Piano Concerto No. 3 (Ries)

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 55, by German composer Ferdinand Ries was written around 1813. It was composed in the proto-Romantic style, similar to the concertos of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and anticipates stylistic developments of future Romantic composers.

History The manuscript bears the notation "St. Petersburg 1812", suggesting it was begun there . In any case, it was probably begun in 1812 and finished later, and most likely the fifth of Ries's eight piano concertos to be written., by Falterische Musikhandlung

The concerto was not published until 1815, when it was published by N. Simrock in Bonn with a dedication to Muzio Clementi.

Connection to Franz Liszt This piece, according to the diary of Adam Liszt, father of Franz Liszt, was the piano piece being played by Adam which "completely absorbed" Franz in his "sixth year"; following this he incessantly begged to be taught the piano.Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt, The Virtuoso Years,1811-1847, Cornell University Press, 1983, pp.58-9.

Movements This work follows the traditional three-movement structure:

The first movement bears a strong resemblance to the music of period composers such as J. N. Hummel, John Field, or Friedrich Kalkbrenner. The second theme is in A major (the dominant major enharmonic to G) rather than the expected E major. The second movement, in A major, anticipates the stylistic idiom of the music of Frédéric Chopin. The third movement, a fast , begins deceptively in C major, but actually its home key is in C minor, in which key the movement (and the work) ends.

Recordings

Notable recordings of this composition include:

PianistConductorOrchestraRecord CompanyYear of RecordingFormatFelicja BlumentalTheodore GuschlbauerSalzburg Chamber OrchestraBrana Records1968CDMaria LittauerAlois SpringerHamburg Symphony OrchestraVox1972CDChristopher HinterhuberUwe GroddGävle Symphony OrchestraNaxos2006CD

References Notes

Sources

External links