Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in Eb, Op.73 (Grimaud)

The most exultant and thrilling of Beethoven’s piano concertos. It’s actually pretty rare in the so-called classical canon that a work that is just so unreservedly *happy* for most of its length gets acknowledged as a full-blown masterpiece, but the Emperor has deservedly made it. (As an aside, the title “Emperor” has always struck me as really annoying, mostly because this piece really does not have much by way of bombast or imperiousness. Instead it’s consistently generous and open, even as its tone shifts from celebratory in the first to confessional in the second and joltingly dancelike in the third.) Every movement is perfectly put together – the first movement is ingeniously built up from a diverse but closely-related set of themes, the second movement is a study in how a major key can be so tender as to be almost sad, the third has a lot of fun with juddering syncopation (pretending to be in ¾) + colourful modulations, and even the first movement’s orchestral exposition (which in many other concertos is a bit of a plod) is almost unbearably exciting. It’s also remarkable how much of the musical connective tissue in the work is beautiful in its own right – lots of passing material in the first movement, for instance, is really nice.

Grimaud and the Staatskapelle Dresden put in an inspired performance here – Grimaud has a Brahmsian way with the piano part: alternately meltingly beautiful and intensely dramatic, with some truly majestic soundscapes (see 10:26 and the octave passage after), while the SD has some really nice playing in the brass/woodwinds (all those lovely closeups of secondary lines!). Some highlights:

0:03 – Not that uncommon these days, actually, but Grimaud takes the opening arpeggio with measured tuplets. It's a nice effect, turning a standard-issue arpeggio into a much more interesting texture.
5:34 – T2 played in such a hushed/glowing manner (nobody else takes it this softly), and the subtle dynamic shading (and rubato – barely there but definitely there) of the major-mode variant which comes after.
29:30 – The RH arpeggiated chord is taken in interesting way (both here and elsewhere) – Grimaud jumps back to the lowest note of the chord after reaching the top, making the chord sound much more angular.
32:05 – The wafer-thin pianissimo at the top of the phrase beginning here (and similar).

[AshishXiangyiKumar]

There's a *lot* of structural cleverness going on here, and since I feel like the Emperor is one of those works (wonderful as it is) which is made about three times better if you know how it ticks (especially that first movement), this is going to be a bit long:

MVT I, Allegro, in Eb
00:00 – Introduction/cadenza (the scale built from leaping 4-note downward runs at 1:05 will become important).
EXPOSITION I (Orchestra)
1:13 – Theme 1 (T1), made of 3 critical motifs in quick succession – a 3-note turn (M1), a 4-note descent (M2), and a very short dotted fanfare (M3).
1:35 – Transition Theme 1 (TrT1), built from M2
1:47 – TrT2 (the bass line returns later)
2:01 – TrT3
2:08 – T2 in Ebm, transformed immediately later into a lyrical passage (T2 Var.1) at 2:24 (listen especially to the French horns). In all of its recurrences T2 is always paired with a major version of itself.
2:39 – Transition, using M1 in the high and low strings. At 2:45, a brief syncopated octave line in the violins appears (M4), heralding the return of T1. T1 is diverted at 2:54 into a passage consisting of yet more instances of M1 strung together, decorated with M4 in all the woodwinds. The transition has its own little climax at 3:09, which is followed by an arpeggio descent made of M2 (expanded), with a wonderful entry of the trumpets/French horns in unison at 3:13.
3:16 – Cadential Theme 1 (CaT1), built off the passage at 1:05.
3:37 – CaT2, using M2 in every second bar. At 3:48 M3 enters and gradually grows more prominent.
3:52 – CaT3, which is actually a variant of TrT3! At 4:01, interrupted by M1, which in turns establishes a Bb7b9 chord over which the piano enters with a chromatic scale.
EXPOSITION II (Piano)
4:17 – T1, broad, relaxed, lyrical. Diverted into a long fantasia-like passage.
4:47 – TrT1, orchestra
4:55 – TrT1, developed in the piano into a darkly syncopated version, modulating to Gb
5:07 – TrT2 in orchestra, piano with accompaniment
5:22 – Transition, built off inversion of 0:30 in the cadenza (lower chromatic neighbour tones there, upper neighbour tones here!)
5:33 – T2 Var.2, Bm., hushed and mystical, triplets. T2 Var.3 in B enters at 5:50. T2 Var.4, a sudden march in (unprepared) Bb, suddenly erupts in the orchestra at 6:11.
6:25 – Piano solo fill. At 6:36, a heavily modified TrT2 enters in the piano (note the rhythmic similarity), and is diverted into a downward scale. Call this TrT2*.
6:43 – M1 in RH, over LH chromatic descent. Sequential development. At 7:03, M4 appears in the RH, descending. M4 then moves into the clarinets/bassoon while the piano modulates.
7:21 – CaT1, in Cb. Note at 7:33 the orchestra’s material is based off a heavily augmented T2(!)
7:51 – M4 = variant of M3, in orchestra, with the piano providing diminished 7th arpeggios. At 7:58, the piano reiterates its opening RH chromatic scale, now joined by its LH counterpart from 6:43.
8:02 – T2 in orchestra, Bb. Follows pattern in expo 1, with CaT1 following an appearance (8:29). At 8:48, M3 in the horns, making a modulation to
8:51 – CaT3, in G. at 9:01, M3 fanfares and another chromatic scale leads into the
DEVELOPMENT
9:12 – Trill on new tonic, followed by borrowed slow arpeggio texture from T2 Var.3 (9:16, cf 5:50).
9:32 – T1, Cm. M2 is now transformed into a long, partially chromatic descent in the woodwinds. Modulates to Gm, then into
10:02 – Development of M2 (in the orchestra(, initially in Fm. Modulates into
10:22 – M3 fanfare in Cb, leading into
10:35 – Extended parallel octave passage, interrupted/accompanied by M3. This passage is built off multiple things you’ve heard before – some combination of TrT2*’s octave descent (6:38), an inversion of the passage at 7:33, and the melodic contour of T1 (M3, followed by a descent – originally an Eb chord, now scales).
11:15 – CaT3, bright and lyrical, in G. Modulates using M1 in the orchestra (11:23) into Db/Eb, then pauses on a floating (rootless) Bb7b9 arpeggio (11:53), while M1 sneaks in via the low strings, eventually intensifying an taking over the texture. This leads into the
RECAPITULATION
12:16 – opening cadenza, now measured and thickened with tumbling octaves.
13:03 – T1. At 13:14 (after the orchestra plays a noble, chorale-like version of the last phrase), it is finally joined by the piano, playing a free, almost improvisatory version of T1. The woodwinds softly insert M3 where the piano leaves it out.
13:43 – TrT2.
14:09 – T2, undergoing the same transformations as in Expo II (though note at 14:44 the modulation is now tone by a tone, rather than up a major 3rd).
15:20 – M1, as in Expo II
15:57 – CaT1
16:38 – T1, orchestra + piano interjections, building into the cadential 6/4 (17:04) –
17:10 – But the expected piano cadenza isn’t there (B. even writes “Do not play a cadenza” directly in the score). We get instead a short solo passage built off M1, diverting at 17:14 into a chromatic texture borrowed from the LH at 7:03. We pause on a dominant trill which suddenly changes mode, leading into
17:35 – T2 Var.5, the most delicate variant yet, beautifully followed by T2 Var.6 (17:53), the warmest variant (those French horns!).
18:10 – Transition, using M1, with descending chromatic scales in the piano leading into
CODA
18:20 – T1, fully shared with the piano now. At 18:35, modulations enter, leading into
18:44 – The heart-stopping climactic statement of CaT2, heard only for the second time in the work.
18:59 – CaT3, leading into M3 (19:08). We get the piano’s opening chromatic scale yet again (19:15), now leading into a long sparkling descent. This brings us to the
19:33 – Final cadence, with M3 in the orchestra.

MVT II, Adagio un poco moto, in B
20:07 – Theme
21:23 – Var.1. I’ll go out on a limb and say this is the saddest major scale written in all classical music.
22:36 – Var.2 in D. There’s a wonderful change in texture at 23:19 – Brahmsian all of a sudden, maybe even a bit harsh. And of course the hair-raising trills after.
24:12 – Var.3. Sounds to me compassionate, odd word though that may be.
25:07 – Var.4 (begins proper at 25:41, but the new texture enters earlier, so it feels like the variation starts here). Piano for the first time gains a little of its own momentum, becoming uplifting.
27:33 – Transition

MVT III, Rondo, allegro ma non troppo, in Eb
EXPOSITION
28:11 – [A SECTION] Theme 1. Such a fun thing – fat chords, brashly syncopated (basically hemiola-ized into ¾ ), and then the pungent chromatic sliding descent after (with the LH written to put an accent on the second quaver of each beat).
29:08 – Bridge 1
29:17 – Bridge 2
29:50 – [B SECTION] Theme 2, Bb
29:58 – Bridge 3. A bunch of I/V/IV chords, though made to sound haloed with brightness. At the end the b9 makes an appearance (30:13, highlighted by those treacherous two-octave leaps) in, recalling Mvt 1’s prominent use of the same colour.
30:19 – [A SECTION] Theme 1
DEVELOPMENT [C SECTION]
30:40 – Theme 1, Var.1, in Eb, modulating
31:18 – Theme 1, Var.2, in C, introducing a new tail in place of the original chromatic descent (31:29) which will be retained across remaining variations. Interesting to note how different this variant sounds from the original – deeper, more spacious, even though very little in the texture has changed.
31:50 – Theme 1, Var.3, in Ab. Lyrical, with chromatic elaboration. The new tail from the previous variation is retained.
32:35 – Theme 1, Var.4, in E. Arpeggio variant in RH.
32:57 – New developmental theme in Em, modulating. The orchestra from 33:08 onwards recalls the use of M3 from Mvt 1. Ends in a long dominant prolongation and a trill on Bb.
33:32 – A new variant of Theme 1 returns, revisiting the transition from the previous movement into this one (it’s possible also to read this section as a deceptive return of the recap, since it’s in the right key).
RECAPITULATION
33:44 – [A SECTION] Theme 1
34:40 – Bridge 1
34:48 – Bridge 2
35:24 – [B SECTION] Theme 2, in Eb
35:32 – Bridge 3
CODA
35:53 – Theme 1 [A SECTION], now full shared between piano/orchestra. At 36:14, the first full statement of the theme by the orchestra. At 36:34, the piano takes over the melody, which becomes diverted into a new (and really lovely) descending closing statement (36:42). This gets elaborated between the orchestra/piano. The timpani starts softly echoing the defining rhythmic motif of this movement at 37:16, while the piano places a series of rising scales that eventually dissolve into soft, almost chorale-like chords.
37:35 – The last recollection of Theme 1 in the LH, while the timpani gently guides the music to a halt.
37:50 – Finale, recalling Bridge 1.

[timward]

One of my favorite moments in Beethoven's music is the transition into the Rondo: the held B goes down a half-step, a new theme starts tentatively, then leaps into the joyous Rondo. Makes my heart leap with joy every time I hear it.

[AshishXiangyiKumar]

00:00 - Mvt 1, Allegro
20:07 - Mvt 2, Adagio un poco moto
28:10 - Mvt 3, Rondo, Allegro ma non troppo

[charleshudson]

All my life I've been transfixed by the adagio - the opening is so simple and so ethereal. What Beethoven does with simple, single descending notes.

[LukeFaulkner]

My favourite of the 5 concerti. The 1st movement is so heroic, the 2nd so beautiful, and the 3rd so joyous.

[Don-bvpx]

The perfect balance between the piano and orchestra. What an amazing piano concerto!

[DariusMo]

I really love the fat chords starting at 10:26, it just sounds incredible!

[kristian.kalmanlehto]

This concerto has had a huge impact on me since my early ears as a listener of classical music. Among so many wonderful concertos it takes a top place aside with the second concerto of Brahms.

[uwubutnotuwu]

I remember watching/listening to this the first time. During the third movement I loved how Bernstein looked so happy conducting this piece. Makes me love it even more xD

[erne-]

Thanks for uploading! This is surely one of the best renditions of the 5th concerto I've ever listened to!

[makaan]

Nice, have been waiting for this one.
Btw the way Grimaud captures the passage at 17:34 is absolutely unique and spectacular.

[eliasmazhukin]

This concerto had a huge influence on me. I learned so many tips & tricks in the double-exposition form from it!

[nickk]

Thank You for your wonderful commentary. It wasn't too long for me. :)

I fell in love with this piece at age 15 many years ago listening to Wilhelm Kempff. It still remains my all time favorite with Rach 2. There is so much joy in this piece and such profound sorrow and beauty in the middle. Beethoven's compositional process with the 2nd movement went through change after change until he finally wrote what we have today. It was fascinating his trial and error process of getting it just right. Grimaud's playing is wonderful here.

[truBador]

Just listened to Helmchen. Would not have appreciated the articulation without your spotlight on it. The ensemble with the orchestra was astonishing at times! Can I possibly stand this level of great music so soon again? We'll see. BTW, you clearly have yet to embrace the concept of an all benevolent emperor. Of course, so did Beethoven. Thanks for the great music!

[bilahn]

The Emperor Concerto is one of my desert island picks. The first movement especially has such a perfect form and logic one thing following after another and then all wrapped up and tied with a bow. It gives me the chills every time.

[Schubertd]

When you first hear 20:37 to 21:08 its beauty is staggering, but what is almost as beautiful is the immediately following bars.

[theultimatereductionist]

I absolutely love that ALL of Beethoven's music ends with massive catastrophic head and brain injury.

[Schubertd]

Great analysis, as usual. Would love an upload of the full Chopin PC 1.

[EmdrGreg]

Gawd, this is gorgeous music... delicious.

[domenicolocaputo]

-[00:00] I movent
Allegro
-[20:07] II movement
Adagio un poco moto
-[28:10] III movement
Allegro ma non troppo