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On December 22, 1808, Viennese devotees of new music made their way to the Theater an der Wien for the most significant concert of the year, one of the most significant concerts in all of music history. The program, consisting entirely of Beethoven premieres, began with the Symphony no. 6, followed, in order, by the concert aria, "Ah, perfido", two movements from the Mass in C major, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Symphony no. 5, and, last but not least, the Choral Fantasy. It was four hours of music, new music to their ears. The theater was unheated, the orchestra was under-rehearsed, and the soprano soloist suffered badly from stage-fright. The whole experience led one listener to comment later that "one can have too much of a good thing --- and still more of a loud".
The piano concerto's addition to this massive program might have been a last-minute decision. Certainly, Beethoven had attempted to present it before that date. The piece had been completed two years earlier, in 1806, and, at that time, Beethoven set about finding some soloist to premiere it, someone with better hearing than he himself had. The first pianist contacted said the piece was too difficult to learn quickly. A second soloist agreed to perform it, but then, at the last minute, played instead another Beethoven concerto, much to the anger of the composer, who was waiting to hear the new work. Finally, despite his seriously diminished hearing, the irritated composer took the matter back into his own hands. Beethoven played the Fourth Concerto at a private concert given in March of 1807 at the Viennese palace of his faithful patron, the Prince Lobkowitz. The Fourth Symphony and the Coriolan Overture were also heard on this occasion. The public premiere of the Fourth Concerto was delayed nearly two years until that later marathon program, with Beethoven again as soloist. The concerto was dedicated to the composer's friend, student, and patron, the Archduke Rudolf, to whom he would later dedicate the Grosse Fugue, the "Archduke" Piano Trio, and three piano sonatas, including the massive "Hammerklavier."