Piano Concerto No. 1 (Scharwenka)

The piano quickly enters, cutting short the orchestral overture without a complete statement of the two themes as would be expected in a conventional concerto first movement.

In fact, more than a conflict between two contrasting themes as is typical of pieces in sonata form up to the 19th century, the concerto is a development on multiple thematic ideas, with lyrical and introverted moments interspersed with virtuosic bravura reminiscent of the compositional style of Franz Liszt, the piece's dedicatee, known for his outstanding pianistic skill.

A Maestoso cadenza once again reintroduces the work's opening theme, before the concerto concludes with a highly virtuosic and dramatic coda, ending in the original key of B-flat minor.

The work is scored for solo piano and orchestra, with 2 flutes doubling as piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B♭), 2 bassoons, 2 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in F), 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.

[…] The joyful bliss of young motherhood cannot be greater nor more sublime than that which comes from the secret darkness of one's own soul, is pressed to the light and now becomes audibly evident.

In the summer of the same year, Scharwenka visited Franz Liszt in Weimar, and played the concerto for him; the latter received it warmly and accepted the dedication, calling the piece "excellent" and even recommending it for performance at the German Musical Society in Hanover.

Hans von Bülow wrote: "The excellent work, which was uniformly charming, often interesting and original, flowed naturally and possessed of skilful form, almost unintentionally so.

In Scharwenka's 1892 American tour, he used a Knabe piano (by then the partnership with the Behr Brothers was mutually broke off), before switching to Steinway.

But over the first half of the 20th century, the work fell largely into oblivion, and went missing for many decades, until Earl Wild revived the concerto in 1968 by making the first recording of it, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Notably, Marc-André Hamelin has brought public attention to the piece with his 2005 recording of the work as part of the Hyperion "The Romantic Piano Concerto" series.