Konzertstück in F minor Op.79

Larghetto affettuoso – Allegro passionato – Tempo di marcia – Presto giojoso

Widely admired during much of the 19th century, Weber’s Konzertstück (Concert Piece) is rarely performed today. It is no less entertaining now, however, than it was in 1821, when it was written, or in 1857, when Charles Hallé played it at the first of his “grand orchestral concerts” in Manchester, or in 1868, when Franz Liszt wrote a piano-solo arrangement of it – or, indeed, in 1928 when Stravinsky took it as a model for his Capriccio for piano and orchestra. Weber himself wasn’t at all sure about it and was particularly dubious about its minor key. He had already written two piano concertos, both in major keys, but he was afraid, as he said, that “concertos in the minor without definite, evocative ideas seldom work with the public.” So he devised a romantic scenario for it and alotted a distinct episode in the story to each of four movements, which were to be played without a break between them. Having departed so far from classical precedent – Weber was a great admirer of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto – he modestly published it as a Concert Piece rather than a Concerto in F minor.

While it has most of the outward appearances of a concerto, including a brilliantly decorative style of piano writing that was to have a significant influence on the young Chopin, it clearly has more to it. The opening Larghetto affettuoso, initiated by mournful woodwind and developed ever more resourcefully by the elaborately eloquent soloist, is no ordinary introduction. In fact – according to Weber’s British pupil Julius Benedict, who heard it from the composer himself – it represents the lament of a lady whose knight has been away so long on a Crusade that she fears she will never see him again. As the tempo accelerates to Allegro passionato, she gives vent to her despair, calming her anguish only briefly in the middle section of the movement and swooning away at the end. “But hark!” says Benedict, “What is that distant sound?” In fact, it’s a bassoon introducing a cheerful march (Tempo di marcia) scored mainly for woodwind and restricting the piano to just one oddly isolated but magnificent glissando. In another piano accelerando (revealing perhaps the source of Weber’s inspiration in Beethoven’s “Les Adieux”) she catches sight of her knight among the soldiers and rushes into his arms. The closing Presto giojoso is an uninhibitedly tuneful celebration in F major, featuring an early cadenza, only two purely orchestral episodes, the first of which is followed by another mighty piano glissando, much glittering solo bravura, and a rousing coda.

Larghetto affettuoso – Allegro passionato – Tempo di marcia – Presto giojoso

Widely admired through most of the 19th century, Weber’s Konzertstück is rarely performed today. It is no less entertaining now, however, than it was in 1821, when it was writen, or in 1858, when Charles Hallé played it in his first concert with his own orchestra in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, or in 1868, when Liszt made a solo-piano arrangement of it – or, indeed, in 1928, when Stravinsky adopted it as a model for his Capriccio for piano and orchestra. One of the small minority of musicians who had doubts about it was Weber himself, who was worried about the minor key he had in mind for it. Having already written two successful piano concertos in major keys, he feared that, as he said, “concertos in the minor without definite, evocative ideas seldom work wiith the public.”

Weber’s soloution was to devise a scenario – not unlike that of Beethoven’s Les Adieux Sonata – of “parting, lament, deepest misery, consolation, reunion, jubiliation” and to allot a distinct section of the score to a different episode in the story. The finished work, poetic rather than abstract in inspiration and consisting of four movements to be played without a break, departs so far from classical convention – Weber was a great admirer of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto – that he wisely published it as a Konzertstück or “Concert Piece” rather than a Concerto in F minor. It proved to be not only a significant influence on the young Chopin in the effusive brilliance of its piano writing but also a formal precedent for Liszt’s piano concertos.

It is quite clear from the mournful F minor melody presented on woodwind in the opening bars of the Larghetto affettuoso and developed in elaborately eloquent detail by the piano that this is no ordinary slow introduction. According to Weber’s English pupil Julius Benedict, who heard it from the composer himself, it represents the lament of a lady whose knight has been away so long on a Crusade that she fears she will never seem him again. As the tempo accelerates, she thinks of him lying dead on the battlefield and gives vent to her despair in a dramatic F minor Allegro passionato, calming her agitation only in a comparatively lyrical A flat major middle section.

“But hark!” says Benedict, “what is that distant sound?” In fact, it’s a bassoon alerting the ear to an approaching march. This short and cheerful Tempo di marcia in C major is scored mainly for wind and restricts the piano to just one, curiously isolated but sensationally effective double glissando. In another accelerando the lady sees her knight among the marching soldiers and throws herself into his arms. Their reunion is celebrated in an unhibitedly tuneful, irresistibly dynamic Presto giojoso in F major including an early cadenza and another mighty glissando from a hyperactive soloist who has only two brief rests before the rousingly joyful closing bars.

Gerald Larner © 2008