Piano Concerto (Burgmüller)

Norbert Burgmüller, Lithography by Jakob Becker

The Piano Concerto Op. 1 in F-sharp minor is a concerto for piano and orchestra written by Norbert Burgmüller in 1828–1829. It premiered on 14 January 1830 and was performed by Burgmüller at the piano.

Because of the early accidental death of Burgmüller at the age of 26 – he drowned in a spa in Aachen most likely due to an epileptic seizure – it is his only piano concerto.[1][2]

Background

The premiere was on 14 January 1830 in Kassel with Burgmüller at the piano. In 1833 Burgmüller became friends with Felix Mendelssohn, who performed the solo part in Düsseldorf on 3 May 1834.[3][4]

Composition

The orchestra includes 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, kettledrums and strings. It is written in three-movement concerto form:[5]

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Larghetto con moto
3. Allegro moderato

Recordings

• 1998 – Leonard Hokanson on piano, conductor Gernot Schmalfuss – Concerto For Piano And Orchestra Op. 1 F Sharp Minor / Overture For Orchestra Op. 5 / Symphony No.2 Op. 11 D Major
• 2000 – Nikolaus Lahusen on piano, conductor Heribert Beissel – Norbert Burgmüller: Klavierkonzert (op. 1) / Robert Schumann: Konzertstücke für Klavier und Orchester (op. 92 + 134).
• 2012 – Tobias Koch on piano, conductor Frieder Bernius – Norbert Burgmüller: Klavierkonzert op. 1 / Entr'actes op. 17 / Ouverture op. 5

Sources

1. Zehnder-Tischendorf, Klaus. "Lebenslauf von Norbert Burgmüller" [Norbert Burgmüller's résumé] (in German). Klassika. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
2. Beaujean, Oswald. "Schwarze Frühromantik". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 17 October 2013.
3. Klaus Martin Kopitz, Der Düsseldorfer Komponist Norbert Burgmüller. Ein Leben zwischen Beethoven – Spohr – Mendelssohn, Köln 1998, p. 160, 202–204
4. Fifield, Christopher (2016). The German Symphony Between Beethoven and Brahms: The Fall and Rise of a Genre. UK: Taylor & Francis. p. 44.
5. "Piano Concerto, Op.1 (Burgmüller, Norbert)". International Music Score Library Project. Project Petrucci LLC (private company). 30 April 2005. Retrieved 16 May 2021.