Gerhard Griesel writes:

> I was listening again today to Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. It
> is well known because of its dramatic and melodious introduction.  But
> after the first (less than) three minutes this theme dissipates and as
> far as I can hear it never surfaces again in the concerto. In fact, it
> seems to me that the concerto could have been improved by leaving out
> the first three minutes, because the themes introduced after that seem
> to be developed. Now I am wondering whether ol' Piotr had stuck the
> introduction onto the concerto well after he had completed it.

Consider that the concerto is nominally in B flat minor, but the well-known
Big Tune is actually in D flat major.  That is puzzling in itself, but
perhaps sheds some light on why Tchaikovsky didn't see that theme as
primary.

(Technically, you could say, the work begins in the indicated key, since
the four notes at the very beginning of the intro that precedes the Big
Tune are in B flat minor.)

- seb

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