About this edition
Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, the "Emperor," stands as the grandest and most symphonic of his concertos — the culmination of a genre he had been steadily transforming since his Vienna debut. Composed in 1809 during the French bombardment of Vienna, the work opens with one of music's most arresting gestures: a thunderous orchestral chord answered by a sweeping cadenza-like flourish from the soloist, before the heroic E-flat major theme unfolds. The luminous Adagio un poco mosso in B major and its seamless, magical transition into the dancing rondo finale remain among the most beloved passages in the concerto repertoire.
This score reproduces the text from Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, the celebrated complete edition published by Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig between 1862 and 1890. Issued as Serie 9, No. 69 (plate B.69), this volume belongs to the first scholarly attempt to gather Beethoven's entire output in a uniform, carefully edited collection. Prepared during an era of intense Beethoven scholarship and consulting autograph sources and early prints, the Breitkopf Gesamtausgabe served for generations as the standard reference text for conductors, performers, and scholars, and it remains a cornerstone of Beethoven study to this day.
About this edition:
- Format: Full orchestral score (conductor's score)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches — convenient for study, rehearsal, and library shelving
- Source: Reproduced from the public domain Breitkopf und Härtel edition, Leipzig, ca. 1862, plate B.69
- Series: Ludwig van Beethovens Werke, Serie 9, No. 69
- Publisher: Purple 4R Publishing
This printing reproduces a historical edition that has entered the public domain, making the engraved text of one of the great Breitkopf scholarly editions readily available to today's musicians and students. We hope it serves you well in study, rehearsal, and performance of this extraordinary concerto.
