Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)

Piano Concerto in C major
No. 1
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven in 1803, six years after he completed the piano concerto, his third attempt in the genre
Opus15
StyleClassical period
DedicationPrincess Anna Louise Barbara Odescalchi
Performed18 December 1795 (1795-12-18)
Vienna
Published1801 (1801)
Movements
  • (Allegro con brio
  • Largo
  • Rondo. Allegro scherzando)
Scoring
  • Piano
  • orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, was written in 1795, then revised in 1800. It was possibly first performed by Beethoven at his first public concert in Vienna on 29 March 1795. It was first published in 1801 in Vienna with dedication to his pupil Princess Anna Louise Barbara Odescalchi (née Countess von Keglević), known to her friends as "Babette".

Although this was Beethoven's first piano concerto to be published, it was actually his third attempt at the genre, following an unpublished piano concerto in E-flat major of 1784 and the Piano Concerto No. 2. The latter was published in 1801 in Leipzig after the Piano Concerto No. 1, but was composed over a period of years, perhaps beginning ca. 1788.