The easiest Beethoven Concerto

[christiaan]

No. 1 or 2?

[invictious]

Depends on your strengths and weaknesses in technique.

[sharon_f]

2.

[beethovenlover]

Why do you say 2?

[mikey6]

4 and 5

[prongated]

4 and 5

lol.

[imbetter]

4 and 5

you are just kidding around, right?

[mikey6]

you are just kidding around, right?

as much as I'm sick of these kinds of threads!!!!

[mcgillcomposer]

The Bb major concerto is almost sight-readable...musically it's another matter though.

The C major concerto is actually quite difficult technically...mind you the cadenza(s) are much easier than the one Beethoven wrote in later life for the Bb major concerto. I remember certain passages of the C major concerto having a 3-voice counterpoint in one hand...that can be a bit tricky. I don't recall anything similar in the Bb concerto.

In any case, if you're speaking strictly of the music's technical difficulty, I don't think that the 3rd concerto is any more difficult than the 1st...even the Emperor concerto isn't that tough from a strictly technical point of view.

[fnork]

there's some octave glissandos too in the first concerto, right?

I disagree about the 3rd not being difficult, the coda in the last movement and several spots in the first movement need lots of work - lots of recordings I've heard do the first movement too slow too. it's marked allegro con brio after all, and in that tempo, you'll certainly get stuck in the double-note passage and other places.

[liordavid]

4th is deffinetly harder. 1-3 are the most doable

[point of grace]

2 is the easiest

[pianisten1989]

what, the third not difficult?!
The 5th kind of plays itself, once you know how to play it. The third demands so extreme brillante, with all the arpegios. That said, I didn't mean the 5th is easier. BUT EVERYTHING IS HARD IN DIFFERENT WAY!
I am so sick of these threads!

[pianisten1989]

No I didn't mean you don't have to be brillante in the 5th... But if you're not good enough, you'll quit before finishing it..

[liordavid]

i was listening to the fourth and from a technical standpoint, the first movement is INSANE whereas cant say that the third movement in terms of technique was any harder then most mozart concertos. and i have seen the score of the fourth. If i was in a concerto competition at the end of the year and had to drop all of my other repetoireand choose a concerto, i would go with the third beethoven concerto not because it is easy but because I think it is doable at m level and might do well in a concerto competition

[pianisten1989]

if you're going to a competition and ask these kinds of questions: Don't go for the Beethoven.

[liordavid]

why not beethoven?

[canada100]

Each of them have their own difficulties, but No. 1 is the most straightforward, technically and musically, and is a popular starting concerto for younger students.


No. 2 is very difficult, both technically and musically. This concerto was actually the first that was written, but it was published later. This work is very much in the early Classical style, and like Mozart, requires a great deal of balance, light texture, and clarity. The first movement's cadenza is very difficult, in terms of technique and again, balance and voicing. The second movement, if done correctly, will exhaust you physically and mentally, with the extremely beautiful harmonies. The third movement is difficult technically.

The third is difficult on the technical side, as well as musical challenges in the second movement, being one the most tenderizing slow movements ever.

The fourth is difficult musically, and is lesser played in competitions. Understanding the fourth musically is very hard. Although this work is much less showier than the others, it presents one of the most profound and most beautiful slow movements ever written, with all the hauntedness and mystery that pervade it. The first movement is very singing and warm, and lovely. The third movement is lively, fun, and energetic.

The fifth is perhaps the best known of them, and presents numerous technical challenges.