In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord. Thus an improvised cadenza is indicated in written notation by a fermata in all parts. A cadenza will usually occur over either the final or penultimate note in a piece, the lead-in, or the final or penultimate note in an important subsection of a piece. It can also be found before a final coda or ritornello.
A concerto is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typical three-movement structure, a slow movement preceded and followed by fast movements, became a standard from the early 18th century.
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1806. Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in 1844 by the then 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Joachim would later claim it to be the "greatest" German violin concerto. Since then it has become one of the best-known and regularly performed violin concertos.
A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advanced level of technique. Piano concertos are typically written out in music notation, including sheet music for the pianist, orchestral parts, and a full score for the conductor.
The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785. The first performance took place at the Mehlgrube Casino in Vienna on 11 February 1785, with the composer as the soloist.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, was completed in October 1791 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler. It consists of three movements, in a fast–slow–fast succession.
Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, also known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jr., was the youngest child of six born to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze and the younger of his parents' two surviving children. He was a composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher of the late classical period whose musical style was of an early Romanticism, heavily influenced by his father's mature style. He knew Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, both of whom held him in high esteem.
The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on 9 March 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto, K. 466.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain the form in which it was published until 1795. Beethoven did write a second finale for it in 1798 for performance in Prague, but that is not the finale that was published. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in December 1801 as Op. 19, later than the publication in March that year of his later composition the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major as Op. 15, and thus became designated as his second piano concerto.
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, was written in 1795, then revised in 1800. It was possibly first performed by Beethoven at his first public concert in Vienna on 29 March 1795. It was first published in 1801 in Vienna with dedication to his pupil Princess Anna Louise Barbara Odescalchi, known to her friends as "Babette".
The Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, is a concerto composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for keyboard and orchestra. Mozart composed the concerto in the winter of 1785–1786, finishing it on 24 March 1786, three weeks after completing his Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. As he intended to perform the work himself, Mozart did not write out the soloist's part in full. The premiere was in early April 1786 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Chronologically, the work is the twentieth of Mozart's 23 original piano concertos.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E♭ major, K. 271, known as the Jeunehomme or Jenamy concerto was written in Salzburg in 1777 when the composer was 21 years old.
The Piano Concerto No. 22 in E♭ major, K. 482, is a work for piano, or fortepiano, and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed in December 1785.
The Piano Concerto No. 18 in B♭ major, K 456 is a piano concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In Mozart's own catalogue of his works, this concerto is dated 30 September 1784.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's concertos for piano and orchestra are numbered from 1 to 27. The first four numbered concertos and three unnumbered concertos are early works that are arrangements of keyboard sonatas by various contemporary composers. Concertos 7 and 10 are compositions for three and two pianos respectively. The remaining twenty-one are original compositions for solo piano and orchestra. These works, many of which Mozart composed for himself to play in the Vienna concert series of 1784–86, held special importance for him.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 447, was completed between 1784 and 1787, during the Vienna Period.
The Piano Concerto No. 14 in E♭ major, K. 449, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written in 1784.
The Piano Concerto No. 15 in B♭ major, KV. 450 is a concertante work for piano and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The concerto is scored for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings. A brief section of the third movement is played by Mozart in a deleted scene from the movie Amadeus.
It is not known when Mozart completed his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365/316a, but research by Alan Tyson shows that cadenzas for the first and third movements are written in his and his father's handwriting on a type of paper used between August 1775 and January 1777. However, most sources, including Alan Tyson's book Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores or more recently Lindeman's The Concerto: A Research and Information Guide (2006) indicate that it was composed in 1779. It is presumed that Mozart wrote it to play with his sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl"). Years later he performed it in a private concert with pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer.
