It is not uncommon for composers to have works published out of order, recatalogued, or falsely attributed. Ludwig van Beethoven is no different. The C Major concerto was not Beethoven’s first piano concerto written, but the first he published. It is more grandiose, virtuosic, and impressive than his true first concerto (B-flat, Op. 19) and the budding composer wanted this to be his first impression amongst Viennese nobility. In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna from Bonn in pursuit of a more fruitful musical career. Hoping to impress the masses not only with his playing abilities but his compositional prowess, this concerto is particularly rooted in virtuosic passages. 

Vienna has always been a hotbed of musical activity, but this is especially true of the late eighteenth century. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in 1791, only a year before Beethoven’s arrival in the city. At the time of his death, Mozart had written twenty-seven piano concerti, and Beethoven would have studied many (if not all) of them. Beethoven began studying with Franz Joseph Haydn in November that year, formally learning counterpoint from another great master. Just two years later, in 1794, Nannette Streicher moved to Vienna, taking over her father’s workshop and becoming one of the most important piano-makers in Europe. All of these dominoes fall in perfect succession; Beethoven’s “first” piano concerto was then premiered in Vienna, 1795. 

Many of the hallmarks of Beethoven’s compositional style might be considered, at least in part, the result of the monumental evolution the piano had seen at this time. His striking sforzados, powerful orchestrations, and control of sound were a product of composing at an instrument that provided both added power and finesse. In 1720, Bartolomeo Cristofori created the initial hammer action within the keyboard, pushing the Baroque harpsichord closer to a modern piano. This allowed a player significantly more dynamic control. The resulting fortepiano had been the instrument Mozart and Haydn composed on and for, but as technology progressed so did the instrument. By 1780, fortepiano hammers evolved further, pushing the instrument another step closer to the concert grand we now know. Beethoven’s compositions were at the cusp of the truly evolved piano, and his writing wholeheartedly embraces the growing capabilities of the instrument. 

Nannette Streicher (neé Stein) is often described as “the wife of a great piano maker,” which is, technically, not untrue. The real truth, however, is that her father had been a revered German piano-maker and Nannette grew up in his shop, not only playing his pianos but watching him build the instruments and eventually assisting his work. Johann Andreas Stein’s most important contribution to piano-making was the Prellmechanik action, which he perfected in 1780. His second most important contribution to piano-making was allowing his daughter to study his craft. When her father died in 1792, Nannette and her brother took over their father’s shop and continued to make and sell instruments. Nannette married Johann Andreas Streicher, another piano-maker, and moved to Vienna in 1794. With the support of her husband, Nannette continued to build pianos under her own name through 1825. She eventually had a child and passed down the family business to their son. Throughout this time, Nannette not only built a piano-making dynasty, but hosted many concerts in her showroom. Through these concerts, she became close friends with Ludwig van Beethoven. 

After settling in Vienna, Beethoven needed louder pianos with richer, darker tones. Due to his worsening deafness, the thinner sound of a fortepiano was growing difficult for Beethoven to hear. Frustrated, he demanded a stronger sounding piano from Nannette. She accepted his challenge. Nannette worked to retune and recalibrate her keyboards specifically to accommodate Beethoven’s needs; ultimately she would expand the range of the keyboard. Nannette added another octave and created larger, more resonant instruments. In a letter, the seldom-pleased composer wrote to Nannette, “Perhaps you do not know, though I have not always had one of your pianos, that since 1809 I have invariably preferred yours.” 

While his last concerto, Emperor, would completely do away with concerto conventions, Beethoven’s first piano concerto wholly embraces the blueprints drawn by Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven takes his orchestral introduction and filters it through every pianistic variation he can muster, from simple counterpoint to huge, booming chords which hammer out his melody. In Piano Concerto No. 1 we get a glimmer of what would bloom over the next three decades. His stunning command of the piano was certainly evident upon his first performance; the impactful dissonances shine rather than clash, articulate scales traverse the entire keyboard and effortlessly flow into expressive, heartfelt phrases. Just as quickly, tumult arises and biting left hand passages jump from the bass end of the keyboard. 

Although he generally refrained from editing his works after publication, Beethoven had written new cadenzas to Piano Concerto No. 1 sometime after 1804. The new material wasn’t dated, but the range is expansive enough that he had to have been rewriting this cadenza at one of Nannette’s larger keyboards. This is not the only change to Piano Concerto No. 1 due to the piano’s evolution; the descending scale in the first movement would have likely been performed as a glissando in Beethoven’s time. Before Nannette’s instruments became widely used, keyboardists would still have had pianofortes with lighter action and shallow keys. On these instruments, the gliss would have been played easily. The concert grand pianos of today are sturdy enough that this is often daunting for the most esteemed soloists and is now performed as a standard scale, rather than glissando. While less delicate than the pianoforte’s keys, the keys on contemporary pianos certainly provide much more power behind accents. This proves fruitful for Beethoven’s downright dancy theme in the Rondo which seems to preempt a Brazilian tune, Tico Tico, not written until 1917. 

Beethoven’s early piano concerti exist in the perfect musical crosshairs. In Vienna, Beethoven learned from Mozart’s scores and Haydn’s mentorship. He worked at both old and new instruments, and was excited to showcase not only his incredible virtuosity but the ability of the keyboard itself. Beethoven demanded more of music, and by traveling to Vienna his legacy (and the trajectory of music) was set in motion.