Third Movement: E Major, 2/4 time

Following a brief introduction in C-sharp minor (the relative minor), a vibrant theme is presented by the solo piano. While the finale of the F minor concerto incorporated elements of the mazurka, this time elements of the krakowiak are employed.

Although composed in a rondo-like manner, the majority of the movement consists of sections where musical ideas appear one after another and develop freely, allowing it to be viewed as a large two-part form.

It adopts a structure where orchestral episodes are inserted between the rondo theme and couplet themes played by the solo piano, and it is characteristic that the orchestra never plays the rondo theme. Furthermore, a modal theme in unison, appearing twice within the movement, enhances the overall folk-dance character of the movement, while its distinctive sound functions as a second theme.

In the first half of the piece, improvisatory and free passages by the solo piano connect the dance theme, which develops in a rondo-like fashion, and the modal unison theme.

The transition to the second half is extremely impressive and full of ingenuity. The dominant chord of the tonic key is prolonged (mm. 268-271), creating an expectation of resolution to the tonic chord and simultaneous theme recapitulation, but ascending chromatically leads to E-flat major, a semitone lower (m. 272 ff.). Furthermore, the dance theme is recapitulated in a cantilena style over an unstable harmony, the second inversion of the tonic chord. This briefly shifts towards E-flat minor (m. 278), then returns to the tonic key through enharmonic reinterpretation, leading to a complete recapitulation of the theme (m. 280 ff.).

The second half largely corresponds to the first half, with virtuosic passages connecting the dance theme and the unison theme, leading into the coda. The piece concludes brilliantly with a coda where scales and arpeggios rush by in a dazzling manner.