The Piano Concerto by Robert Schumann began life as a Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in one movement. The Fantasy was Schumann’s first completed work for piano and orchestra; he had made four earlier attempts at writing a piano concerto, but these were all abandoned. In 1845, Schumann added a slow movement and finale to a revised version of the Fantasy to complete a three-movement concerto.
Schumann’s wife, Clara’s importance to the Concerto’s creation should not be underestimated. Not only did she encourage Robert to try his hand at writing for orchestra, but she also may have provided a model. Her own Piano Concerto, also in A minor, was written between 1832 and 1835, and Schumann had orchestrated the finale during late 1834 and early 1835.
The completion of Robert’s Concerto in mid-July 1845 was followed by a total physical collapse for its composer. He had to cancel appearances at a Beethoven festival in Bonn and spend the summer and fall resting. He did manage to pull himself together long enough to attend the work’s premiere in Dresden on December 4, 1845, where Clara was the soloist.
Here is pianist Yuja Wang to play this wonderful concerto for you:
