Piano Concerto No. 4 (Ries)
The Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 115 by Ferdinand Ries was composed in Bonn in 1809 but was not published until 1823 when it was released by both H.A. Probst of Leipzig and Birchall & Cº of London with a dedication to Ignaz Moscheles.[1][2]
Composition history[edit]
According to Allen Badley, Ries completed the concerto around 1809, before embarking on his European tours.[2] This would make the concerto the second of the composers eight piano concertos to be written.[a] Badley further comments that compared with the Piano Concerto in C Major, Op. 126 that this concerto has much more individuality compared with the earlier work which shows the influence of Beethoven's C minor Piano Concerto, Op. 37, the work Ries had performed on his debut.[3] As with the concerti Op. 120, 123 & 132, this concerto was published at a time Ries was retiring from being a touring performer and no longer needed to keep these works, which formed the basis of his performing repertoire secret.
Structure[edit]
The concerto follows the traditional three-movement structure:
Recordings[edit]
To date the concerto has only been recorded once, by Uwe Grodd with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and soloist Christopher Hinterhuber, this was released by Naxos Records[b] in conjunction with a publication of the score in a critical edition prepared by Allen Badley.[4]
References[edit]
- Notes
- ^ Hill 1977, pp. 121 & 122
- ^ a b Badley 2010, p. 3
- ^ McGorray 2015, p. 54
- ^ McGorray 2015, p. 59
- Sources
- Badley, Allan (2010). Ries, F.: Piano Concertos, Vol. 4 - Piano Concertos, Opp. 115 and 120 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.557844.
- Hill, Cecil (1977). Ferdinand Ries: A Thematic Catalogue. Armidale, NSW: University of New England. ISBN 0-85834-156-5.
- Hill, Cecil (1982). "Ferdinand Ries. A Study and Addenda". Occasional Paper. Armidale, NSW: University of New England. ISSN 0314-5999.
- McGorray, Ian (2015-07-21). Ferdinand Ries and the Piano Concerto: Beethoven's Shadow and the Early Romantic Concerto (M.M.). University of Cincinnati.
