It was composed three years before the composer met his patroness, (*) Nadezhda von Meck.
The prestissimo second section of this piece's second movement opens with a theme based on the French song Il Fait s'amuser. The third movement of this piece includes a cadenza in which the soloist plays a series of incredibly difficult double octaves in both hands. This piece opens with a thrice-repeated horn fanfare on the notes F / D-flat / C / B-flat; that gives way to the main theme on strings, inspired by the song of a blind Ukrainian beggar, which only appears twice in the entire piece. It was composed three years before the composer met his patroness, (*) Nadezhda von Meck. This work's intended dedicatee, Nikolai Rubinstein, denounced it for being "unplayable and clumsy." For 10 points, name this first piece for a solo keyboard instrument and orchestra written by the composer of the 1812 Overture.
The prestissimo second section of this piece's second movement opens with a theme based on the French song Il Fait s'amuser.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 [or Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23]