PROGRAM NOTES     	 	
FRANZ LISZT
Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major  
for Piano and Orchestra, S.124 
COMPOSER: Born Doborján, Hungary [now Raiding, Austria],  
October 22, 1811; died Bayreuth, Germany, July 31, 1886 
WORK COMPOSED: Begun 1830, completed 1849, revised 1856. Dedicated 
to Henry Litolff (pianist, conductor, composer, music publisher)
WORLD PREMIERE: Weimar, February 17, 1855. Liszt played the solo part, 
the orchestra was conducted by Hector Berlioz.
INSTRUMENTATION: Solo piano, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets,  
2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, 
triangle, strings
ESTIMATED DURATION: 20 minutes
U
p until his 35th birthday, Franz Liszt had been pursuing a busy concert schedule as one of the 
world’s most celebrated virtuoso pianists, touring widely all over Europe. Yet after a while, this 
peripatetic life no longer satisfied him; he wanted to settle down and devote more of his time to 
composing. He was eager to write more for orchestra, putting into action the novel ideas that had 
occupied him for quite some time—ideas about musical structure and the relationships between 
music and the other arts. His appointment as music director at the Grand Ducal court of Weimar 
in 1848, with his own orchestra to work with, inspired him to write 12 symphonic poems and two 
symphonies (Faust and Dante) during the Weimar years. In addition, he completed the two piano 
concertos and his Totentanz for piano and orchestra, projects begun many years earlier.
One of the main ideas Liszt brought to fruition during this time can be described as a new form of 
thematic transformation, one in which a theme is subjected to fundamental changes, where not 
only its tempo and rhythm but its very character was altered: a lyrical melody could become heroic, 
light-hearted, and much more. Liszt used this technique to achieve greater structural coherence, as 
everything in the piece grew organically out of a few basic motifs.
The E-flat major concerto is in a single movement, but the outlines of a four-movement form 
(allegro–slow movement–scherzo–finale) are clearly discernible. The opening Allegro maestoso 
starts with a chromatic theme, played by the orchestra (chromatic = moving in half-steps, a type 
of motion that always works against the main key of the piece). The piano bursts in with a virtuoso 
cadenza. The chromatic theme continues to dominate much of the Allegro.
The slow movement (Quasi Adagio) introduces a lyrical melody that would not be out of place in 
an opera. The third section—a lively scherzo—is followed by a restatement of material from the 
opening movement. In the finale, some of the Adagio’s themes are brought to new life as the lyrical 
song is turned into a triumphant march, while another cantabile (singing) theme heard earlier 
becomes playful and virtuosic. The music of the scherzo, too, reappears in the final Presto, in which 
we also re-encounter the chromatic theme with which the concerto began. The work concludes 
with a cascade of octaves going up and down the entire keyboard in half-steps, in keeping with the 
concerto’s initial chromatic idea.
14   Santa Rosa Symphony	
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