Original version of Rondo of Piano Concerto Nr. 3, Gardi 5, extended and completed
This sketch, 32 bars long, can be found in the Kafka sketchbook, and dates from before 1800. It presents the Rondo theme, and the beginning of the B-section. "Solo" and "tutti" indicate what should be played by the piano, and what by the orchestra. Although similar in mood, this Rondo theme appears at first sight to be very different from the version we know. Yet there are two similarities: both themes start with the notes G - A flat, and both contain the motif G - E flat - D - G - C to conclude a phrase, although it has been transposed a fourth down (D - B flat - A - D - G, modulating to the dominant) in the case of opus 37.
A striking feature of the Gardi 5 sketch is that after the soloist has concluded the Rondo theme in C minor, the orchestra answers it without any preperation in a radiant, even reckless, C major, which clearly forms the beginning of the B-section of the Rondo. This dramatic contrast points to a very different concept of the movement at this early stage. We present here both the original sketch as it appears in the Kafka Miscellany, and our extended and completed version of the sketch.
Gardi: 5
Opus: 37