1860s

“Beethoven wrote his Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, better known as ‘Für Elise’, in 1810, but it wasn’t published until 1867, 40 years after his death,” (ClassicFM). “It’s one of the first pieces learner pianists play on the piano; open a little music box, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear it’s charming melody. But although it seems like quite a simple piece, it turns out that ‘Für Elise’ is a actually a really sophisticated piece of music: well, it was written by Beethoven after all. When the music was being transcribed, Beethoven’s handwriting was misread. The text on the manuscript actually read ‘Für Therese’. It is widely acknowledged that Therese was Therese Malfatti, a woman to whom Beethoven proposed in 1810 – the same year he composed ‘Für Elise’.

The piece is in rondo form, where the main theme appears three times, separated by contrasting sections. The shape of the piece in Rondo form can be summarised as ABACA, where A is the main theme, and B and C are the two development sections.”

Starting in A minor, there’s a shift to F major at 1:15 and a return to A minor at 1:44.

From the CBC’s feature on Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto (1866): “It’s among the most popular works in the entire classical repertoire, a favorite of concert pianists headlining with symphony orchestras the world over … The concerto was an immediate success and has been a staple of the repertoire ever since, its penetration into pop culture later being confirmed by its use on The Simpsons, Mad Men and numerous films. Its most famous performance happened at the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 — the height of the Cold War — when pianist Van Cliburn played it in the final round. It took approval by then Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev for the jury to award the first prize to an American.”

Radio Free Europe reports that after Russia’s name, flag, and anthem were banned from all major sporting competitions from 2021 to 2023 by the World Anti-Doping Agency due to violations, Russian nationals competing in the Olympics instead heard a fragment of the Concerto when Russian athletes at those events won a gold medal.

After pizzicato strings and a soaring flute begin the piece gently in Db major, the piano states the theme. After an early transition section starts at 1:08 with a mischievous sense of mystery, we land in D major at 1:24 for a full feature by the woodwinds. Thereafter, plenty of other dramatic shifts continue, with the orchestra refusing to take a back seat to the piano in most sections.