No one is quite sure when Felix Mendelssohn composed the Rondo Capriccioso, with some musicologists offering up as early as 1824 when he was 15 years old. But there is certainty when it was fully composed and revised, for Mendelssohn put the date of June 13, 1830 on the revision.
Perhaps Mendelssohn revised it for a specific pianist, Delphine von Schauroth, who was from Munich. She was close to Mendelssohn's age, and they had met again when Mendelssohn was passing through Munich during his tour of Europe. They had met earlier in Paris in 1825, and Mendelssohn was quite taken with her. He thought about proposing marriage, but never did.
The Rondo Capriccioso is in two sections:
Andante In E Major - Modern research has determined that this section was added to the original etude in E minor during the revision of 1830. It begins softly, and the melody is a Song Without Words, a type of piano piece that was one of Mendelssohn's specialties. It lyrically leads to a segue to the next section.
Presto In E Minor - This second section is also one of Mendelssohn's musical specialties; music that is quick, light and sparkling. The technical demands on the pianist are not excessive, but there are some rapidly repeating thirds in the right hand that are a challenge to play in tempo with the lightness of touch needed. Material from the opening section returns briefly, and the music shifts to E minor for an ending in thundering alternating octaves. The entire piece lasts a little over six minutes, and was popular throughout the 19th century. it is still played in student recitals as well as by professional pianists as an encore.
Claude Debussy has been identified with Impressionism, exemplified by the paintings of Renoir and Monet among others. Debussy himself disliked the term and rejected any association with it. As he said himself:
I am trying to do 'something different'...what the imbeciles call 'impressionism', a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by the critics.
Some have suggested he was a proponent of Symbolism more than Impressionism, but 'isms' are but created labels that attempt to categorize. Not that these labels aren't useful. They certainly can give a sense of structure for study and understanding. But labels are models to aid in understanding. As soon as a model is used as a definite mold to force art to conform to specific rules, the model loses its value.
Debussy's talent was such that he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire when he was ten years old. During his 11 years there he constantly challenged his teachers and the directorship of Ambroise Thomas, a musical conservative. He earned the praise and admiration of his teachers and fellow students for his abilities as a pianist and sight-reader, but his compositions were not understood. He understood the models of music that were taught in his classes, but he refused to allow his creativity to be controlled by them.
That is not to say that he was not influenced by other composers. Richard Wagner was a profound influence, as well as Mussorgsky. Older music also had an influence, such as the Baroque clavicenists such as Couperin as well as J.S. Bach. Each one of these influences were digested and internalized by Debussy's talent and transformed into his own highly original music. American Ragtime, the Gamelan from Java all played a part as well as literature and the visual arts.
Debussy was a slow and meticulous composer, but uncharacteristically the Preludes Book One was begun in late 1909 and finished three months later. He kept with the traditional number of preludes of 24 (in two books of 12) as set by many composers before him, especially J.S. Bach and Chopin. But where Bach had his preludes (and the fugues that went with them) follow each other in a half-step progression of keys and Chopin followed the circle of fifths, Debussy's preludes follow no set key sequence, although groups of them seem to be tonally related. Debussy doesn't use conventional keys hardly at all as he uses church modes, pentatonic scales and the whole tone scale in writing them.
Another unique feature of Debussy's preludes is that while each one is titled, the title appears at the end of the piece instead of the beginning.
1) Danseuses de Delphes (Dancers of Delphi) -Debussy begins with music inspired by ancient Greek dancers in music that gently moves through different types of scales and melodies. This first prelude gives a clue to what will proceed, and renders what Debussy himself said is his musical objective:
Wagner pronounced himself in favor of the laws of harmony. I am for freedom. But freedom must essentially be free. All the noises we hear around ourselves can be re-created. Every sound perceived by the acute ear in the rhythm of the world about us can be represented musically. Some people wish to conform to the rules; for myself, I wish only to render what I can hear.
2) Voiles (Veils or Sails) -The title of this prelude is ambiguous, quite appropriate for the music. Either the sails of ships billowing in a breeze, or the sensuous form of a woman only partially hidden by diaphanous veils. The whole tone scale is used throughout with the chromatic scale added for variety. 3) Le vent dans la plaine (The wind in the plain) - A depiction of strong as well as gentle breezes. There is no documentation as to whether Debussy intended the preludes to be played as an entire set. Shortly after their composition, Debussy himself as well as other pianists played them in groups of three. The first three preludes sound well together played this way. 4) Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir (The sounds and fragrances swirl through the evening air) -The title is inspired by a poem by Charles Beaudelaire titled Harmonie Soir (Evening Harmony). This preludes ends with a short coda that is marked by the composer 'as a far away horn call'. 5) Les collines d'Anacapri (The hills of Anacapri) - Anacapri is a small village on the Isle of Capri in the Gulf of Naples off the Italian coast. Debussy begins the prelude slowly until it erupts in an Italian dance, the tarantella. The dance is interrupted by a folk song like melody in the middle section. The dance returns and leads to a glittering ending in the extreme treble of the keyboard which is marked lumineux (luminous). 6) Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the snow) - A bleak landscape of snow and cold is represented as a persistent motive is repeated. Debussy gives the direction that 'the tempo must be such that it sounds like a sad, icy landscape'. There is little relief from the cold atmosphere in this prelude that is a challenge for the pianist to bring off with Debussy's intended effect. 7) Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest (What the west wind has seen) -The subtle colors of the preceeding preludes are swept away by this depiction of a violent wind that roars off the coast of France during a storm at sea. 8) La fille aux cheveux de lin (The girl with the flaxen hair) -One of the most often played preludes, this gentle music is in stark contrast to the preceding violent one. Gentle chords surround Debussy's original melody that sounds like a folk song. 9) La sérénade interrompue (The interrupted serenade) -Debussy continues the French love of Spanish music in this prelude that depicts a Spanish guitarist that tries to serenade his sweetheart. Is the father the one that slams the window to shut out the serenade, or the beloved? No matter, the serenader finally gives up and wanders off. 10) La Cathédrale engloutie (The engulfed cathedral) -Another of the most popular preludes, this is a representation of the legend of the cathedral of the ancient city of Ys in Brittany that sank to the bottom of the ocean when the city was swallowed by the sea. Once every hundred years the cathedral rises out of the ocean to the tolling of its bells and the chanting of monks. It then sinks back into the sea. With thunderous chords in the middle section, Debussy has the piano do a credible impression of pipe organ sonority. Widely-spaced chords (including six-note chords to be played by the five fingers of the right hand) add to the mysterious nature of the legend before the cathedral slips back under the water. 11) La danse de Puck (Puck's dance) -A representation of the mischievous Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 12) Minstrels -Traveling minstrel shows appeared in Europe around the turn of the 20th century and were very popular. European composers were influenced by ragtime and early jazz music. Debussy's creative imagination attracted him to different kinds of music and art, and led to this witty representation of the banjo and minstrel music.
Carl Maria von Weber's works for the stage are considered to be the first German nationalist operas and as such they influenced composers of the next generation, especially in Germany. His early development of the lietmotif influenced Wagner to use the technique also. His orchestrations were studied by Berlioz and used them for examples in his Treatise On Instrumentation. Liszt, Mendelssohn and Chopin were influenced by his works for piano and orchestra, and 20th century composer Igor Stravinsky admitted that Weber was a model for his Cappriccio For Piano And Orchestra, written over 100 years after Weber's death.
The Konzertstück In F Minor was especially influential, not only for Weber's use of the orchestra, musical content and form (it is in 4 sections played without break), but for its extra-musical content. Weber had composed two piano concertos and when he had begun writing his third he wrote the following in a letter to music critic Johann Rochlitz:
I have an F minor piano concerto planned. But as concertos in the minor without definite, evocative ideas seldom work with the public, I have instinctively inserted into the whole thing a kind of story whose thread will connect and define its character - moreover, one so detailed and at the same time dramatic that I found myself obliged to give it the following headings: Allegro, Parting. Adagio, Lament. Finale, Profoundest misery, consolation, reunion, jubilation.
Weber was taken up with work on other compositions and didn't get back to the third concerto, which he had renamed Konzertstück,until 1821. In fact, on the morning of the premiere of his opera Der Freischütz he finished the Konzertstück. It was premiered a week later to (in Weber's words) "monstrous acclaim", and the work has been a popular concert piece ever since.
Weber himself played the piece for his wife and Julius Benedict, a German composer and conductor. According to Benedict the composer gave a running commentary as he played the piece, which shall be quoted below:
Larghetto affetuoso - Beginning in F minor, the sad and reflective music has a story Weber described as he played : A lady sits alone on her balcony, gazing off in the distance. Her knight has gone on a Crusade to the Holy Land. Years have passed, battles have been fought; is he still alive? Will she ever see him again? Allegro passionato - In a state of panic (and still in the key of F minor), Weber described her state of mind: Her excited imagination summons a vision of her noble husband lying wounded and forsaken on the battlefield. Could she not fly to his side and die with him? She falls back, unconscious. Then from the distance comes the sound of a trumpet (represented by a solo bassoon). There in the forest something flashes in the sunlight as it comes nearer and nearer. Tempo di marcia -The music has now changed to C major in a wave of celebration: Knights and squires, with the Crusaders' cross and banners waving, are acclaimed by the crowd. And there her husband is among them! She sinks into his arms (represented by an octave glissando on the keyboard)
Presto giocoso - The solo piano erupts in rapid scales and figures, the music modulates to F major as the soloist plays brilliant passages, including two more grand glissandos as Weber concluded his story: Happiness without end! The woods and waves sing a song of love, while a thousand voices proclaim its victory.
Weber's Konzertstück is the quintessential early Romantic work for piano and orchestra. It is no surprise that Liszt played it many times in his career and even wrote his own version of the piano part. Liszt (as well as other composers) used the connected movement form of it for their own works for piano with and without orchestra.
In 19th century musical life, the region of Germany and
Austria reigned supreme. For those ambitious enough to want international
recognition as a composer, the best way was to be acknowledged in Germany. All
of the master composers of the 19th century had connections with Germany, if
not by birth by other connections such as studying there, living there, or
knowing the right people there.
Fortunately for many composers, there were famous men of the
time that helped otherwise unknown composers get their foot in the door.
Perhaps the most magnanimous was Liszt, who met, encouraged and promoted many
younger composers of his time. Liszt used his fame (and in many cases his
fortune) to help many composers, the most famous being Wagner. One name
that is not thought of as a promoter of another composer's works is Johannes
Brahms.
The most prevalent impression of Brahms is an acerbic
bachelor that had little use for any of his contemporaries, especially the
leaders and followers of the 'New Music' movement led by Liszt and Wagner. Even
when Brahms had something good to say about someone else, as a contemporary
once said of him, "His compliments sting like salt in the eyes."
Brahms once visited an acquaintance that was a minor composer. Brahms got
there and saw the man playing outside with his children. His wife apologized,
saying that her husband composed so much that he had little time to stop.
Brahms replied, "Thank God, it should happen more often."
Brahms could be a cantankerous personality, and there's been
much speculation about his childhood and early adulthood and how it formed his
personality. But the truth is that Brahms actually did acknowledge the genius
of Wagner and thought that his opera'The Mastersingers
Of Nuremburg'as a high point in German art. That he
disliked what he thought was the undue influence of these composers with
younger composers is to be expected, given Brahms conservative nature.
But Brahms could be a devoted friend, and there is at least
one example of his giving his help to an up and coming composer. Brahms was on
a panel that was to select a gifted composer in the Hapsburg Empire to grant a
stipend to help them keep composing. It was then that Brahms was amazed at the
huge volume of music Dvořák entered in the competition. Brahms was instrumental
in seeing that the stipend was awarded Dvořák not only that year, but the next
two years also. Brahms sent letters to his publisher Simrock about Dvořák's
music and even worked as a copyist and editor of the music to help speed up its
publication. That Dvořák was appreciative is an understatement. They remained
very good friends until Brahms death.
Dvořák wrote the Cello Concerto near the end of his time in
New York City in 1894-1895. It had its premiere in 1896 in London,
England, which was conducted by Dvořák.
I. Allegro -The first movement begins quietly with
clarinets and low strings. The orchestra reaches fortissimo and the theme
continues in a robust manner. The orchestra gradually calms until the gentle and
lyrical second theme is played by the horns. A rousing third theme rounds out
the orchestral part of the exposition. Dvořák labels the cello entry with its
version of the first theme quasi improvisando, like an improvisation. The
cello’s version is punctuated by triple stops. A long section of trills by the
soloist lead to a quickening of the first theme that leads to the cello’s
version of the second lyrical theme.
The development section begins with a section for orchestra
that expands the first theme until the cello plays a more lyrical version of
it. The music quickens as the cello plays accompanying figures in sixteenth
notes as the woodwinds continue to develop themes. The cello becomes more
animated and complex with rapid double stops, and a climax is reached when the
cello plays in chromatic octaves until the second lyrical theme is played in a
louder version. The cello soon takes it back up and returns it to its
gentleness. The cello plays rapid arpeggios and leads to the first theme once
again, which after an increase in tempo brings the movement to an end in B
major.
The last piece of music of Dvořák’s that Brahms worked on
was the Cello Concerto. He corrected the proofs and played the piano reduction
of the orchestra with a cellist and is reported as saying, "If I had known
that it was possible to compose such a concerto for the cello, I would have
tried it myself!" No doubt this vast, virtuosic, and complex movement had
a lot to do with that comment.
II. Adagio ma non troppo -Dvořák’s sister-in-law who
he was very fond of inspired the second movement. He was in love with her but
it didn't work out so he ended up marrying her sister. In the
movement Dvořák quotes one of his own compositions, a song that he wrote
that was one of his sister-in-law's favorites. She had been taken ill
while Dvořák was composing the score. The woodwinds begin the movement, and the
cello enters with a theme in G major. A
more spirited middle section leads to the return of the initial theme with a
version played and elaborated by the horns before the cello plays a solo that
involves playing with the bow while accompanying itself with pizzicato notes on
an open string. The movement gently ends as it begins.
III. Allegro
moderato - Andante - Allegro vivo - A theme that seems related to the first
movement first theme is played by the horns. The music turns ever more rhythmic
with a call and response section for cello and orchestra. A new theme enters
and is developed. The opening theme returns and leads to another episode a few
times. Themes from the first and second movements reappear. After Dvořák came
back to his homeland from New York, his sis-in-law died, and he added this
slow, quiet section to the concerto as a tribute. After this is played through,
the orchestra ends the movement with a flourish in B major.
The 1935 film The Bride Of Frankenstein is a rarity in the movie world; a sequel that actually has been regarded by many as superior to the original Frankenstein of 1931. That is a matter of opinion for the most part. The original Frankenstein made by Universal Pictures followed their first foray into sound horror films with Dracula, which has it's own proponents and critics. It is difficult to realize how much these early sound horror films actually terrified some in the audience. My Mother was a teenager in High School in 1931 when Frankenstein came to theaters. When I was a kid and Frankenstein was going to be shown on Saturday night television, she told me that she saw it with her girlfriend, and she remembered the scene where the monster is first seen, when it backs into the room and there are two jump shot close-ups of his cadaverous face. She said there was a collective shriek of various intensity in the theater, it was so startling. And by the time the movie let out, it was dark outside and that she and her friend ran all the way home!
The most acknowledged first sound feature was The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson on 1927, but it was far from the first sound film (and only half of it was sound.) Sound had been synchronized with film in an exhibition in 1900 in Paris, France, and even earlier, but did not become viable until the mid 1920's with Warner Brothers Vitaphone system producing a series of short subjects. This system used large acetate records that had to be synced by hand to the film, and was the first really successful sound film technology that lasted until 1931. 1931 was an important year for sound, as there were over 1,000 sound feature films made in the U.S.A. alone. In 1927, a little over 2% of all movies contained sound; by 1930 that number had jumped to over 96%! When technology was introduced that recorded the sound right on the same film as the pictures is when the sound film industry really took off. But it's good to remember that silent movies were not really silent-there was usually a piano playing appropriate snippets of classical music to fit the action. In the larger theaters there were large pipe organs with all kinds of imitative stops (some of which still survive and are used for silent film revivals), and the really high quality movies would have scores written for them to be played by an orchestra. So the idea of music playing along with the film wasn't a new idea, but it had to wait for audio technology to catch up.
Dracula only had music in the opening and closing credits as well as a short scene at the opera, while Frankenstein had no music within the movie itself, only the credits. Some have given this as one example that helped set the mood of the films. For one, I have heard Dracula with music written by Philip Glass, and I see no advantage to having a score. Granted, it's a score for string quartet, and no doubt after seeing the movie so many times in the original version I don't think I could ever enjoy it as much with a score. I just listened to the Overture of the music for the film Frankenstein by Michael Shapiro, who has taken a much different direction than Glass did for Dracula! Strange sounds, perhaps noises would be better, but still somewhat traditional. I would really like to watch the film with the entire score being played. He has conducted it many times with the film playing, and as a coincidental piece of trivia, Shapiro scored it for a chamber group of 22 players, the exact same number of core players Waxman had for The Bride Of Frankenstein!
By 1935 film music was being utilized more often by filmmakers to help set the mood and enhance the overall effect. The score for The Bride Of Frankenstein set in motion the necessity of having music for a horror movie. Franz Waxman's score is iconic, not only enhanced James Whale's direction (he had insisted on having Waxman write the music), but created some of the most time-honored music cliches in horror music history.
Franz Waxman was born in Germany, was educated at the Dresden Music Academy He put himself through school by playing popular music, and after his schooling was over, worked as an orchestrator for the German film industry. He was severely beaten by Nazi sympathizers in Berlin in 1934, and he joined many other Jews in leaving Germany. He first went to Paris, and soon after to Hollywood.
Waxman met the director James Whale in Hollywood, who knew some of his film music and was impressed. He had Waxman hired by Universal to compose the music for the upcoming Frankenstein sequel.
Waxman's resources were limited as to the number of musicians he had. His basic core orchestra was 22 players, but for certain scenes he had as many as 40. It's not known exactly how many of each instrument he had access to, but roughly he used:
3 flutes, with one doubling on piccolo
2 oboes, with one doubling English horn
3 clarinets including a bass clarinet
2 bassoons, one doubling on contra-bassoon
4 horns
3 trumpets
3 trombones
1 tuba
1 timpani player
3 percussionists
1 Harp
1-2 keyboard players for piano, celeste, and the essential pipe organ used to fill out the harmonies
A greatly reduced string section, exact numbers unknown.
Musicians would come and go as needed for recording specific scenes. Waxman used many techniques to help compensate for the low number of players. In the strings, he had them play double stops, even with tremolos, woodwinds and brass he used flutter-tonguing.
Waxman uses the technique of lietmotif, a musical phrase that is consistently used for a character, mood, or place. He uses them throughout the score, with 5 major ones:
The Monster's lietmotif - Played by the brass, a 5-note phrase containing dissonant minor 2nds to make it harsh, and flutter-tonguing to imitate growling. Waxman varies the speed and volume according to the situation.
Agitation lietmotif - played by the strings at a high speed and frantic in mood, represents the monster in flight or anger.
The Bride's lietmotif - A short 3-note phrase, usually delicate and played by strings and woodwinds with harp glissandos, but it can also be dissonant, foreshadowing the fate of the bride.
Dr. Pretorius's lietmotif- It's in a minor key, stepping downward, played in the woodwinds especially the bassoon, and a celeste.
Creation lietmotif - A steady, driving beat by the timpani, along with high ghostly strings and bells, plays in the creation.
The creation of the bride is the key scene in the picture, and it is best to listen to the original sound track from the movie, even with its less than pristine sound:
It begins with deep rumbling in the strings, with the monster's theme played over it with sweeps of the harp. The woodwinds along with a muted trumpet lead to the agitation theme in the violins. Dissonant soft chords are played under the theme and the incessant thump of the timpani begins. More agitation from the strings leads to a short playing of the bride's theme. The themes appear, reappear, until an extended and developed section of the bride's theme. The timpani beats all alone, with a slightly varying rhythm until it is joined by woodwinds. The agitated strings create the mood of excited energy of Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Pretorius as they work on the bride. The Bride's theme is heard on the pipe organ, then in the strings. The beating timpani beats alone again, until a descending figure enters to bass clarinets playing a low theme sustained by string tremolos. Then there is a motif that is repeated in different speeds and textures that leads to a sweeping section for brass. Then the brass play the bride's motif in dissonant minor seconds until it returns in it's usual form. I then transforms into a glittering, shimmering repeat that is interrupted by the monster's theme. Continual agitation leads to a final dissonance, and the bride's theme resounds, with the the timpani playing a two note motive as the section leads to:
The exposure of the bride's alive eyes after bandages are removed! She is presented with the ringing of bells. The monster theme is heard as the monster approaches. He tries to get close to her, the bride's theme is heard. He takes her hand, but she is repelled by him! The monster tells Henry Frankenstein and his wife to leave, and the monster pulls the lever that destroys him and Dr. Pretorius.
I've included all of the final 16 minutes of the film, as the entire scene is needed to resolve the music.
What is also heard is an orchestration of the scene done by the conductor Charles Gerhardt, which is below. There is also an orchestration by Kenneth Alwyn.
The Gerhardt orchestration runs a little over 7 minutes. It's a good representation of the original and uses a synthesizer for some of the sounds. It has the advantage of having clear sound and the score to follow (when you can). I'm assuming Gerhardt kept most of the techniques used by Waxman, and the double stops in the strings can be seen here. Contrary to what has been written about the original film score, Waxman did not use the Ondes Martenot, an early type of synthesizer, in his score. Waxman did use it in other films before and after Bride Of Frankenstein, but not in that film. All of his effects were done by masterful use of his limited resources. Gerhardt takes the creation scene through most of what the original did, from when the start of the timpani heartbeat begins up until the mock wedding bells begin.
For the sake of completeness, the orchestration by Kenneth Alwyn is below.
His orchestration is for 60 players, and also includes a synthesizer. It's longer than Gebhardts, goes from the beginning of the timpani heartbeat to a short coda of the bride's theme in a loud finish.
Both of these orchestrations are very well done in modern sound, but there's still much to be said for Waxman's original score used in the film. Hollywood was an assembly line of movie making, so most composers like Waxman did not orchestrate their work. He was more than capable, but thestudios always had projects that needed creative composers to write the music, and give an extended outline and instructions to the orchestrator to get it all down on paper for the musicians. And I'm sure that Waxman kept an eye on things when he could.
Waxman went on to compose many more film scores, and was acknowledged a master by all after his score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film Rebecca. He was allowed to write a full orchestral score for the film, and the ethereal music was hailed as a 'soundboard for the subconscious' by the film director Jack Sullivan. Waxman also composed music for the concert hall.
Waxman was considered at the peak of his talent when he died of cancer in 1967 at the age of 60.
Prokofiev wrote a set of variations for piano in 1913, and
over the years continued to expand on it until it took form as his 3rd
piano concerto in 1921. The work is now one of Prokofiev’s most popular, but
that wasn’t the case after its premiere. It took a few years for the concerto
to develop in popularity until it became one of the mainstays of piano concerto
literature in general, and one of the best concertos of the 20th century.
I.
Andante - Allegro - The work begins with a soft rendition of a theme, first
by a solo clarinet that is joined by another. The orchestra takes up the theme,
but briskly whisks it away as it builds in speed and volume. The soloist enters
with a different theme, and this builds to a climax, after which the soloist
plays a short cadenza that fades away as another theme is played by the winds
accompanied by the strings and the clicking of castanets.
The piano and orchestra comment on some of the material
heard until the orchestra takes up the opening clarinet theme. The soloist plays
an expansive variant of the theme. After tremolo strings softly play in
accompaniment to the piano, the piano descends in a delicate figure that ends
with the orchestra beginning to chug out the opening of the fat-paced material
heard in the beginning, and orchestra and soloist rapidly bring the themes back
from the exposition. The whirlwind of
piano and orchestra returns one more time and brings the movement to a close
with a bang.
II. Tema con variazioni - The theme is played by flute and clarinet,
and is followed by 5 variations:
1.The piano broadens the theme and is joined by the
orchestra that repeats the theme, as the soloist plays high in the treble.
2.A trumpet plays the theme as soloist and orchestra play a
rapid accompaniment.
3.The theme is barely recognizable as it is torn asunder by
the soloist as the orchestra tried to get things back on track, but not for
long.
4.The theme has transformed to an ethereal dream as the
orchestra and soloist slowly unwind the mystery.
5. The music quickens as orchestra and soloist pound out
parts of the theme, as it builds to a climax that quickly dissolves into a more
recognizable appearance of the theme. A coda helps the music wind down further,
until a low E minor chord ends the movement.
III. Allegro ma non troppo -Bassoons and pizzicato
strings play the A minor first theme while the soloist interrupts periodically
with a theme of its own. These two themes are developed until the tempo and
dynamics slacken with the second theme in C-sharp minor. The piano interrupts
this theme as well with another of its own before the C-sharp minor theme returns
with the mood taking a late Romantic turn as it is developed. Shifting
harmonies change the theme as the soloist plays rippling scales. A climax is
reached, and the quiet return of the first theme begins.
The soloist’s part becomes a virtuosic tour deforce as the
pace is quicked, along with very difficult maneuvers such as double-note
glissandos for each hand. Prokofiev’s piano technique must have beene
impressive, for he premiered the work in Chicago in 1921 as soloist. The piano and orchestra continue to battle
each other until the final C major chord.
This composition was based on Russian Orthodox liturgical themes found by Rimsky-Korsakov in an old book. His idea was to highlight the pagan origins of the Easter Festival and how the more modern Orthodox festival and tradition had its roots in the old pagan ways. Rimsky-Korsakov was a non believer but he seems to have had an interest in the music of the church.Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his own program notes for the work, as written in his autobiography:
"This legendary and heathen side of the holiday, this transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious merry-making of Easter Sunday, is what I was eager to reproduce in my overture. . . . The rather lengthy slow introduction . . . on the theme “Let God arise” [woodwinds], alternating with the ecclesiastical melody “An angel cried out” [solo cello], appeared to me, in the beginning, as it were, the ancient prophecy of Isaiah of the Resurrection of Christ. The gloomy colors of the Andante lugubre seemed to depict the Holy Sepulchre that had shone with ineffable light at the moment of the Resurrection—in the transition to the Allegro of the overture. The beginning of the Allegro —the theme “Let them also that hate Him flee before Him”—led to the holiday mood of the Greek Orthodox service on Christ's matins; the solemn trumpet voice of the Archangel was replaced by a tonal reproduction of the joyous, almost dancelike tolling of bells, alternating now with the sexton's rapid reading and now with the conventional chant of the priest's reading the glad tidings of the Evangel. The Obikhod theme, “Christ is arisen,” which forms a sort of subsidiary part of the overture, appears amid the trumpet blasts and the bell-tolling, constituting a triumphant coda."
The work was composed in 1887-1888 and the premiere was lead by the composer late in 1888. It was one of his last works for orchestra as he devoted his time almost exclusively to writing opera. The work is full of orchestral color and shows Rimsky-Korsakov a master of the orchestra. It opens with the very different time signature of 5/2, and in the last section of the work time signatures of 3/1 and 2/1 are used.
No one is quite sure when Felix Mendelssohn composed the Rondo Capriccioso, with some musicologists offering up as early as 1824 when he was 15 years old. But there is certainty when it was fully composed and revised, for Mendelssohn put the date of June 13, 1830 on the revision.
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