Piano Concerto No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 55 by German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 Ferdinand Ries

Ferdinand Ries

Ferdinand Ries was a German composer.- Life :Born into a musical family of Bonn, Ries was a friend and pupil of Beethoven who published in 1838 a collection of reminiscences of his teacher, co-written with Franz Wegeler...

 was written around 1813. It was composed in the proto-Romantic

Romantic music

Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....

 style, similar to the concertos of Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...

, and anticipates stylistic developments of future Romantic composers.

Composition date

The manuscript bears the notation "St. Petersburg 1812", suggesting it was begun there (but the work may not have been finished there). In any case, it was probably (according to Allan Badley) begun in 1812 and finished later, and most likely the fifth of Ries's nine piano concertos to be written (concerto no. 3 refers to publication date, not composition date, and likewise for all of Ries's concertos); it was perhaps published sometime around 1819.

Movements

This work follows the traditional three-movement structure:

1. Allegro maestoso
2. Larghetto – (attacca)
3. Rondo: Allegretto

The first movement bears a strong resemblance to the music of Ries's teacher Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

, and sections of it were directly quoted or paraphrased from Beethoven's 3rd

Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800 and was first performed on 5 April 1803, with the composer as soloist. During that same performance, the Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also debuted. The composition...

 and 4th piano concertos

Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, was composed in 1805–1806, although no autograph copy survives.-Musical forces and movements:...

. The second movement, in A major

A major

A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...

 anticipates the stylistic idiom of the music of Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

, while the third movement again shows traces of Beethoven's influence.