Beethoven composed his piano concerto #5 at about 1799 to 1800.
The opening movement has an aggressive cast, its C minor outbursts prefiguring in some sense the more thunderous C minor emotions of the Fifth Symphony, which lay several years in the future. Like that symphony, the main theme of the concerto’s first movement is short, blunt, and to-the-point.
What the strings play is answered by a mirroring woodwind phrase, proceeding into a passionate continuation for the whole orchestra. A second principal theme appears several pages into the piece, a gracious melody in the contrasting major mode, introduced by violins with the added intensity of gentle clarinets.The piano makes its entrance with an ornamental, three-measure lead of scales before articulating the stark main theme on its own.
The second movement begins with the piano alone, singing with quiet nobility. Beethoven supports the hushed mood of this movement with imaginative touches of orchestration, including a magical dialogue among the piano (playing sweeping, murmuring arpeggios), flute, and bassoon, against a delicate accompaniment of plucked strings.
The final movement opens with a piano solo, and Beethoven is sending us back to the concerto’s overriding tonic key of C minor. This movement is all fun, unrolling as a rondo, with contrasting interludes of sunny temperament.
The proceedings come to a climax when, following the soloist’s brief cadenza, a coda in triumphant C major shifts into giddy 6/8 meter and the rondo theme is broken apart and reconditioned into a tune that brings everything to a high-spirited conclusion.
Here is the music, conducted by Sir Roger Norrington:
