The concerto from Mozart to Beethoven: aesthetic and stylistic perspectives

Abstract

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), names writ large in histories of the concerto, dominate critical discourse on late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century works. Their status as the pre-eminent concerto practitioners of the period was enshrined right from the outset. Theorists August Frederick Christopher Kollmann and Heinrich Christoph Koch cite Mozart as the exemplary concerto composer in influential writings from 1799 and 1802 respectively. In addition, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of Leipzig, published from 1798 onwards and destined to become a significant barometer of nineteenth-century musical opinion, initially accords Mozart highest honours, subsequently placing Beethoven on the same pedestal. Superlatives for Mozart's concertos flow freely: the Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, and one of the E flat works (No. 9, K. 271; No. 14, K. 449; or No. 22, K. 482) performed at Leipzig concerts in late 1800 are among his most excellent and thus, by definition, among the best concertos ever written; the ‘famous grand … concerto in D minor’, No. 20, K. 466, is one of the most admirable works in the genre; and his piano concertos as a whole are ‘unsurpassed’, intimidating, even, for those ‘estimable’ composers who are not as talented as Mozart.