turns to play the theme for the third time in E major while the timpani furtively plays a tremolo on a low B until the first subject's fragments are continued.

The recapitulation features an abridged version of the first subject, working around to C minor, in which key the second subject group proceeds as before. In the recapitulation, the consoling second theme is omitted, and instead the first theme repeats, with a reappearance of the stormy climactic build that was previously heard in the exposition, but this time in B-flat major. However, this time the excitement is cut short by a deceptive cadence (V7-bVI) which abruptly ends the recapitulation, and then a piano cadenza is heard, the second half of which contains subdued snatches of the second subject group's first theme in the work's original minor key. The B-flat major is restored when the orchestra re-enters with the second subject group's previously omitted consoling theme from the beginning of the coda, as the tension gradually builds up and leads to a triumphant final plagal cadence in B-flat major (IV-I).

Question of the introduction

The introduction's theme is notable for its apparent formal independence from the rest of the movement and from the concerto as a whole, especially given its setting not in the work’s nominal key of B-flat minor but rather in D-flat major, that key's relative major. Despite its very substantial nature, this theme is only heard twice, and it never reappears at any later point in the concerto.

Russian music historian Francis Maes writes that because of its independence from the rest of the work,

[f]or a long time, the introduction posed an enigma to analysts and critics alike.…The key to the link between the introduction and what follows is…Tchaikovsky’s gift of hiding motivic connections behind what appears to be a flash of melodic inspiration. The opening melody comprises the most important motivic core elements for the entire work, something that is not immediately obvious, owing to its lyric quality. However, a closer analysis shows that the themes of the three movements are subtly linked. Tchaikovsky presents his structural material in a spontaneous, lyrical manner, yet with a high degree of planning and calculation.

Maes continues by mentioning that all the themes are tied together by a strong motivic link. These themes include the Ukrainian folk song "Oy, kryatshe, kryatshe…" as the first theme of the first movement proper, the French chansonette, "Il faut s'amuser, danser et rire." (Translated as: One must have fun, dance and laugh) in the middle section of the second movement and a Ukrainian vsnyanka or greeting to spring which appears as the first theme of the finale; the second theme of the finale is motivically derived from the Russian folk song "Podoydi, podoydi vo Tsar-Gorod" and also shares this motivic bond. The relationship between them has often been ascribed to chance because they were all well-known songs at the time Tchaikovsky composed the concerto. It seems likely, though, that he used these songs precisely because of their motivic connection and used them where he felt necessary. "Selecting folkloristic material," Maes writes, "went hand in hand with planning the large-scale structure of the work."

All this is in line with the earlier analysis of the Concerto published by Tchaikovsky authority David Brown, who further suggests that Alexander Borodin's First Symphony may have given the composer both the idea to write such an introduction and to link the work motivically as he does. Brown also identifies a four-note musical phrase ciphered from Tchaikovsky's own name and a three-note phrase likewise taken from the name of soprano Désirée Artôt, to whom the composer had been engaged some years before.

Second movement

The second movement, in D-flat major is marked "andantino semplice", which lends itself to a range of interpretations. This movement was written in ⁶
₈ time. The World War II-era recording of Vladimir Horowitz (as soloist) and Arturo Toscanini (as conductor) completed the movement in under six minutes. Towards the other extreme, Lang Lang recorded the movement, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim, in eight minutes.

• Measures 1-58: Andantino semplice
• Measures 59-145: Prestissimo
• Measures 146-170: Tempo I

After a brief pizzicato introduction, the flute carries the first statement of the theme. The flute's opening four notes are A-flat–E-flat–F–A-flat, while each other statement of this motif in the remainder of the movement substitutes the F for a (higher) B-flat. The British pianist Stephen Hough suggests this may be an error in the published score, and that the flute should play a B-flat. After the flute's opening statement of the melody, the piano continues and modulates to F major. After a bridge section, two cellos return with the theme in D-flat major and the oboe continues it. The "A" section ends with the piano holding a high F major chord, pianissimo. The movement's "B" section is in D minor (the relative minor of F major) and marked "allegro vivace assai" or "prestissimo", depending on the edition. It commences with a virtuosic piano introduction before the piano assumes an accompanying role and the strings commence a new melody in D major. The "B" section ends with another virtuosic solo passage for the piano, leading into the return of the "A" section. In the return, the piano makes the first, now ornamented, statement of the theme. The oboe continues the theme, this time resolving it to the tonic (D-flat major) and setting up a brief coda which finishes ppp.

Third movement

The third movement is marked "allegro con fuoco". After a very brief introduction, the exposition's first theme, in B-flat minor, is fast and rhythmic, and the melody is played by the piano, until when the orchestra plays a variation of the piano melody ff. The second theme, in D-flat major, is more lyrical and the melody is first played by the violins. A set of descending scales lead to the development section.

The development section begins similarly as the exposition, but then a new theme is heard until the melodies based on the exposition is heard again.

The recapitulation features the exposition's first theme in the tonic key, but the orchestra variation is replaced by an extended climatic episode. Then the second theme is heard triumphantly in B-flat major. After that, there is a coda marked allegro vivo, which draws to a heroic conclusion.