Piano Concerto No. 2 (Chopin)

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, is a piano concerto composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1829. Chopin wrote the piece before he had finished his formal education, at around 20 years of age. It was first performed on 17 March 1830, in Warsaw, Poland, with the composer as soloist. It was the second of his piano concertos to be published (after the Piano Concerto No. 1), and so was designated as "No. 2", even though it was written first.

Structure

	Concerto No. 2 in F minor, 1st movement Nico Snel conducts the Seattle Philharmonic Concerto No. 2 in F minor, 2nd movement Nico Snel conducts the Seattle Philharmonic Concerto No. 2 in F minor, 3rd movement Nico Snel conducts the Seattle Philharmonic
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The work contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period:

Maestoso (F minor)

Larghetto (A flat major): a work of "undescribable [sic] beauty",^[1] this music was inspired by Chopin's distant idolization of Constantia Gladowska. The main theme (the "A" section) is introduced by the piano after an orchestral introduction and is later repeated twice and again, at measure 82 (the start of the coda), is enhanced by the sublime entrance of the bassoon in canon, followed by the bassoon transitioning to a counter-melody.

Allegro vivace (F minor)

In the finale, the violins and violas are at one point instructed to play col legno (with the wood of the bow).

References

• Ledbetter, Steven (1994). Pro Arte: Piano Concerto #2 in F minor.
• Bazzana, Kevin "Programme Notes".

External links

• Piano Concerto No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project