# Most beautiful slow movement in a piano concerto?



## Bayreuth

The question is simple: what do you consider to be the most beautiful adagio/largo/etc. in a piano concerto??

I would consider Shostakovich's 2nd or Grieg's Concerto in A minor to be my top contenders, immediately followed by pretty much any slow movement in Beethoven's Piano Concerto production


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## Strange Magic

I will mention the slow movements of both the Khachaturian and the Hovhaness (Lousadzak), in addition to Bayreuth's own excellent choices. There is a haunting exoticism to both. And how can I leave out the slow parts of the Prokofiev 3rd?. And if we consider De Falla's _Noches en Los Jardines de España_ to be a sort of piano concerto, why then there's that. Also the slow part of the Ravel Left Hand....... Solution: love them all!


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## Pugg

Beethoven ; piano concerto no 3 springs to mind in a flash:tiphat:


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## techniquest

Shostakovich 2nd without a doubt :tiphat:


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## Dr Johnson

Ravel, concerto in G major.


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## mmsbls

There are many gorgeous slow movements in piano concertos. For me maybe Mendelssohn 1, Mozart 20, 21, Rachmaninoff 2


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## DavidA

Beethoven 5 - one of many!


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## DiesIraeCX

Beethoven's 4th piano concerto, well, at least to these ears it's beautiful! Just not the conventional type of beauty, for that, there's his 5th piano concerto.


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## chesapeake bay

Yea Shostakovich's 2nd really is just lovely on all levels though I also enjoy the ethereal beauty of Bartoks 3rd


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## Heliogabo

I"ll second Ravel's concerto in G and Beethoven's 5th.


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## SiegendesLicht

For me it is a tie between Beethoven's 3rd and Beethoven's 5th.


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## Cosmos

I was gonna say, I'm torn between Beethoven's 5th and Ravel's G major. 

As cheesy and gross as this sounds, I do think they're both heavenly. But I'm leaning a bit toward the Ravel as being more moving. If I'm in the right mood, I might actually be close to shedding a tear.


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## Pat Fairlea

Slow movements? Shostakovich 2nd for me. I always thought that was because the piece was a favourite of an old friend, now deceased, but glad to see that others love it too. 

And to mix it up a bit, how about Barber's PC slow mvmnt?


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## elgar's ghost

I played Tchaikovsky's 2nd recently and had quite forgotten how gorgeous the slow movement was. It's virtually a triple concerto arrangement as violin and cello also play prominent roles.


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## Alfacharger

The Hummel B Minor Concerto. Just 4 horns and the piano.


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## Ukko

Tchaikovsky's 2nd, uncut.


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## Avey

Oh gosh, I can only think of one...


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## KenOC

Has Grieg's A minor been mentioned? A very fine slow movement. Of course nothing beats Beethoven's 5.


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## Woodduck

Brahms, Piano Concerto #1. The profound meditation of a melancholy philosopher.


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## Haydn man

Mozart PC No.23 
This moves me in a way no other piece of music ever has


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## DeepR

Scriabin, without question.

Youtube has too many old or crappy cam versions. Here is the one recording:
https://app.box.com/s/ttc2my1aos2kdj1k3ipoaw4zn0j4gkya


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## TxllxT

interesting for comparison with:






which to my ears is too mannered, affected...


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## hpowders

So many beautiful slow movements by Mozart, but I would have to nominate the slow movement of the Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, with the beautiful cello obligato.


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## Martyn Harper

Avey said:


> Oh gosh, I can only think of one...


Thank you so much for posting this. I have never heard this piece before and 
I am very grateful that you have introduced me to it.


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## DeepR

DeepR said:


> Scriabin, without question.
> 
> Youtube has too many old or crappy cam versions. Here is the one recording:
> https://app.box.com/s/ttc2my1aos2kdj1k3ipoaw4zn0j4gkya


I always break down when the first variation returns near the end. So intimate and tender, like falling in love. 
He composed the concerto in a few days in 1896 (orchestration took longer) and performed it many times himself. Apparently, once in Moscow with Rachmaninoff as conductor!


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## damianjb1

hpowders said:


> So many beautiful slow movements by Mozart, but I would have to nominate the slow movement of the Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, with the beautiful cello obligato.


It's pretty gorgeous isn't it?


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## damianjb1

The Brahms 2nd is sublime. I also love the slow movement of Chopin's second concerto


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## znapschatz

techniquest said:


> Shostakovich 2nd without a doubt :tiphat:





chesapeake bay said:


> Yea Shostakovich's 2nd really is just lovely on all levels though I also enjoy the ethereal beauty of Bartoks 3rd


LOL! I signed up a minute ago to nominate this very second movement. Well, hello all. :tiphat:


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## silentio

Mozart 17
Mozart 20
Mozart 23
Mozart 15
Brahms 2 (why didn't he compose a cello concerto?)
Brahms 1
Chopin 2 (very operatic)
Chopin 1
Shostakovitch 2
Rachmaninoff 2
Beethoven 5


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## Pugg

damianjb1 said:


> The Brahms 2nd is sublime. I also love the slow movement of Chopin's second concerto


I am a ashamed, forgot the Brahms completely


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## Stavrogin

The usual suspects have already been mentioned. However, I do want to include the "Quasi adagio" from Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto in this number.


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## helenora

for me Grieg and Brahms second.That's it


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## kartikeys

Chopin's no. 1 comes to mind immediately.


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## Tsaraslondon

I think most of my favourites have already been mentioned

Ravel certainly
Beethoven 5
Tchaikovsky 2
Rachmaninov 2 and 3
Mozart 20 and 21
Brahms 1
Grieg


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## damianjb1

Heliogabo said:


> I"ll second Ravel's concerto in G and Beethoven's 5th.


Definitely two of my all time favourites.


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## damianjb1

kartikeys said:


> Chopin's no. 1 comes to mind immediately.


Do you prefer the slow movement of the first to the slow movement of the second? 
I remember buying a Vladimir Ashkenazy CD of the second concerto for next to nothing when I was a piano student and I was certain that there was nothing more beautiful in the entire universe than the second movement. I've moved on and grown since then but the piece will always take me back to being an easily seduced, impressionable 19 year old.


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## Stavrogin

Maybe I should write it in the "Slay your sacred cow" thread, but the slow movements in Beethoven's piano concertos do not really make it for me.
It's not that I _dislike_ them, but to my ears they're slightly... er... cheap, compared to other peaks of LvB's production (with the exception of no.4 I'd say).
Still great pieces of music don't get me wrong - but I wouldn't pick those, if I had to save a limited number of pieces from LvB's music.
Am I alone in this?


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## Tsaraslondon

Stavrogin said:


> Maybe I should write it in the "Slay your sacred cow" thread, but the slow movements in Beethoven's piano concertos do not really make it for me.
> It's not that I _dislike_ them, but to my ears they're slightly... er... cheap, compared to other peaks of LvB's production (with the exception of no.4 I'd say).
> Still great pieces of music don't get me wrong - but I wouldn't pick those, if I had to save a limited number of pieces from LvB's music.
> Am I alone in this?


Very possibly :lol:


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## hpowders

The slow movement of Brahms' First Piano Concerto ESPECIALLY in the recorded performance by Claudio Arrau with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. These folks were in no hurry and time itself seemed to stand still in this great performance. Pure poetry!


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## TxllxT

More pure poetry


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## R3PL4Y

The Brahms 2, as others of mentioned. I actually just saw Helene Grimaud perform that piece about a week ago.


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## dsphipps100

When it comes to a slow middle movement, there's the Grieg, and then there's everybody else...

And nobody else can do it like the opulent-almost-to-a-fault strings in Karajan's Berliner Philharmoniker (with Krystian Zimmerman)

View attachment 82007


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## jdec

Both Brahm's. 
............


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## DeepR

I'd like to add Mozart 27.


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## Stirling

Prokofiev Number 2


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## maestro267

The slow (3rd) movement of Emil von Sauer's E minor Piano Concerto is gorgeous! I'll also nominate Britten's Piano Concerto 3rd movement.


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## Stavrogin

maestro267 said:


> The slow (3rd) movement of Emil von Sauer's E minor Piano Concerto is gorgeous! I'll also nominate *Britten's Piano Concerto 3rd movement*.


Seconded!

______


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## chesapeake bay

I've been listening to all the works mentioned here, an entirely enjoyable endeavor, and it strikes me that there are so many different kinds of beauty represented or maybe rather different emotional states evoked by the beauty.


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## Tristan

It's a toss-up between the 2nd movement of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F or the 2nd movement of Scriabin's Piano Concerto in F# minor. Both are excellent.


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## brucknerian

Here's another vote for the slow movement of Ravel's G Major concerto.


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## Enthusiast

Mozart 21 must be a strong contender and I would also vote for the Ravel G Major and Beethoven's 3 and 5. For beauty I couldn't choose between those four. But I am already regretting not including Bartok 2 and 3 and, perhaps, the Scriabin.


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## Alydon

Has to be Beethoven's Emperor for me, though Mozart's 27 is very close, a prime case of less is more.


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## hpowders

damianjb1 said:


> It's pretty gorgeous isn't it?


Yes indeed!


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## Pugg

Alydon said:


> Has to be Beethoven's Emperor for me, though Mozart's 27 is very close, a prime case of less is more.


Good choice :tiphat:


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