The candenzas of Mozart's piano concerto no. 20.

[Enrique]

I was wondering who wrote the first movement cadenza for the no.20, the most famous piano concerto in D minor, at least that which is heard in my Boremboim recording, and so what more natural than go to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. But what a bitter disappointment! All that is said there about Mozart's piano concerti consists of fourteen lines (pp.306-307, vol. III, 1911). True, modern editions must have considerably expanded the material, in accordance with the hiperencyclopedic spirit of our time. Also true, the treatment of the operas is here, with respect to the instrumental works, largely bulked, leaving little space for the latter. This seems to be characteristic of all encyclopedic works with regard to Mozart. The Collier's Encyclopedia 1963 edition dedicates four lines to the last three symphonies but several pages to his operatic output. I'd like to know if the last edition has settled things differently.

A general search of my books not having been more fruitful, I had to fall back on Wikipedia, were I found an (for me) interesting paragraph:

The young Ludwig van Beethoven admired this concerto and kept it in his repertoire.[1] A bass run from the first movement appears for comic effect in Variation 22 of the Diabelli Variations. Daniel Barenboim contends that this concerto was Joseph Stalin's favorite piece of music.[2] Composers who wrote cadenzas for it include Beethoven (WoO 58), Charles-Valentin Alkan, Johannes Brahms (WoO 16), Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Feruccio Busoni and Clara Schumann.

In the absence of any reference to Mozart's own, I'll assume he did not published any. Perhaps he kept the cadenzas for private use, for I think that, by this time, composers used to write them down. Perhaps Mozart wrote them in a skeletal way. A lot must have been written about this matter, anyway. But my point is: where does the candenza we generally hear come from (the third movement must have one too, I don't remember well)? Not that I specially like candenzas, but its natural to want to know who wrote what one is listening to. So, I am leaving it to the Beethoven Refefence Site.

As a side note: In keeping with the precepts of English grammar, 'concerto' should be written with a capital C only if 'piano concerto no.20' were the title of the composition. But it is not. So, wikipedia does it wrong. My humble opinion.

[Chris]

There are no cadenzas by Mozart to this concerto that have come down to us. If you check the liner notes that came with your CD, they often mention which cadenzas were used. I have certainly not heard the majority of the recordings of this piece, but from what I have heard, pianists most often either use their own cadenzas or use Beethoven's.

In any case, it should be a simple matter to check if Beethoven's were used. Just compare your recording to Beethoven's, cataloged as WoO 58, which you can find all over the web. WoO 58 includes Beethoven's cadenzas for both the first and third movements of this concerto.

[Enrique]

I'm looking forward to satisfy my curiosity following your directions. Thanks a lot.

[Enrique]

... pianists most often either use their own cadenzas ...

And who would those be? Is it today common practice for an interpreter to write or improvise a cadenza him/herself?

[Chris]

And who would those be? Is it today common practice for an interpreter to write or improvise a cadenza him/herself?

A lot of pianists use existing cadenzas today, because there is less emphasis on composing and improvising in a pianist's training than there used to be. It is also important to have a good understanding of the musical period of the piece in question in order to compose a tasteful cadenza for it, so that might also be an obstacle for a pianist. Nevertheless there are exceptions, particularly in the HIP movement. Barenboim seems to prefer to use his own cadenzas for Mozart's concertos, but I believe even he used Beethoven's for the D minor concerto, at least for the first movement.