Exploring Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21
A shining example of Mozart's technical brilliance and melodic ingenuity in this playful concerto
Last updated 3rd Sep 2020
Sunday Night Scala is currently taking a tour around the country in a special 'Musical Map of Britain' series at the moment. This Sunday from 8pm, Darren Redick plays recordings from the Manchester Camerata, including Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21.
The recording features pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the Manchester Camerata, conducted by Gabor Takacs-Nagy. The orchestra are halfway through their 'Mozart, Made In Manchester' series - a five-year collaboration performing and recording all of Mozart's piano concertos.
For the unitiated, here are some of the things we think you might like to know whilst you listen.
When did Mozart write his Piano Concerto No. 21?
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 was completed on 9th March 1785, just four weeks after Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor. A hugely impressive feat by anyone's time management track record. For Mozart however, it would have been by-the-by to complete two major works within a month of each other: there's a very good reason Mozart is lauded as one of the most brilliant composers who ever lived.
Giving the twentieth concerto a listen before the twenty-first provides some interesting comparisons. The dark, melancholy tones of number 20 are tentatively referred to in the first quiet moments of number 21, before being brushed away into a positive and sunny first movement. There's no way to know for sure whether Mozart meant for the two pieces to be related in such a manner, but the coincidence is too good not to mention as a possibility.
The first performance of the 21st concerto came just one day after it was finished, with the genius Mozart inevitably playing the piano solo himself. Records document how he performed the piece with many flourishes and improvisations, maybe a reflection of his exuberant personality?
What key is Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21 written in?
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 is in C major. That the music is written in the major key does give things a breezy, uplifting feel. Some scholars even regard the key of C to be "pure, certain and decisive manner, full of innocence, earnestness, deepest religious feeling." We'll leave you to judge. Others regard the sound of C major in this concerto as a sign of majesty and regalness.
Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21: the story behind the music
Taking the stormy Piano Concerto no. 20 into account, the 21st starts off a little tentatively. It's as though the storm of the 20th has passed, and everyone is peering out from behind their curtains to check it's ok to go outside again. The first movement of no.21 is quintessential Mozart - trills and sequences aplenty.
The strings and brass work wonders together - bees adorning the flowers now that the rain has passed. The piano's first appearance comes almost as a surprise - almost as though we'd forgotten about it in amongst the beauty of the orchestra. The piano's appearance is a sharp reminder of why we're all here: "This is about me, you know."
Those trills and scales up and down the keyboard - it's easy to imagine Mozart sat at the piano in the first performance, totally showing off. The more melancholic moments that follow in the movement serve as a diversion so that Mozart can quickly bring us back to the happy, comfortable C major. If this first movement was a walk after a rainstorm, these melancholic moments are the soggy socks you've acquired after strolling thoughtlessly through various puddles.
Listen out for the trumpets throughout the first movement who give the impression with a recurring theme that they're making a royal announcement. And, in the final moments, the orchestra is brought right back down to where they started, readying us for the second movement andante.
This slower second movement starts in such a weightless, graceful way that only the melody reminds us it's even part of the same piece. The lilting waltz feel also adds to the delicate ambience, added to by the technical perfection of the melody.
As the movement continues, the serenity is pierced by sudden, sharp bursts - but the piano steers us back to the gentle tenderness we heard at the beginning. As if to stop us from getting to the jollity of the concluding third movement, Mozart manages to hold out until the end of the movement, giving the audience a stunning last few bars of tranquility.
The third and final movement - the allegro vivace assai - is lively and cheerful. Some describe the opening theme in the piano as a musical 'tiptoe'. Like the first movement, it begins hesitantly, but this time the strings are more excited to get back up to full volume after the relative calmness of the middle movement.
The trills give the piece more of a spring in its step, but even in its quiet moments the music is still enthusiastic - and boy, does the pianist have to work hard! The music overflows with notes; Mozart has filled every last possible gap. Listen out for the number of times the original musical tiptoe is tossed around the orchestra and returns at the piano keyboard in various different guises. This is typical Mozart: taking a small theme and adapting it in a jaw-dropping variety of different ways.
A beautiful call and response section nearer the end is heartwarming; the conversation between piano and orchestra is lovingly animated. Mozart teases us with an 'almost-ending' - typical. He's not quite finished yet, desperate to get just a little bit more out of his Piano Concerto no. 21. It's the epitome of showmanship: Mozart in a nutshell.
What films does Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21 appear in?
The most well-known is the Swedish film from 1967 Elvira Madigan - the stage name taken by Danish tightrope walker Hedvig Jensen on whose tragic story the film is based. The use of the music in the film is why the concerto often goes by the name of the 'Elvira Madigan Concerto'.
The sharp-eared may also spot the slow movement in the film version of Educating Rita in a scene when the character of Professor Frank Bryant stumbles on his wife and his agent who, it turns out, are in fact having an affair unbeknownst to Bryant. Elvira Madigan is playing in the background creating an illicit air of sophistication.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Manchester Camerata conducted by Gabor Takacs-Nagy featured in Sunday Night Scala on Sunday 14 June.