The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, op. 73 by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the "Emperor Concerto", was his last piano concerto. It was written between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna, and was dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven's patron and pupil. The first performance took place in December 1810 in Leipzig. Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning work, is usually used in the sense of a work of art. In this sense the plural of opus, opera, is used to refer to the genre of music drama. ... “Beethoven” redirects here. ... A piano concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra. ... Year 1809 (MDCCCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... For the US Federal Agent designation, see Special agent. ... For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... Erzherzog Rudolph of Austria, Fürsterzbischof von Olmütz. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ...

This concerto is very well known, and quite popular. In October 2007 it was voted number One in the Australian Broadcasting Company's Classic FM Classic 100 Concertos.

Like the "Moonlight Sonata", the title of "Emperor" for this concerto was not Beethoven's own. Its duration is approximately forty minutes. “Piano Sonata No. ...

Instrumentation

The concerto is scored for solo piano, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets (one in B-flat, the other in A), two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani in E-flat and B-flat, and strings. A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... â™  This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... The string section of an orchestra is the section containing bowed string instruments. ...

Movements

The "Emperor" is divided into a standard three movements: In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

As with Beethoven's other final concerti, this work has a relatively long first movement. (At twenty-five minutes, the Violin Concerto has the longest; Piano Concerto Nos. 4 and 5 each have opening movements about twenty minutes long.) For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... a rondo is played between episode which are played by non solo people Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that... Ludwig van Beethovens Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major was written in 1806. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Concerto No. ...

I. Allegro

The main theme of the first movement.

The piece begins with three full orchestra chords, each followed by a short cadenza, improvisatory in nature but written out in the score. These short cadenzas recur intermittently throughout the piece. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ... In music, a cadenza (Italian for cadence) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a free rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display. ... Musical improvisation is the spontaneous creative process of making music while it is being performed. ...

As music's Classical era gave way to its Romantic era, composers began experimenting with the manner in which one or more solo instruments introduced music. Beethoven had already explored such possibilities in his Piano Concerto No. 4, but the monumental piano introduction in Piano Concerto No. 5 – it lasts for nearly two minutes – foreshadowed future concerti such as Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto or Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in B-flat minor. The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1750 to 1820, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from 1820 to 1900, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778-1862), 1839 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) is a German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Felix Mendelssohns Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. ... “Tchaikovsky” redirects here. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. ...

The first movement is deceptively complex. Despite its use of simple chords, including a second theme constructed almost entirely out of tonic and dominant notes and chords, it is full of complex thematic transformations. The complexity is intensified once the piano enters with the first theme, as the expository material is repeated with far more complex variations, virtuoso figurations, and complex modified chords. The second theme enters in B major. The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the scale. ... Look up exposition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ... Also see: B minor, or B flat major. ...

Aside from the opening cadenzas, the movement follows Beethoven's trademark three-theme sonata structure for a concerto. The orchestral exposition is a typical two-theme sonata exposition, but the "second exposition" with the piano has a triumphant virtuoso third theme at the end that belongs solely to the solo instrument. Beethoven does this in many of his concertos. The coda at the end of the movement is quite long, and, again typical of Beethoven, uses the open-ended first theme and gives it closure to create a satisfying conclusion. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

The heroic nature of the movement is perhaps exemplified in a passage in the development section, where it seems the piano and the orchestra are going to war — and the piano wins.

II. Adagio un poco mosso

The second movement in B major is, in standard contrast to the first, calm and reflective. It moves into the third movement without interruption when a lone bassoon note B drops a semitone to B-flat, the dominant note to the tonic key E-flat. The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... A semitone (also known in the USA as a half step) is a musical interval. ... In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the scale. ...

III. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

The main theme of the third movement.

The final movement of the concerto is in seven-part rondo form (ABACABA), a typical concerto finale form. The piano begins the movement by playing its main theme, then followed by the full orchestra. The rondo's B section begins with piano scales, before the orchestra again responds. The C section is much longer, presenting the theme from the A section in three different keys before the piano performs a cadenza. Rather than finishing with a strong entrance from the orchestra, however, the trill ending the cadenza dies away until the introductory theme reappears, played first by the piano and then the orchestra. In the last section, the theme undergoes variation before the concerto ends with a short cadenza and robust orchestral response. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... a rondo is played between episode which are played by non solo people Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that... A finale is a closing part, act or movement of a dramatic or musical composition, or more generally any event or procedure with a dramatically concluding effect. ... In music, a scale is a group of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. ... The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare mordent and tremolo). ...

External links

• Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto Analysis and description of Beethoven's Fifth "Emperor" Piano Concerto
• BBC Discovering Music (browse for .ram file containing analysis of this work)
• Piano Concerto No. 5 was available at the International Music Score Library Project.