Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 16
     I. Allegro molto moderato
     II. Adagio
     III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato 

Composed 1868; Duration: 30 minutes

First BPO Performance: November 30, 1943 (Percy Grainger, piano & conductor)

Last BPO Performance: November 5-6, 2021 (Joyce Yang, piano; JoAnn Falletta, conductor) 

The German-speaking world had long been the epicenter of the classical music tradition, and Leipzig was the destination for the eager pianist and composer Edvard Grieg, who traveled from his native Norway to study formally at the conservatory. It was in his first year, 1858, that the 14-year-old heard Clara Schumann perform her late husband Robert Schumann’s only Piano Concerto. Schumann’s music would have a lasting impact on Grieg, who ten years later would compose his only piano concerto.

Grieg’s career coincided with the rise of nationalism amongst composers throughout Europe’s peripheral nations: Poland produced Frédéric Chopin, Czechoslovakia’s musical hero was Bedřich Smetana, and Russia had its own cadre of nationalist composers. Scandinavia was home to many such composers, but Edvard Grieg’s impact was most lasting despite his self-conscious indulgence in Norwegian musical idioms. His output, however, was modest in both amount and scale, due perhaps to extensive conducting engagements and endless revising. Also, a preference for small forms like songs and sonatas dominated his work. The Norwegian government recognized his contributions with a pension until his death in 1907, whereupon some 40,000 people flocked to his hometown to celebrate their own musical hero.

While the cozy Norwegian folksiness emanates from the mature Grieg’s chamber music, it is the bravado of a young lionized Norwegian that dominates his piano concerto, perhaps his most celebrated work today. While enjoying a budding career as a formidable concert pianist, the 24-year-old Grieg was enjoying a vacation in Denmark when he composed the work. The next year, Grieg was too busy in Oslo to perform—let alone attend—the premiere of his new work, which was given in Copenhagen by his countryman, Edmund Neupert. The work was praised by many, including Franz Liszt, but he revised the work at least a half-dozen times, with the final version being the one most often performed today.

Schumann’s lifelong influence on Grieg appears in the concerto’s tonal design. Mirroring Schumann, the work begins in A minor, travels in the second movement to a major key, and ends in A major. Technically, the third movement of Grieg’s concerto begins in A minor, moves to F major, and ends in A major, which is the exact tonal scheme of Schumann’s three movements. Grieg’s work begins with a timpani roll that launches the famous introductory ascending flourish from the soloist, leading to the fanfare-like main theme. The massive conclusion of the first movement is followed by the subdued opening of the central Adagio, which contrastingly demonstrates Grieg’s intimate sensibilities with warm orchestration and a welcoming piano. The calmness of the central movement is short-lived, however, and gives way to a rhythmically vigorous dance. The final movement’s bombast is interrupted by romantic song-like melodies, but the ending is massive and heroic.