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The key of C minor was to play a pivotal role as the basis for many of the most progressive works (the 'Pathetique' sonata and the 5th symphony, for example). Once again, the model is Mozart whose C minor concerto became a touchstone for the Romantic tendency in later compositions. The motivic content and even the tone color of the opening phrase display a clear allegiance to Mozart's affect in the particular key. The opening orchestral ritornello continues in the accepted manner and closes quite determinedly. With the entrance of the soloist, however, Beethoven has moved into more dramatic territory and continues, whenever the piece returns to the minor, to exhibit a motivic drive that opens new paths for him. His long-range thinking becomes apparent when the second movement opens in the startling key of E major (when one would expect E-flat). His clever insight into the formal possibilities of relationships is clarified when in the last movement Rondo, a sudden move to A-flat is reinterpreted as G-sharp -- and quite unexpectedly, E major turns out to be not all that bizarre in a C minor framework. In the instance, the young mastermind shows that hs is not just another virtuoso who has written himself a showpiece, but first and foremost a composer who would eventually change the way we listen to music forever.

The premiere of Beethoven's Piano concerto No.3 in C minor took place in Vienna on April 5, 1803. Beethoven evidently had not had sufficient time to write down the entire score, and a contemporary, Ignax Xaver Seyfried, who turned pages for the composer at this first performance, left the following account: "I saw almost nothing but empty leaves - at the most, here and there, a few hieroglyphics, wholly unintelligible to me, scribbled down to serve as clues for him. He played nearly all the solo part from memory. Whenever he reached the end of an 'invisible' passage, he gave me a nod. My obvious anxiety not to miss the decisive moment amused him greatly."

Although this concerto was not immediately successful, Beethoven always thought highly of it. In contrast to his first two piano concertos, the Third is more symphonic in character, not only in the increased demands make on the orchestra, but in the greater scope of the piano part. The boldness of Beethoven’s use of the brass and woodwinds, for example, makes for a much fuller sound than (that) can be found in his previous concertos. And, rather than serving simply as color contrast, the woodwinds and brass also develop thematic material concurrently with the strings. The increased power and breadth of this work attest to the composer’s artistic maturity.