Beethoven Emperor concerto: first chord

[Pulcinella]

Another Beethoven 5 with a possible interpretational issue, though this time not a repeat.


In the May 2020 edition of Gramophone, as part of the article about Stephen Hough's new cycle of Beethoven piano concertos, I was interested to read this.

.....this recording might be the first one on which a modern piano plays the first chord of the concerto. The score had never been published like this before Jonathan Del Mar's Bärenreiter edition of 2015. 'In the manuscript it is written as a figured bass,' Hough explains. 'The first chord in the score is E flat with a figure 5 above it, which just means that you play a root chord in E flat. The '5' — the fifth, the B flat — is missing in the whole of the rest of the orchestra. Only the pianist has it. And no pianists play it. So if you don't play it, you are missing a note that Beethoven expected to be heard. And also, psychologically you need it. Having played it like that, I now cannot imagine not doing it. Beethoven didn't need to put the chord in because no pianist of his time would have dreamt of not playing it.'

Seems a compelling argument to me.
(Sorry if this is old news to all those on the forum who are more Beethoven aware than I am!)

[pastoralguy]

I've ordered this cycle from Hyperion so I'll report any obvious changes once I've heard it. (Incidentally, I believe Mr. Hough is donating his royalties from this recording to COVID related charities). I was very tempted to purchase the Uchida/Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker cycle which is around £28 but one cycle of these marvellous works seems enough in a quarter.

[jayne lee wilson]

Have a listen......

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68291/3

[visualnickmos]

Have a listen......

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/d...c=D_CDA68291/3

Certainly sounds 'right' - Mr Hough has a strong argument, which I'm inclined to go with. It certainly has that Beethovenian 'grand entrance' sound about it.

[Oakapple]

You can see the first page of the manuscript here:

https://imslp.org/images/9/96/TN-PMLP3875-Beethoven_Piano_Concerto_No_5_Manuscript_compressed-5457.png

[Dave2002]

You can see the first page of the manuscript here:

https://imslp.org/images/9/96/TN-PML...essed-5457.png

Must be my eyesight. I can't see the figure 5 mentioned - but maybe I'm not looking in the right place. Is that the only manuscript?

[visualnickmos]

Must be my eyesight. I can't see the figure 5 mentioned - but maybe I'm not looking in the right place. Is that the only manuscript?

I can't see it either. Plot thickens....

[Oakapple]

It is there, on the fifth stave from the bottom, first bar, a little before the bar line. It could be mistaken for a crotchet rest. On the next stave above is an E-flat with Tutti written above it.

[visualnickmos]

It is there, on the fifth stave from the bottom, first bar, a little before the bar line. It could be mistaken for a crotchet rest. On the next stave above is an E-flat with Tutti written above it.

Oh yes; I see it, but it does look like a crotchet rest. It's kind of floating there. I can't read music very well, but I'm curious to know why he wrote it there? Probably a dumb question, but that shows my level ! And - even more curiously, why don't other pianists / performances employ it ?

[pastoralguy]

I was lucky enough to receive the CDs today from Hyperion. To be perfectly honest, I can't really hear much difference on the first chord. (Although I do hear the piano). Perhaps, a little bit of extra crunchiness?!

[Lordgeous]

Listening to the start of Concerto 4 Hough starts with a spread chord which I havent heard before. Prefer a straight chord personally.

[Bryn]

Listening to the start of Concerto 4 Hough starts with a spread chord which I havent heard before. Prefer a straight chord personally.

He's just following the approach that the composer would have employed for the first performance, as have many other pianists in recent years since musicologists got their historical evidence sorted.

[Lordgeous]

How do they know that?

[Bryn]

How do they know that?

From various reports and performance advice from Beethoven's time. See, for instance, https://practisingthepiano.com/arpeg...piano-playing/ . Czerny, who also provided metronome marking for Beethoven's piano concertos, is one authority often cited.

[Again, "Such examples alert us to the special ways in which Beethoven treats arpeggiated sonorities in his works but also suggest why this practice should be carefully considered and not too indiscriminately employed. Da Costa refers to Carl Czerny’s recommendation of arpeggiating the opening chord of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in G major (p. 43), a practice that has occasionally been adopted bypianists today, including Melvin Tan, Lars Vogt, and Robert Levin. Particularly arresting is Levin’s idea of associating this initial arpeggiated chord with the remarkable second movement of the concerto, whose stark contrasts and unfolding narrative seemto absorb the symbolism of Orpheus and the Furies. Concerning the slow movement, Levin observes in the notes to his excellent recording that “In keeping with the personification of Orpheus and his lyre, I have introduced a substantial amount of arpeggiation into the chordal accompaniment."

From page 4 of https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cg...84&context=ppr ]

[Lordgeous]

Thanks Bryn, most interesting.