“Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 503: II. Andante” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [1786] performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra [1982]
Random Music History Song of the Day
Many casual listeners to classical music believe the symphony was the supreme form of the classical art when in fact for much of the history of Western concert music, the symphony was a brief, rather mundane effort, barely more than an overture. Throughout the Baroque era, other forms of mostly-instrumental music dominated: the mass, the fugue, the dance suite, and to some extent the two types of concerto - concerto grosso (e.g. some of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos) and solo concerto (e.g. Vivaldi’s four concerto suite, The Four Seasons). Only in the Classical era did the symphony become a leading form (and still, one of a few equally artistic forms, read on…).
This is where the genius of Mozart shows most evidently. Mozart is often praised for raising the symphony to the level of pure art (although Haydn deserves credit as well). Mozart also wrote operas that have never been topped in terms of matching beautiful, dramatic music with realistic, emotive characters. And most importantly for this post, Mozart’s keyboard virtuosity let him write the most complex, moving set of solo concertos to date (mostly for piano, but also notable concertos for clarinet, flute and harp, and horn). Find me another composer, from any genre, who changed so much!
The song above is the second movement from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major. Like most concertos of the Classical era, the first movement of kicked things off with energy of some kind - lively, stormy, or intense - and was where the soloist got to display his talents. As heard above, the second movement usually showed a composers gift for subtlety and instrumental lyricism while the third and final movement often found a balance between drama and nuance.
After Mozart’s original performances of Piano Concerto No. 25 in Vienna, the piece was not performed again in that city until 1934. Only in the last 50 years or so has the work been recognized as one of Mozart’s best concertos. Modern piano virtuoso Vladimir Ashkenazi recorded nearly all of Mozart’s most important piano concertos, with results ranging from good to phenomenal.
I would like to and could write more about the specific origins of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25, but to save space on your dashboard and to save my own time, I will direct you to a detailed description from the program of a recent performance of the concerto at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
