Piano Concerto (Delius)

The Piano Concerto in C minor is one of the early compositions by the English composer Frederick Delius. The piece underwent repeated revisions that resulted in the existence of three major versions which significantly differ from one another. The first public performance of any version was played by Julius Buths with the conductor Hans Haym on 24 October 1904 in Elberfeld, Germany.

In 1887, Delius was in Leipzig, where he got to know Edvard Grieg, who presented him with a copy of his Piano Concerto at Christmas of the same year. The next year, in London, Delius attended a concert in which Grieg played his concerto to great acclaim. The success of his senior contemporary's piano concerto apparently tempted him to create his own work of this genre. But, despite his starting on it shortly after that, and completing a number of sketches, it was not until 1897 that he finished the first version of the piece (Fantasy in C minor for Piano and Orchestra) which consisted of three continuously played parts including a middle section in D-flat major. Although Delius played a two-piano reduction of this first version with Ferruccio Busoni in 1898, it was never performed in public.

For reasons that are unknown, Delius revised the Fantasy, which he extensively reconstructed into traditional concerto form with three movements. He set the D-flat part as an independent movement and wrote a finale with totally new material. This second version was premiered in 1904 and moderately praised, but Delius was not satisfied. Again, he began rewriting the concerto. The finale was removed and the D-flat part was placed in the centre of the first movement; the overall construction was similar to that of the first version. Additionally, his consultation with the Hungarian pianist Theodor Szántó, a pupil of Busoni, led to very substantial revisions in the solo part. The first performance of this version was played by Szántó, at a Prom Concert in London on 22 October 1907, under Henry Wood. Szántó received the dedication of the work. He also played the work at the Proms in 1912, 1913 and 1921. This final version has become the standard version, but Delius's original conception has been recorded.

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