Music like Brahms PC 1

[bluto32]

I am a huge fan of Brahm's 1st piano concerto, especially the first movement.
What other pieces of music are similar in style?
(Suggestions need not necessarily be restricted to piano concertos.)

Bluto

[Brahmsian]

Hi Bluto,

One of my favourite pieces in all the classical music literature, indeed.

There really isn't anything like Brahms PC No. 1.  Not that I can think of?

However, I'm open to the suggestions that may come up. 

[Mirror Image]

Maybe not completely Brahmsian, but do give Reger's Piano Concerto a listen.

[kyjo]

Tovey's Piano Concerto in A major takes Brahms' PCs as its model:

[asin]B00000C2BH[/asin]

[amw]

Rather different and possibly coincidental, but I've always felt there was a strong similarity between that first movement and the first movement of Dvořák's Cello Concerto. The Dvořák is less expansive and uses fewer themes, but the main theme has a similar kind of drama (while being very different in character) and the contrasting idea is among the most lovely melodies this side of Schubert, and acquits itself well against Brahms's own contrasting idea.

A concerto that (for me) prefigures Brahms 1 in some respects, particularly scale, is Alkan's Concerto for Solo Piano. There is, obviously, no orchestra in that concerto, but then Brahms's 1st concerto also started life as a solo piano piece, and only took orchestral form gradually and with difficulty.

[jochanaan]

Do you know Brahms' Second Piano Concerto?  It has many similarities to the First.  Also, the Violin and Double Concertos are must-listens if you love the piano concertos.

You might also love the Bruckner symphonies.

[marvinbrown]

I am a huge fan of Brahm's 1st piano concerto, especially the first movement.
What other pieces of music are similar in style?
(Suggestions need not necessarily be restricted to piano concertos.)

Bluto

  You might want to look into this set:

  [asin]B002VZ2MQW[/asin]

  There are so many jewels in this set and I have not seen many sets like this on the market.

  marvin

[bluto32]

Thank you all for your helpful replies; I shall look into your suggestions. I don't know any of those pieces except for Brahms PC No.2, which is glorious without being quite as moving for me as No.1. (Judging by various reviews, I sense I am in a small minority in preferring No.1.)

Bluto

[Brahmsian]

Thank you all for your helpful replies; I shall look into your suggestions. I don't know any of those pieces except for Brahms PC No.2, which is glorious without being quite as moving for me as No.1. (Judging by various reviews, I sense I am in a small minority in preferring No.1.)
Bluto

Not really.  Many people do prefer the 1st concerto (music listeners).  Musicologists tend to prefer the 2nd.

[jochanaan]

...(Judging by various reviews, I sense I am in a small minority in preferring No.1.)

At this level of greatness, the choice is analogous to preferring a Boesendorfer over a Steinway.  I love them both.

[Jo498]

Apart from Reger's piano concerto another interesting piece influenced by Brahms 1st is R. Strauss' Burleske (with obligato timpani). There are probably a few more late romantic pieces in Brahms' vein, which could be found in the hyperion series, but I am not so familiar with them.

[Wanderer]

Medtner's Piano Concerto No.1 with its tumultuous opening and turbulent pathos inhabits a similar soundworld to the Brahms First PC.

Quoting Dmitri Alexeev from the booklet of the Hyperion release of the concerto:

"Of the three Medtner piano concertos the first is remarkable for its inspirational inner content, the beauty of its melodies and the grand scale of its structure. It is probably his most outstanding work. He began it in 1914 and the first performance took place in Moscow on 12 May 1918, the composer as soloist under Koussevitsky.

The horrible events of the First World War are, perhaps unavoidably, reflected in the work. Russian and German cultures meant equally much to Medtner and the war between the two countries developed into a personal tragedy for him. The Concerto is a grandiose, one-movement construction, written in sonata form, where the extended development of each section compensates for the lack of the traditional division into movements. Slow and scherzo-like episodes sound almost like the middle movement of a symphony and the coda, which is thematically and dynamically rich, serves as a finale. The originality of the Concerto's form is increased by the interfusion of two structural principles: the sonata form gives the work its general contours while the variation form imparts diversity, contrast and a more fragmentary structure.

The work opens with four introductory exclamations anticipating the appearance of the main theme, full of heroic yet tragic pathos. The thematic concentration of the Concerto's musical material is remarkable: the main theme serves as the source for the two lyrical subjects, as well as for every other important section. The development is very unusual: it consists of a theme and a cycle of variations. Here the composer develops fragments of all the main themes of the Concerto with considerable polyphonic skill. The short recapitulation is extremely dynamic, and the coda presents the last climax of the Concerto. Medtner somewhat delays the outcome by leading the themes through a number of odd modulations and unusual harmonies: only at the very end do we hear a triumphant hymn in C major, followed by three final bell-like ringing strokes on the piano."

[Gurn Blanston]

Not really.  Many people do prefer the 1st concerto (music listeners).  Musicologists tend to prefer the 2nd.

Indeed, when I listen to a Brahms PC, it is invariably #1... 0:)

[Geo Dude]

Not really.  Many people do prefer the 1st concerto (music listeners).  Musicologists tend to prefer the 2nd.

I prefer the second, but I always suspected that that was a minority opinion (among listeners).