Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in the summer of 1879 and again in December 1888. The first version received heavy criticism from Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky's desired pianist. Rubinstein later repudiated his previous accusations and became a fervent champion of the work. It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concertos.

The work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, two bassoons, four horns in F, two trumpets in F, three trombones (two tenor, one bass), timpani, solo piano, and strings.

The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:

A standard performance lasts between 30 and 35 minutes, the majority of which is taken up by the first movement.

The first movement is initiated with four emphatic B-flat minor chords, which lead to a lyrical and passionate theme in D-flat major. This subsidiary theme is heard three times, the last of which is preceded by a piano cadenza, and never appears again throughout the movement. The introduction ends in a subdued manner. The exposition proper then begins in the concerto's tonic minor key, with a Ukrainian folk theme based on a melody that Tchaikovsky heard performed by blind beggar-musicians at a market in Kamenka (near Kiev). The second subject group consists of two alternating themes: the first is mournful and plaintive, featuring some of the melodic contours from the introduction. This is answered by a smoother and more consoling second theme, played by the strings and set in the subtonic key (A-flat major) over a pedal point, before a more turbulent reappearance of the woodwind theme, this time re-enforced by driving piano arpeggios, gradually builds to a tumultuous climax in C minor. After a pause, the answering "reassurance" theme closes the exposition in A-flat major.

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