Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, was created in 1805 and 1806. Beethoven was the soloist in the first public playing as part of the concert on 22 December 1808 at Vienna's Theater an der Wien.

Orchestration
It is scored for solo piano and an orchestra that has a flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

Playing and reception
It was first played in March 1807 at a concert at the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. The Coriolan Overture and the Fourth Symphony were also first played in that concert.Steinberg, Michael. The Symphony: A Listeners Guide. pp. 19–24. Oxford University Press, 1995. However, the first time it was played in public  was not until a concert on 22 December 1808 at Vienna's Theater an der Wien. The concert was Beethoven's last time playing as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the first playings of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. Beethoven dedicated the concerto to his friend and student, the Archduke Rudolph.

A writing in the 17 May 1809 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung says that "[this concerto] is the most admirable, singular, artistic and complex Beethoven concerto ever". After its first performance, the piece was not well known until 1836, when it was changed by Felix Mendelssohn.

The first recording was done by York Bowen and made public by Vocalion in 1925.York Bowen – The Complete Solo 78 rpm Recordings, APR 6007 (2009), originally Vocalion A-0237/40 (1925) Today, the work is recorded often, and it is liked by people who go to concerts.

 Cadenzas 
Cadenzas for the Fourth Piano Concerto have been written many pianists and composers, such as: Beethoven (two separate sets of cadenzas), Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Ferruccio Busoni, Hans von Bülow, Ignaz Moscheles, Camille Saint-Saëns, Anton Rubinstein, Wilhelm Kempff, Nikolai Medtner, Eugen d'Albert, Leopold Godowsky, Wilhelm Backhaus, Samuil Feinberg, Manuel M. Ponce, and more.

Reception
, it was the second-most played piano concerto at Carnegie Hall, with 192 plays.

References

Other websites


Freed, Richard. Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, program notes, Kennedy Center. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
Program note by Thomas May, Kennedy Center

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Category:Compositions in G major
Category:Compositions with dedications