Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in E flat major, op. 73 (“Emperor”)

Program notes

About the Work

Beethoven composed his Fifth Piano Concerto in 1809, in Vienna, as Napoleon’s army was bombarding the city. During the worst of it he took refuge in his brother’s cellar with pillows pressed against his ears, to protect what hearing he had left from the cannon fire. It would be the last piano concerto Beethoven completed. By the time of its premiere his hearing had deteriorated so far that he could no longer perform as soloist, ending one of the most brilliant pianistic careers of the era.

The nickname “Emperor” was not Beethoven’s, and its origin is uncertain; it took hold in the English-speaking world and has stuck because it captures something genuine about the work’s grand, public, almost ceremonial character. There is no reference to any emperor in Beethoven’s score. Indeed, given the composer’s disillusionment with Napoleon (he had struck Napoleon’s name from the Eroica Symphony when Napoleon declared himself emperor), it is a name he might well have rejected.

The premiere took place in Leipzig on 28 November 1811, with Friedrich Schneider as soloist; the Vienna premiere followed in February 1812 with Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny. It has long since become one of the most beloved concertos in the repertoire.

The first movement opens with a dramatic gesture without precedent: the orchestra plays a single chord, and the soloist responds at once with a dazzling, almost improvisatory flourish. This happens three times before the orchestra finally settles into the actual main theme. It is one of the boldest openings in concerto literature, immediately establishing the soloist as an equal partner of the orchestra rather than a polite latecomer. The second movement is a slow Adagio of profound serenity, in the unexpected key of B major, and its quiet, hymn-like main theme is one of the most beautiful melodies Beethoven ever wrote. Without a pause, the soloist quietly outlines the rhythm of the finale’s main theme, and the music suddenly explodes into a Rondo of irresistible, exuberant energy.

What to listen for tonight: the unprecedented soloist-orchestra dialogue of the opening; the long-breathed, almost vocal lyricism of the slow movement; and the witty timpani-and-piano duet that closes the finale, where Beethoven slows the music to a near halt before the final triumphant outburst, a moment of pure compositional cheek.