In the recapitulation, however, this solo line is placed in counterpoint to a solo flute, which has the effect of drawing the listener further into the otherwise sparse texture. Nevertheless, the first and third movements provide ample opportunity for the composer-pianist to show off his technique, with flowering passagework and some brilliant figuration.Īs with his other concertos, Bennett uses the lyrical capacity of the piano to its fullest, writing passages in the first movement for a single-line melody on the piano accompanied by pizzicato strings.

Schumann, reviewing the score in 1840, notes that ‘nothing in the entire concerto is calculated for bravura display and applause, he only cares to display the composition itself’.

This work follows the traditional form of the early-Romantic virtuoso concerto, although in a way different to the works of ‘Parisian’ virtuosos such as Alkan or Thalberg. Its public premiere was on 17 January 1839 at the Gewandhaus, with Bennett at the piano and Mendelssohn conducting. The Piano Concerto No 4 in F minor, Op 19, was another work which Bennett took to Leipzig in 1838, and it is dedicated to Ignaz Moscheles, the pianist who taught and befriended the young Mendelssohn and later became Principal of the Conservatory in Leipzig.

Concerto no 4 in f minor