The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a musical piece written by Frédéric Chopin in 1830 when he was 20 years old. It was first played on October 12, 1830, at the Teatr Narodowy (National Theatre) in Warsaw, Poland. Chopin performed as the solo pianist during one of his farewell concerts before leaving Poland.

This was the first of Chopin’s two piano concertos to be published. Because of this, it was named "No. 1" when it was released, even though it was written after the second concerto, which was published later.

The concerto uses the following instruments: solo piano, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, one bass trombone, timpani, and string instruments. A typical performance lasts about 40 minutes.

Influences

The piano concerto is dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner, a pianist and composer whose playing Chopin admired. Another influence was Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Harold C. Schonberg, in The Great Pianists, wrote that the openings of the Hummel A minor and Chopin E minor concertos are too similar to be a coincidence.

While composing it, Chopin wrote to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, saying, "Here you can see my tendency to do things against my will. Something has entered my mind through my eyes, and I enjoy it even if it may be incorrect." This sight may have been the well-known soprano Konstancja Gładkowska, believed by some to be the "ideal" behind the Larghetto from Chopin's Second Piano Concerto. However, others think Chopin may have been referring to Woyciechowski.

Premiere and critical reception

The first performance of the concerto took place on 11 October 1830. It was a success, with a full house. According to the Kurier Warszawski, about 700 people attended. Chopin played the piano, and Carlo Evasio Soliva conducted. The audience gave loud applause after the performance. Seven weeks later, in Paris, Chopin played the concerto for the first time in France at the Salle Pleyel. This performance was also well received. François-Joseph Fétis wrote in La Revue musicale the next day that "There is energy in these melodies, there is imagination in these passages, and everywhere there is originality."

Opinions about the concerto vary. Some critics believe the orchestral music, as written, is not exciting. For example, James Huneker wrote in Chopin: The Man and His Music that it was "not Chopin at his very best." Some musicians, like Mikhail Pletnev, think changes to the orchestration are needed. Others believe the orchestral music was carefully written to match the piano's sound. They argue that the simple arrangement intentionally contrasts with the complex harmony. Some suggest the orchestral writing is similar to Hummel's concertos, which support the piano rather than creating drama. However, Robert Schumann had a different view. In 1836, he wrote in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik that "Chopin introduces the spirit of Beethoven into the concert hall" with these pieces.

Structure

The concerto has three movements, which were common in instrumental concertos from that time. A typical performance lasts about 38 to 42 minutes.

The first and second movements include unusual changes in key. In the opening Allegro, the exposition shifts to the parallel major key (i-I) instead of the expected key (i-III). This key relationship (i-III) between the second and third themes appears later in the recapitulation, where a shift to i-I would have been expected, creating a different musical effect. Chopin used this technique in other early works, such as the Piano Sonata No. 1 and the Piano Trio in G minor.

The first movement of the E minor concerto has three themes introduced by the orchestra. The piano plays the first theme (bar 139), followed by the lyrical second theme (bar 155), which is supported by the main motif of the first theme in the bass. The third theme, in E major, is introduced by the orchestra (bar 222) and then played by the piano. The development section begins at bar 385, with the piano playing the second theme, after which the orchestra develops the first theme.

The recapitulation starts at bar 486, with the orchestra again playing its opening theme. The third E major theme returns (bar 573), but this time in G major (i-III). Eventually, the coda returns to E minor, and the movement ends with a piano section followed by a sudden, strong E minor chord.

The Romanze movement, though not strictly in sonata form, follows the classical model by modulating to the dominant key (I-V) in its exposition. When it returns, it shifts to the mediant key (III). Chopin wrote in a letter to Tytus, "It is not meant to create a powerful effect; it is rather a Romance, calm and melancholy, giving the impression of someone looking gently toward a spot that calls to mind a thousand happy memories. It is a kind of reverie in the moonlight on a beautiful spring evening." The second movement has been described as "unashamedly heart-on-your-sleeve stuff."

The third movement was written with hesitation and difficulty. It features Krakowiak rhythms, a syncopated, duple-time dance popular in Kraków at the time. This piece was one of Chopin’s last works before political unrest in Poland prevented him from returning home. After completing the Rondo in August 1830, he played it privately with a string quartet and later with a small orchestral ensemble.

Cultural legacy

The 1976 movie The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane includes a concerto performed by pianist Claudio Arrau and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The same concerto is played by one of six finalists in the 1980 film The Competition. A performance of the concerto is a major part of the 2015 British film The Lady in the Van. A section from the first movement of the concerto appears in the 1942 film The Lady is Willing, during a scene where Fred MacMurray uses his midnight piano playing to wake up Marlene Dietrich.

A part of the second movement of the concerto is heard during the most important moment of Don Hertzfeldt’s 2012 film It's Such a Beautiful Day. It is also included in the 1998 film The Truman Show and its soundtrack.