Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S.124

The concerto runs as a single continuous span, but it falls into four clear sections, so listen for the shifts in mood rather than for pauses.

Section one opens with a stern, unison orchestral question answered by crashing piano chords, a motto that returns, transformed, throughout the piece.

Section two turns inward: a slow, songful passage led by clarinet and cello lets the piano spin quiet, decorated melodies rather than display.

Section three is famous for its triangle, a sudden, glinting tap that cuts through a scherzo-like dance; audiences in Liszt's day found it startling enough to nickname the piece because of it.

Section four gathers the earlier themes, speeds them up, and reshapes them into a march, so tunes you heard hesitant and slow return loud, fast, and triumphant, driving to a brilliant close.

First-time listeners can watch for that single triangle moment as an easy landmark, and for the final pages where the opening motto returns transformed into a marching tune.

Liszt worked on this concerto over many years, sketching ideas as early as the 1830s and revising the score repeatedly before finishing it in the 1850s while he was music director in Weimar, Germany. He gave the premiere himself as soloist in Weimar in 1855, with Hector Berlioz conducting, at a time when Liszt was already celebrated as the era's most dazzling touring pianist. The concerto's unusual triangle passage drew both delight and mockery from contemporary critics, and the piece was sometimes called the "Triangle Concerto" as a result. Liszt continued to revise details of the orchestration afterward. It has remained a staple showpiece ever since, valued for compressing virtuoso display and lyrical writing into a single, tightly connected span rather than the traditional three separate movements.