Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, "Emperor"
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

THE STORY

     In 1809, Ludwig van Beethoven was at work on a new piano concerto for his friend, patron, and student Archduke Rudolph. With the imminent approach of Napoleon’s army—and with his apartment right in the line of fire—Beethoven took refuge in his brother’s cellar. It was there, intermittently covering his already-damaged ears with pillows to protect them from the sounds of gunfire and explosions, that he completed the Piano Concerto No. 5.
     Even after the siege ended, life in Vienna was far from normal. “The whole course of events has affected my body and soul,” Beethoven wrote. “What a disturbing, wild life around me; nothing but drums, cannons, men, misery of all sorts.” For that reason, it took two full years before the concerto could finally be premiered. By that time, Beethoven’s hearing had declined too much to be able to perform the piano part; the soloist for the first public performance was Friedrich Schneider.
     Perhaps because he could not perform the part himself, Beethoven took control in another way—by writing out each solo cadenza and, in the score, forbidding the pianist to perform any cadenza other than what was written. (At the time, it was still common for soloists to improvise their own cadenzas.) Also surprisingly, the concerto launches immediately into a cadenza-like passage at the opening, whereas it typically would come closer to the end of the movement. “It is without doubt one of the most original, imaginative, and effective, but also one of the most difficult, of all existing concertos,” praised a review of the premiere. 
     Allegedly, there was also an enthusiastic reviewer at the Vienna premiere the following year in 1812—a French soldier is said to have exclaimed that the work was “an emperor among concertos.” This is one theory about the mysterious origins of the nickname “Emperor” (which was not given by Beethoven), but it is not substantiated. 
     In any case, the “Emperor” concerto is imperial in size and scope. Written squarely in Beethoven’s middle period—known for works composed on a large scale—its grandeur is reinforced with stately dotted rhythms (particularly in the third movement) and its key of E-flat, which Beethoven associated with nobility and heroism. 
    Beethoven is said to have once confronted a French soldier, remarking, “If I were a general and knew as much about strategy as I do about counterpoint, I’d give you fellows something to think about.” The boldness of his “Emperor” concerto seems to prove the point. 

LISTEN FOR

• An ascending chromatic scale with a trill at the top (two notes quickly alternating back-and-forth) to signal the beginning of new sections in the first movement

• The hushed strings at the opening of the second movement and the dream-like entry of the soloist

• The emphasis on the weak beat in the finale’s theme, giving it a hobbling feeling

INSTRUMENTATION

Solo piano; two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings