We often hear familiar classical music themes in movies, shows, and advertisements. One of the most artful and famous uses is (or was) the slow movement of the Piano Concerto No. 21 in the Swedish film Elvira Madigan (1967). Just a short phrase of the music took on a life of its own outside of both the film and the concerto and was soon ubiquitous in popular culture. Recordings even appeared of something called Mozart’s “Elvira Madigan Concerto.” This snippet of music became a symbol, sometimes ironically, of the mannered and formal 18th century, of Mozart, of wealth and aristocracy, but also of the decadent, prim, or prudish. Although associated with less desirable or unsavory topics, the purity of Mozart’s music survived.
Mozart more or less invented the modern instrumental concerto (‘modern’ meaning from Beethoven forward to today). A prodigy on both the violin and keyboard, in his earliest years Mozart modified the ancient form of the concerto grosso (like Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos) to give himself a larger solo role. By adding in the multi-movement forms and orchestral colors of the symphony, the virtuoso concerto was born. Mozart ended up preferring the piano to the violin, and so he wrote a total of 28 piano concertos to showcase his talent. They also provided excellent sources of income.
The Concerto No. 21 is in the usual three movements, fast—slow—fast. The second movement is a precursor to the instrumental arias that Beethoven wrote, and the third a chirpy and folksy rondo.
Improvisation played a much larger role in the concerto in Mozart’s time than ours. Except for the rare works written for performers other than himself, the piano part in some of the surviving concerto manuscripts is sketchy at best. Mozart did not need it written out, and improvising was what audiences came to hear. In fact, between movements of a concerto Mozart might improvise a whole composition based on his own ideas or a theme suggested on the spot by the audience. Today, improvisation is usually limited to the two cadenzas at the end of the first and last movements.