Liszt - Totentanz (Dance Of Death)

 Franz Liszt began planning the work as early as 1838 after he saw The Triumph Of Death fresco by Francesco Traini in the Campo Santo in Pisa, Italy. But until he dedicated himself to composing over traveling Europe as the most famous virtuoso of his day, the first version was not completed until 1853.  Liszt revisited the work in 1859 and completed the 2^nd version, the version most often heard, in 1864.

The Romantic era in general had a certain amount of interest in the subject of death, but Liszt took it even farther. He composed a number of pieces that dwelled on the subject to the point of morbidity.

Totendanz is a set of variations (or as Liszt put it, a paraphrase) on the Gregorian chant Dies Irae, or day of wrath, words that were taken from the Bible that depicted the day of final judgement. The original Latin text and music for Dies Irae date back to the 13^th century. The chant is most frequently heard in the Catholic Requiem Mass, and Liszt is just one of many composers that used the melody in their compositions.

The Triumph Of Death fresco by Francesco Traini

Opening theme ‘Dies irae - The music begins with the soloist playing deep in the bass of the piano in marked tone clusters while the orchestra plays the theme.  The piano then plays the first of three cadenzas that span the compass of the keyboard with the orchestra contributes short chords after each. The orchestra then takes up the theme while the piano hammers out chords in the treble range of the piano in rapid tempo that makes it sound like a huge 8-note tremolo. A climax is reached and the music grows quiet. The piano has a solo that leads to -

Variation I (Allegro moderato) - The bassoon and violas play a variant of the melody, and the piano repeats it. Clarinets and bassoon play the second part of the melody and the piano repeats it, and leads to  -

Variation II - The left hand of the piano plays a variant of the theme low in the bass as the right hand plays runs higher in the bass. A horn and pizzicato strings add to the texture.  The next part of the variation has piano glissandos in the right hand, the bass plays a dotted rhythm while trumpets and low strings are added. The drama increases as the piano plays glissandos in both hands as the woodwinds and strings lend accompaniment. This leads to -

Variation III (Molto vivace) - The soloist goes back to the deep bass for an agitated section that eventually climbs into the high treble. A full stop comes upon a D minor chord that leads to -

Variation IV (Lento) - For piano solo, this gentle canon gives some rest after the preceding drama. After it has played out, a cadenza in B major (the only section of any length in a major key in the piece) gives repose. The music then goes back to the minor with a solo clarinet playing a simple variant of the melody with a light piano accompaniment.  Another section of transformation begins abruptly with the piano increasing the tempo to presto, with octaves in each hand leading to -

Variation V (Vivace) - The first part of the theme is rendered contrapuntally by solo piano in a fugue with repeated notes. The orchestra joins the soloist and the music goes somewhat a field to different keys. There is a section of the piano part that has the directive strepitoso, meaning clamorous, impetuous. The section ends in a long cadenza for the soloist and leads to -

Variation VI (Semper allegro (ma non troppo)) - This is a mini-set of variations itself.

1.            The horns play a figure in triplets while the orchestra, minus the other brass, accompany.

2.            The piano enters and plays a variant with pizzicato low strings, flute and triangle.  

3.            Oboes, piano, strings, and the triangle play a variant.

4.            The piano imitates hands as the woodwinds and strings fill out the harmonies.

5.            The figure is played in the bass of the piano with chords in the right hand. Woodwinds fill in harmonies while the strings play col legno.

6.            The piano plays a variant that is marked piacevole that is punctuated by chromatic runs played by both hands a third apart that venture high into the treble.

7.            The piano accompanies with chords and octave runs while the orchestra plays another variant.

This mini-set of variants ends when there is another cadenza that has the Dies Irate played low in the bass while a tremendous minor scale is played that covers the rest of the keyboard.  The glissandos appear again, as the music leads up to a raucous closing. There is no written part for the piano in the score, but it is not out of place for a soloist to play along with the orchestra. There is a tradition for the soloist to play in contrary motion to the orchestra with the final chromatic run and final chords.

The modern way in which Liszt treated the piano in the middle of the 19^th century was ahead of its time. His percussive treatment of the instrument was a big influence on a 20^th century fellow Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok.

Chopin - Ballade No. 1 In G Minor, Opus 23

The history of the term ballad begins with a type of French medieval narrative song which was generally danced to. Ballet derives from the same base word in French, so both words have the action of dance in common. While the etymology of the word may be French, the ballad was a narrative song or poem that has been historically found across Europe and England and was associated with minstrels for centuries.

This cursory description of an historical ballad has a direct bearing on the term as used in the instrumental form. The historical ballad tells a story in verse with or without music, while the Romantic era ballad is an instrumental work. More specifically, in the case of Chopin's use of the term, it is a musical composition for solo piano that tells a story in purely musical terms. 

When the first ballade was published in 1836 it was considered somewhat of a novelty at the time, for no composer had used the term for a work for solo piano before Chopin. Chopin wrote four ballades (the spelling he used derives from French) during his lifetime, from 1831 to 1842. During his second trip to Vienna in 1831, he began to write the first ballade. He completed it in 1835 after he had moved to Paris. Each of the 4 Ballades are singular works. There are a few purely technical similarities between them, but musically and emotionally they are separate pieces. They contain some of the most  difficult technical and interpretive challenges of any pieces for solo piano in the repertoire.

Lento -  The ballade begins with seven bars of slow arpeggios in common time that serves as a recitative/introduction to the work. 

Moderato - The short introduction blends into the first of two primary themes, a gently pensive theme in 6/4 time and the home key of G minor. After this theme is repeated and slightly expanded, a motive is heard and passage work leads to the second major theme with the indication,

Meno mosso -  This theme is in E-flat major. This theme gets a proper hearing and elaboration, and leads up to the next section.

What has gone on before may be considered as the exposition of a piece in Chopin's personal use of sonata form, as the first theme reappears. It gradually leads to the reappearance of the second theme in a more powerful rendering in a different key. Another motive is heard, and leads to what can be considered as a recapitulation, although the themes appear in reverse order than they did in the exposition.  A stunning coda begins, complete with powerful runs in both hands alternating with solemnly quiet chords until a thunder of octaves brings the piece to a close.

In the end, no amount of analysis, slight or detailed, will convey the strength of Chopin's artistry in this ballade. Or is there anything of much value to trying to tie the ballade with any kind of literary work. Chopin made no reference to any outside inspiration. It is as Chopin intended; a story told in purely musical terms to be understood by emotions and feelings brought on by the music. In that aspect, Chopin is one of the most Romantic of all Romantic era composers.

Mozart - Fantasia In D Minor For Piano

For any piece of music, there is only so much that can be notated on the page. It is of course the same way with language in a stage play. Stage direction can take it only so far, and to merely recite the words without the proper inflection or emotion would make for a pretty boring evening at the theater or concert hall. Of course that's where the skill, art and experience of the interpreter or performer of a piece comes into play. Within the directions given by the author or composer there exists an interpretive leeway that can make or break a performance.

There has been a slow and steady trend in music by composers to be very specific as to their intentions. Whether this is an all together good thing or not depends on the music in question and of course the listener's taste. But the music of history could be very sparse as to performing directions. Even the most basic tempo directions can be very sparse in the music of Bach. And here is one of the mysteries of Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor; It has very little performing directions outside of tempo indications, and the last ten bars are missing. Mozart evidently never got around to writing out the ending of the work or to notate more detailed dynamics or phrasing. Scholars believe that someone else besides Mozart wrote the last few bars of the work. 

The piece has three unbarred cadenzas, numerous fermatas, and changes tempo often. The name Fantasia does mean a certain amount of freedom in performance, and with the lack of direction in the piece it assures a variety of performances will happen. And they have. But to the player that is also a scholar, there are indications as to a proper performance by the time period it was written in, the composer who wrote it, and the traditions of the time.

The circumstances that have made freedom of expression so prevalent for this piece have also added to the degree of difficulty of it. If the performer doesn't have the ability to blend the sections into a whole, the seams can be heard and it becomes a string of loosely connected musical ideas that no matter how attractive some of them may be by themselves, the overall piece will suffer from sectionalization. The notes themselves are not difficult. Bringing them together and making music with them is. But that can be said for many of Mozart's works. But this particular piece is somewhat of an enigma, and remains an interpretive challenge for any pianist who chooses to tackle it.

For a more in depth analysis of the piece, I recommend the essay: W. A. Mozart: Fantasia in D minor for Piano - Paradoxes of Style and Interpretation or Fantasies about the Fantasia;by Sophia Gorlin. The essay can be found at her website.

Mozart

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Dvořák - String Quintet No. 3 In E-flat Major, Opus 97

Dvořák's String Quintet In E-flat Major was a product of his stay in the United States as the director

of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City from 1892 to 1895. During the summer of 1893 he stayed in Spillville, Iowa where there was a community of Czech immigrants.  Dvořák was a man with deep roots in his homeland, and the few months he spent in Spillville helped to aleve some of his homesickness. He wrote a letter to a Czech friend and described Spillvile:

Spillville is a purely Czech settlement, founded by a certain "Bavarian", "German", "Spielmann", who christened the place Spillville. He died four years ago, and in the morning when I went to church, my way took me past his grave and strange thoughts always fill my mind at the sight of it as of the graves of many other Czech countrymen who sleep their last sleep here. These people came to this place about 40 years ago, mostly from the neighbourhood of Pisek, Tabor and Budejovice. All the poorest of the poor, and after great hardships and struggle they are very well off here. I liked to go among the people and they, too, were all fond of me, and especially the grandmas and gran dads were pleased when I played to them in church "God before Thy Majesty" and "A Thousand Times we greet Thee".

It is very strange here. Few people and a great deal of empty space. A farmer's nearest neighbour is often 4 miles off, especially in the farms (I call them the Sahara) there are only endless acres of field and meadow and that is all you see. You don't meet a soul (here they only ride on horseback) and you are glad to see in the woods and meadows the huge herds of cattle which, summer and winter, are out at pasture in the broad fields. Men go to the woods and meadows where the cows graze to milk them. And so it is very "wild" here and sometimes very sad, sad to despair .

He wrote the String Quartet No. 12 In F Major (American) as well as his 3rd String Quintet and other chamber music during his stay in Spillville.  The quintet was first performed in New York City in January of 1894, and is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro non tanto -  Dvořák's quintet is a viola quintet, that is to say it has an extra viola added to a standard string quartet. The viola was Dvořák's instrument, and the first movement opens with a short theme for solo viola. This theme is picked up by the cello and played in the minor mode. This is all by way of introduction to the actual beginning of the movement with the playing of the first theme by the violin. While  Dvořák was in Spillville, he saw a troupe of Native American Indians that were passing through. He heard their songs and dances and was inspired to use some of the rhythms as in the second 'drum' theme of this movement. The exposition is repeated. The drum rhythm is used in the development section along with the other themes. The recapitulation leads to a coda that has a reference to the material heard in the introduction before the movement ends quietly.

II. Allegro vivo - A solo viola begins the second movement which is in B major. More rhythms reminiscent of drum beats punctuate this scherzo as the themes are played. The trio section is in B minor and is a long, rather sad melody played by the viola.

III. Larghetto - The third movement is a set of variations on two themes, the first in A-flat minor and the second in A-flat major. This double variation movement has 5 variations for each theme with the themes ending the movement in their original form.

IV. Finale. Allegro giusto - The last movement is a rondo filled with attractive melodies and more examples of how American music influenced Dvořák, and no doubt reminded him of his own beloved native music with the common factor in each being the pentatonic scale.

Dvorak Symphonic Poem - The Water Goblin

 Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) was a Czech composer best known for his nine symphonies, especially the 9th known as "From The New World", written while he was a music professor in New York City.  But he also wrote ten operas,  chamber music (more than forty works for string ensemble), for the piano and sacred music. Later in his career he also wrote five symphonic poems in the years 1896-1897:  The Water Goblin, The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel, The Wild Dove and A Hero's Song.  

The Water Goblin is a creature of European mythology, with differences in the myth according to nationality. The Czech version of the goblin  has a human body, with green skin. He's thought to be the cause of drownings, and stores the soul of the drowned victim in a porcelain cup. Some tales of the water goblin portray him as rather comical, but Dvorak used a poem based on the tale written by Karel Erben, a Czech poet, writer and collector of folk tales and songs.  The Water Goblin portrayed in Erben's poem and used by Dvorak is most certainly not comical!  A short sketch of the poem and story:

A mother warns her daughter to stay away from the nearby lake because of a dream she has had about the water goblin. The daughter ignores the warning, goes to the lake and just as she begins to do her laundry she falls in. The goblin claims her as his wife. Her existence is sorrowful in his watery kingdom, but they have a child that is the only light in her life.  She begs the Goblin to let her go see her mother one more time.  The Goblin thinks it over and reluctantly agrees but on three conditions; She mustn't kiss or embrace anyone; she must return after one day as soon as the bells ring out for Vespers; and lastly she must leave the child with him as a hostage to guarantee her return.  The woman leaves and after a sad meeting between her and her mother the evening bell tolls, but her mother holds her back and prevents he leaving, which enrages the Goblin. He knocks on the door, saying the child must be fed. The mother refuses to open the door and demands the child be left with them. The Goblin is blinded by rage, and after awhile he returns to the lake. After a violent crash during a storm, the mother and daughter open the door and find the headless body of the child on the doorstep.

Pretty gruesome stuff for sure, but such is the way of folktales sometimes. The music is some of the best Dvorak ever wrote for orchestra.  Rich in tone and orchestral color, it is a piece written by a master of the orchestra. And with the use of a little imagination, you can hear The Water Goblin cavorting through the orchestra.