Chopin: The Piano Concertos

Chopin's "E minor" and "F minor" piano concertos played a vital role in his career as a composer, pianist, and teacher. This Cambridge Music Handbook reevaluates these works and others by Chopin so that their many outstanding qualities--and the composer's genius--can be fully appreciated. The book also includes a survey of the critical, editorial, and performance histories of the works considered.

Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. This Handbook reevaluates them so that their many outstanding qualities can be fully appreciated. It describes their genesis, Chopin's own performances and his use of them as a teacher. A survey of their critical, editorial and performance histories follows, in preparation for an engaging narrative analysis of the concertos as embodied in sound. The final chapter investigates Chopin's enigmatic "third concerto," the Allegro de concert.