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This work, Op. 19 was really Beethoven's
earliest serious attempt at a piano concerto. There is an earlier work in
E-flat major, written when Beethoven was 14 or so in I know that Beethoven told his publisher
that Op.19 was "not my best work" and offered it to them at a
discount. I also know that he revised the work substantially from its earlier
version. However, IIRC the earlier version is now
lost. Beethoven may also have been working on an alternate finale which has
been published as the Rondo in B-flat for piano and orchestra. The Rondo was
not completed by Beethoven, but by Carl Czerny. I agree that Op.19 is not his
best work, but it is still far superior to that of his contemporaries (except of
course Mozart). Regards, Eric Cline -----Original Message----- This question is brought to you courtesy of my new CD
purchase at Schiphol ( Okay ... hmmm ... Beethoven's Concert No. 2 in B-Flat
major, Op. 19 ... I'm familiar with this piece, and this is a fabulous
rendition of it, surprisingly animated and inspired for a Soviet orchestra from
that era. But what do you folks think of this work as a
composition? Of course it's a powerful piece of pure music, with
drive, fascinating tempos, thrilling back-and-forth exchanges between soloist
and orchestra. But it seems to lack a soul or a meaning or a
direction. It doesn't seem to be about
anything ... not love, not courage, not grief, not a celebration of bucolic
nature things ... it just seems bombastic, it doesn't seem to be trying to
elicit deep emotional things, it's more like the kind of excitement of a big
football game. Does anybody know anything about it historically, what
it meant to Ludwig? Elmer / Bob |