page_title: Piano Concerto (Massenet)
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Piano Concerto (Massenet) / Structure
caption_attribution_description: English: The opening bars of the second movement of the piano concerto by Jules Massenet
context_page_description: Jules Massenet's Piano Concerto is a 1902 work for piano solo and orchestra. It is scored for a typical-sized ensemble of the time. The concerto was performed in 1903 by Louis Diémer at the Conservatoire de Paris. After the premiere, it quickly fell into obscurity and is seldom heard today.
context_section_description: The work is in the typical three-movement structure. A typical performance of the work lasts around thirty minutes.
  Andante Moderato (46 = dotted quarter) — Allegro non troppo (84 = dotted quarter). 3/4 time. (14')
  Largo. Massenet provides additional remarks here: "Pour le début, 44 = ♩ et les passages semblables y compris la fin; puis, dans le courant de ce morceau, varier entre 60 = ♩ et 66 = ♩ selon le sentiment." (For the beginning, and similar passages till the end, 44 to a quarter note; then, in the rest of this piece, vary the tempo between 60 and 66 to a quarter, according to the feeling). 4/4 time. (9')
  "Airs slovaques" Allegro. (116 = ♩). 3/4 time. (7')
  The first movement begins and ends in E-flat major. It showcases Massenet's operatic side (Massenet was one of the best opera composers in his day). In some ways, it resembles closely Beethoven's 5th piano concerto, especially since both concertos are in the same key, and both have an opening flourish in the piano.
  The second movement, in B major, is a slow, deliberate promenade featuring the piano prominently throughout. There are sweeping orchestral flourishes in the middle of this movement. Eventually the music comes to a restful reprise of the theme, and the movement ends quietly in a fading murmur.
  The third movement, in C minor, is subtitled "Airs Slovaques", alluding to the ersatz Slovak-like dance tune Massenet uses throughout. The brief 2/4 section towards the end evokes the virtuosic passages of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, before returning to the main theme, perpetually accelerating into tumbling passages in the piano and flamboyant outbursts in the orchestra. Massenet adds triangle and glockenspiel in this movement to augment the exotic flavor of this movement.
  Massenet's piano concerto is one of a handful of works that begins in a major key (E-flat major) and ends in minor (C minor).
caption: The opening bars of the second movement, played by the soloist alone
exif: {}