Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 03/16/1990, uploaded on 04/16/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Piano Concerto in D minor, op. 15              Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor stands as one of the foremost concertos for piano. Yet, the work was one that brought Brahms much trouble. The concerto started life in 1854 as a Sonata for two pianos. Malcolm McDonald described the work as a "Herculean compositional labour" for Brahms. Indeed, even from the start the proportions of the works were set on a grand, dramatic scale hardly seen since the time of Beethoven. Before long, however, Brahms grew unhappy with the work and sought a larger, more powerful medium-the orchestra. This may have also been in part to Brahms' desire to fulfill Robert Schumann's hopes that Brahms would take from him the mantle of leading German symphonist. If this wasn't Brahms' first attempt at writing for the orchestra, it was most definitely a very early attempt. He sought much advice on orchestration from his friends Julius Otto Grimm and Joseph Joachim. However, Brahms was much dissatisfied with the work, feeling too inexperienced at orchestral writing. It seems that Brahms only prepared an orchestral version of the first movement, the second and third being written out for two pianos, and the Finale was never finished.

Part of the problem with Brahms' symphonic concept was the deeply personal nature of the work. It wasn't until 1856 that he struck upon the answer: combining the resources of the piano and orchestra to create a concerto of symphonic proportions not seen since the concertos of Beethoven. To create the concerto, Brahms kept only the first movement of the symphony. He discarded the slow movement and incomplete Finale. The theme of the Scherzo would ultimately end up forming the funeral march second movement of the Deutches Requiem. The concerto was for all intents and purposes completed by March 1858, yet Brahms continued to fine tune it right up until the first public performance in January 1859. The work met with puzzled public reception, yet it would ultimately receive high praise during Brahms' lifetime.

The work is on an immense scale comparable to that of Beethoven's "Emporer" Concerto.  The first movement alone is one of the largest single symphonic movements Brahms ever composed. In this first movement, Brahms resurrects the tradition of Mozart and Haydn with a full orchestral exposition before the entrance of the soloist. The second movement is one of Brahms' most introspective slow movements. The finale is an energetic rondo beginning in D minor but ultimately giving way to an optimistic D major ending.      Joseph DuBose

Recorded in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.