Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat Major: I. Allegro maestoso [HD]

Franz Liszt composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S.124 over a 26-year period; the main themes date from 1830, while the final version dates 1849. The concerto consists of four movements and lasts approximately 20 minutes. It premiered in Weimar on February 17, 1855, with Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.

The main themes of Liszt's first piano concerto are written in a sketchbook dated 1830, when Liszt was nineteen years old. He seems to have completed the work in 1849, yet made further adjustments in 1853. It was first performed at Weimar in 1855, with the composer at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting. Liszt made yet more changes before publication in 1856. Béla Bartók described it as "the first perfect realisation of cyclic sonata form, with common themes being treated on the variation principle".

The orchestra introduces the main theme of the piece with a powerful motif. It is said that the main theme was set to the words "None of you understand this, haha!" (German: “Das versteht ihr alle nicht, haha!”) to deter any criticism from critics who did not like the piece's originality. The piano then comes in with an octave passage, spanning 4 octaves.
A duet is formed between the piano and the clarinet in a quiet and peaceful passage, yet this is soon taken over again by the main theme. Following this, the piano plays fast, downward chromatic octaves, before recapitulating a section from earlier in the movement, this time in G major. The movement finishes with the main theme played by the strings while the piano imitates a harp with fast, quiet arpeggios, culminating with an upwards chromatic scale in sixths, diminishing to ppp volume.