Early evidence of Schubert’s interest in music of the past can be found in his “Fantasy in C minor” of 1811 (D 2 E), with its echoes of Mozart’s fantasy in the same key. A recurring motivic snippet in the virtuosic “Graz Fantasy” in C major (D 605 A), probably composed between 1818 and 1821, already foreshadows the monumental “Wanderer Fantasy” of 1822 (op. 15 - D 760).
Given Saint-Saëns’ talents both as pianist and composer, it stood to reason that he would engage with the piano concerto genre early on. But he gave a clear renunciation of the “concerto brilliant” that was dominant in France at that time, declaring instead that “the solo part of a concerto must be set out, and treated, like a dramatic role”