Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 may have been created in 1800, although this has been argued by some musicologists. It was first played on 5 April 1803, with Beethoven as the soloist. On the same day, the Second Symphony and Christ on the Mount of Olives were also played for the first time. The work was made public in 1804 and was dedicated to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. The first theme is similar to that of Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto, also in C minor.

No.3
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Title page of the first edition
Opus	37
Year	1800
Style	Classical period
Dedication	Louis Ferdinand of Prussia
Performed	April 5, 1803 (1803-04-05) Vienna
Published	1804 (1804)
Movements	3 (Allegro con brio Largo Rondo. Allegro - Presto)
Scoring	Piano orchestra

Structure

The concerto was created for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in E♭, E and C, 2 trumpets in C, timpani, strings, and piano soloist.

As is normal for Classical/Romantic-era concertos, the work is in three movements:

1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. Rondo. Allegro - Presto

First performance

The piece was not finished when it was first played. Beethoven's friend Ignaz von Seyfried, who turned the pages of the music for him, wrote:

I saw almost nothing but empty pages; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me were scribbled down to serve as clues for him; for he played nearly all the solo part from memory since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to set it all down on paper.

Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven) Media

• 

  Cadenza of the first movement

Other websites

• [[scores:{{{id}}}|Piano Concerto No. 3]]: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Sheetmusic, Musopen
• Aperçu of Apotheosis, Program Notes on the Third Piano Concerto by Ron Drummond