Piano Concerto No. 1 (Chopin)

1" at the time of publication, even though it was actually written immediately after the premiere of what was later published as Piano Concerto No.

The concerto is scored for solo piano, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, bass trombone, timpani and strings.

The piano concerto is dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner, a pianist and composer whose playing Chopin admired.

Seven weeks later, in Paris, following the political outbreaks in Poland, Chopin played his concerto for the first time in France at the Salle Pleyel.

François-Joseph Fétis wrote in La Revue musicale the next day that "There is spirit in these melodies, there is fantasy in these passages, and everywhere there is originality".

It has been suggested that the orchestral writing is reminiscent of Hummel's concertos in giving support to the piano rather than providing drama.

This tonal relation (i-III) between the second and the third theme finally occurs in the recapitulation, where an actual i-I modulation would have been expected, producing a different effect.

Chopin wrote in the same letter to Tytus, saying "It is not meant to create a powerful effect; it is rather a Romance, calm and melancholy, giving the impression of someone looking gently towards a spot that calls to mind a thousand happy memories.

Written with much procrastination, hesitation, and difficulty, the third movement features Krakowiak rhythms, a syncopated, duple-time popular dance in contemporary Kraków.

The 1976 film The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane featured the concerto, performed by pianist Claudio Arrau and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.