Piano Concerto No. 24

While Mozart composed The Marriage of Figaro and Piano Concerto No. 23 at the same time, the 24th piano concerto is imbued with the spirit of the Great Mass in C minor and Don Giovanni. Completed on March 24, 1786, it premiered at Vienna’s Burgtheater in April of the same year, with the composer acting as both soloist and conductor.

The first movement, Allegro, fully embodies the intense and brooding nature of C minor. After a formal exposition of the themes, the piano comes in with an entirely new, expressive idea before engaging in a tight and sometimes stormy dialogue with the orchestra. The work’s influence on Beethoven—particularly in his Piano Concerto No. 3, written in the same key—is unmistakable.

The second movement, Larghetto, unfolds as a conversation between the piano and orchestra in rondo form (alternating refrains and episodes). The piano first introduces a simple two-part melody, which is then taken up by the orchestra. The first episode in minor reverses the roles: the orchestra presents a theme, which the piano then embellishes. After a brief reprise of the refrain, the woodwinds introduce a second motif, which is then ornamented by the piano and strings, before the full ensemble comes back together to gracefully conclude the movement.

The concerto’s final movement is structured as a set of variations, a rare choice for this genre. The theme, reminiscent of a march, is first presented by the orchestra alone. With great inventiveness, the piano then starts ornamenting the theme before it gradually becomes more elaborate. Two variations offer a magnificent and warm dialogue between the piano and wind instruments, which Mozart composed with exceptional mastery. As the piano’s cadenza approaches, the intensity builds. The movement culminates in a turbulent variation with chromatic flourishes, leaving no doubt about the dramatic conclusion of the work.