# Beethoven: Piano Concerto #3



## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

So I really like this concerto and think it deservers similar admiration as 4 and 5 (though the 4th is my personal favorite). Too me, these works seem to make up Beethoven in his most common moods- the 3rd being dark, the 4th being soulful and the 5th being heroic. 

Anyways, what I was really wondering was if anyone else associates this piece with the 'heiligenstadt testament'? I've never read anywhere that this piece was supposed to allude to it, but I know that the work was written a year or two before the letter was written... so I suppose Beethoven could have had the same feelings and fears he did then, it just took him a little longer to write it down in words? But when I hear the end of the 1st movement, I think of Beethoven admitting that he's going deaf, and when I hear the end of the 3rd movement, I think of Beethoven declaring that he'll continue to live for the sake of his art. 

Am I alone, or completely off base in thinking this?


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Perhaps there's a little bit of the HT crisis brewing. Mainly the dark tone to the work is due to Beethoven's love of Mozart's 24th PC which Beethoven used as a model for the 3rd PC.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Don't know about your question, but I echo the sentiment about this being a great concerto. In my blog I wrote this about it:


Written at the same time as the second symphony to put it into perspective. Compared to the first two piano concertos, this is a highly individual work, with the ghosts of Mozart and Haydn firmly chased away. Perhaps the first real romantic piano concerto, in the sense that at places the piano seems to compete with the orchestra . The opening Allegro is upbeat and melodious, with a lengthy cadenza that goes through a range of emotions. The Largo opens with the piano solo, recalling some of his best piano sonata slow movements. The orchestral introduction is beautifully done to preserve the pastoral mood of one of the best movements he ever composed. The closing Rondo immediately introduces a wonderful happy melody on the piano, which Beethoven encounters with a relatively heavy orchestration, save for a graceful chance for the clarinet to shine. After a witty almost silent interlude, the movement's ending wraps it up confidently. One of my favourite Beethoven compositions, and one of my favourite piano concertos regardless of composer.


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