Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 19 – William Sterndale Bennett

Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 19 by William Sterndale Bennett

British composer William Sterndale Bennett completed this concerto for piano and orchestra at some point shortly before September of 1838. The premiere performance was given in January of 1839 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with Bennett as the soloist and Mendelssohn as conductor.

Bennett made three extended visits to Germany, in particular to Leipzig, from 1836 to 1837. It is during one of these extended visits that Bennett made his soloist debut as soloist at a performing of his third piano concerto (also with the composer Mendelssohn conducting).

Upon Bennett’s return to London in 1837, he would officially take up a teaching post at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) which he would hold until 1858. It seems that Bennett composed his fourth piano concerto with the intent to perform in specifically in Germany. While the plan for this work to have a premiere in Germany did eventuate, it was not the first performance of the work.

In September of 1838, an unofficial performance of the work was given at the RAM. The second movement, then titled ‘A stroll through the Meadows’ was met with such poor reception that Bennett replaced the movement entirely with a Barcarole. The version you hear now is the amended version with a Barcarole as the second movement.

This concerto is comprised of three movements:
I. Allegro con maesta 00:00
II. Barcarole. Andante cantabile e con moto 12:30
III. Presto. Agitato 21:04