the austrians and the french
i promise i’ll explain the title in just a bit.
this repertoire piece also doubles as today’s all that class selection, because i’m currently in the midst of exams, and my piano jury is coming up as well. why not talk about both at once to make life a little more efficient?
title: piano concerto no. 25 in c major, k. 503
movement: allegro maestoso (first)
composer: wolfgang amadeus mozart
year: 1786
first time playing a concerto, because of my university’s annual concerto competition. results? i didn’t place nor make it to the finals (luckily… i have performance anxiety and frankly don’t like performing to a large crowd), but i’m proud of how i played and for this new experience. since the piano is a very solitary, individual instrument, we pianists rarely get to play with other instruments except for piano concerti or in some other small chamber groups. or, improvisation and modern jams and stuff but on the classical side, not so much. usually, the pianist would be accompanied by an orchestra (like in the recording) but in the case of the competition, we were accompanied by fellow pianists (friends, accompanists, or studio professors). still, it was nice playing with somebody other than myself.
i have to say i adore mozart’s concerti and i’m sure i’m not the only one to say so as well. the french obviously enjoy them too, because they used a theme from this concerto, this movement, in their national anthem la marseillaise. or, perhaps a more likely explanation: the anthem was composed during the french revolution after the french declared war on austria. mozart was austrian… hmm… see the connection? who knows. nonetheless, it is an interesting fact.
anyhoo i have to get back to studying (psychology). that concludes today’s segment of music talk, and addition to my repertoire list.
that’s all for now.