{"id":3587,"date":"2011-08-15T19:46:51","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T19:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=3587"},"modified":"2011-08-31T21:30:37","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T21:30:37","slug":"can-you-do-the-beethoven-g-major-concerto-blind-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/video-picks\/can-you-do-the-beethoven-g-major-concerto-blind-test-3587\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Do the Beethoven G Major Concerto Blind Test?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58<\/a>, was composed in 1805-1806, although no autograph copy survives.
\n\"\"<\/a>The first movement opens with the solo piano, playing simple chords in the tonic key before coming to rest on a dominant chord. After a poetic pause of two and a half beats, the orchestra then enters in B major, the major mediant key, thus creating a tertiary chord change. This becomes a motif of the opening movement.<\/p>\n

It was premiered in March 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. The Coriolan Overture and the Fourth Symphony were premiered in that same concert. However, the public premiere was not until 22 December 1808 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien. Beethoven again took the stage as soloist. This was part of a marathon concert which saw Beethoven’s last appearance as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the premieres of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. Beethoven dedicated the concerto to his friend, student, and patron, the Archduke Rudolph.<\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a>

Tip: Listen to the video without looking and see if you can recognize who is who of the pianists! In random order they are: Backhaus, Gould, Aimard, Gilels, Fleisher, Pletnev, Arrau, Haskil, Schnabel and Gieseking<\/p><\/div>\n

A review in the May 1809 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung states that “(the concerto) is the most admirable, singular, artistic and complex Beethoven concerto ever” (Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, May 1809). However, after its first performance, the piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn.<\/p>\n

Today, the work is widely performed and recorded, and is considered to be one of the central works of the piano concerto literature.<\/p>\n

Print the test sheet<\/a> and listen to ten famous pianists playing the beginning:<\/p>\n