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.  

 

Handel - Messiah

When Charles Jennens gave his libretto of Messiah to George Handel in 1741, he would have no idea that almost 300 years later the oratorio would still be performed and continue to be one of the most famous and popular works for chorus and soloists.  Jennens came from a wealthy landowning family in England who was also a patron of the arts. He was a writer, Bible scholar, and had such a good knowledge of music that he complained about Handel's setting of the text:

Messiah has disappointed me, being set in great haste, tho’ [Handel] said he would be a year about it, and make it the best of all his Compositions. I shall put no more Sacred Words into his hands, to be thus abus’d... ‘Tis still in his power by retouching the weak parts to make it fit for publick performance; and I have said a great deal to him on the Subject; but he is so lazy and so obstinate, that I much doubt the Effect.

Eventually Handel (known for his stubbornness, which was probably intensified by Jenner's inflated ego) made some of the changes suggested by Jenner after the first English performance of the oratorio in 1743. The premiere of the work was given in Dublin, Ireland  during the winter concert season of 1741-1742. The proceeds of the Dublin premiere were given to charity, a practice that continued with every performance of Messiah throughout Handel's lifetime. In England the proceeds were given to The Foundling Hospital in London, and Handel bequeathed a copy of his score to the hospital upon his death.

The 250-plus pages of the score to Messiah were written in 24 days, quite a feat but not out of the ordinary for Handel and other Baroque era composers. Most music that was publicly performed at the time was new music, and the demand was high, so many composers wrote fast and reused their own music as well as the music of others.  The scoring of the work was also done according to the practice of the times, with parts for violins, violas and cellos, figured bass, 4-part chorus and soloists. But additional instruments would double some of the parts at performances when they were available, and not every set piece was included in every performance, thus there can never be a definitive performance of Messiah, but recent musical scholarship has allowed for accurate performances within the musical traditions and practices of the time.  

Messiah has been performed as a sacred piece as well as a work of the concert hall. Jennens and Handel most likely intended it for an evening's entertainment, as were most oratorios of the time. As a complete performance of  Messiah can last two and a half hours, it certainly takes up a full evening.  Hopefully the audience attending Messiah acted better than the typical opera audiences of the time that talked, yelled at each other, booed and cheered singers and kept up a general ruckus throughout the opera. Messiah is divided into three main parts:

PART ONE

1) Sinfony

As oratorios were in many ways unstaged operas, the convention of an overture was used. Here Handel calls it a Sinfony, and it is written in the style of a French overture. It begins with a slow section with double dotted notes in a minor key. The second section is a fugue in a slightly faster tempo.
2) Tenor recitative
Messiah is different from most oratorios as there are no assigned roles to the soloists, and no characters. The words of the King James Version of the Bible are used throught the work, and the first part begins with the foretelling of the coming of Messiah in the Old Testament, and then celebrates the birth of Messiah in the New Testament.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God:
speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
The voice of him that crieth  in the wilderness:
prepare ye the way of the Lord,make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.

3) Tenor air
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain.

4) Chorus
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

5) Bass recitative
This selection for bass shows Handel's flair for emphasizing the text. He makes use of melisma, the technique of using many notes on one part or syllable of a word. The word shake is literally shaken by the soloist:

Handel makes continual use of tone painting to enhance the text, no doubt one of the many reasons why the oratorio remains so popular.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once in a little while, and I will shake the
heav'ns and the earth, the sea, the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire
of all nations shall come.
The Lord whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
ev'n the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come,
saith the Lord of hosts.

6) Alto recitative
But who may abide the day of his coming?
And who shall stand when he appeareth.
For he is like a refiner's fire.

7) Chorus
And he shall purify the sons of Levi that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness.

8) Alto recitative
Behold, a virgin shall concieve and bear a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel,
God with us.

9) Alto air and chorus
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain;
o thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah; behold your God
Arise, shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen above thee.

10) Bass recitative
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people;
but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee,
And the gentiles shall come to they light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

11) Bass air
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light,
and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them hath the light shined.

12) Chorus
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder;
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

13) Pastoral Symphony
A short orchestral interlude that gives the feeling of sheep contentedly grazing, and begins the section of the birth of Messiah

14a) Soprano recitative
There were sheperds, abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.

14b) Soprano recitative
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone
round about them, and they were sore afraid.

15) Soprano recitative
And the angel said unto them fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the
city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

16) Soprano recitative
And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

17) Chorus
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men.

18) Soprano air
Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion, shout,
o daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy king cometh unto thee.
He is the righteous Saviour, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen.

19) Alto recitative
Thou shall see the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.

20) Alto air
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm
and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.

21) Chorus
His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

PART TWO

The second part deals with the life, death and rising from the dead of Messiah.
22) Chorus
Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

23) Alto air
He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
He gave his back to the smiters and his cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair, he hid not his face from shame and spitting.

24) Chorus
Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon him.

25) Chorus
And with his striped we are healed.

26) Chorus
All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way.
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

27) Tenor recitative
All they that see him laugh him to scorn;
they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads saying:

28) Chorus
He trusted in God that he would deliver him:
let him deliver him, if he delight in him.

29) Tenor recitative
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart, he is full of heaviness:
he looked for some to have pity on him, but there was no man,
neither found he any, to comfort him.

30) Tenor air
Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow.

31) Tenor recitative
He was cut off out of the land of the living,
for the transgressions of thy people was he stricken.

32) Tenor air
But thou didst not leave his soul in hell
nor didst thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.

33) Chorus
Lift up your heads, o ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, o ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

34) Tenor recitative
Unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my Son,
this day I have begotten thee?

35) Chorus
Let all the angels of God worship him.

36) Bass air
Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive,
and received gifts for men, yea even for thine enemies,
that the Lord God might dwell among them.

37) Chorus
The Lord gave the word, great was the company of the preachers.

38) Soprano air
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things.

39) Chorus
Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world.

40) Bass air
Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his Anointed.

41) Chorus
Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from them.

42) Tenor recitative
He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn:
the Lord shall ave them in derision.

43) Tenor air
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,
thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.

44) Chorus
One of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written, the Hallelujah chorus is a supreme example of what Beethoven called Handel's genius as, "He created the greatest effect with the smallest of means."

Hallelujah, for the God omnipotent reigneth.
The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ;
and he shall reign for ever and ever.
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

PART THREE

The final part of the oratorio deals with the Christian promise for the believer on the second coming of Christ.

45) Soprano air
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;
and though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.

46) Chorus
Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam we all die, even so in Christ shall all be made live.

47) Bass recitative
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

48) Bass air
The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must be put in incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

49) Alto recitative
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory.

50) Duet, alto and tenor
O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is they victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

51) Chorus
But thanks be to God, who giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

52) Soprano air
If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is at the
right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.

53) Chorus
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood,
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, glory, and blessing.
Blessing and honour, glory and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne,
and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen.

Biber - Battalia à 10

 Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber was born in 1644 in Wartenberg, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) He is historically recognized as an Bohemian-Austrian. He composed mainly for his instrument, the violin, and was very influential in techniques that he used like multiple stops, and scordatura (deliberate mis-tuning of the violin). He also composed other instrumental music as well as sacred music. As an adult he played in a few different royal courts (even left one illegally) and ended up in Salzburg in 1679 as assistant Kapellmeister for Leopold I, and in 1684 became Kapellmeister. He spent the rest of his life there, and died in 1704. 

 His Battalia à 10 is chamber music written for 3 violins, 4 violas, 2 violones. No one is certain why Biber wrote the work, but there are some scholars that argue that it is his reaction and feelings toward the 30 Years War, a war that was most horrible for the region of Germany, as upwards of 50% of the military and civilian population died as fatalities of war, disease, and famine.  It is in 8 sections:

I - Sonata (Presto 1) - This is in a simple AB form, with sections of the B part being instructed to play col legno

, with the wood of the bow, and example of Biber's extended techniques. 

II - Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor (The Profligate Society of Common Humor) - The movement from this work that is most often seen. It is an example of Biber's humor and creativity. There 8 separate melodies in different keys that end up playing at the same time, as well as some in 12/8 time, others in 4/4 time. The resulting cacophony is explained by Biber in a footnote in Latin-  hic dissonant ubique, nam enim sic diversis Cantilenis clamore solent (here it is dissonant everywhere, for thus are the drunks accustomed to bellow with different songs). We have been listening to drunkards in a tavern, each singing his own different song! One of the songs Biber uses Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben (Cabbages and turnips have driven me away) is the same one J.S.Bach

used in the 30 variation of The Goldberg Variations, the Quodlibet.

III - Allegro (Presto 2) - A short movement in A-A-B-B structure that has the violins play pizzicato with the left hand on open strings. It is a restless piece that ends with little resolution. Some have commented that this might represent an inner restlessness of troops waiting for battle while outwardly they are joking around. Seems a stretch to me...

IV - Der Mars (The March) - The violin and play, and as the violin plays runs and trills, the violone imitates a snare drum by placing paper between the strings and fingerboard. 

V - Presto 3 

VI - Aria

VII - Die Schlacht (The Battle) - The use of snap pizzicato on the violones represents musket fire. Snap pizzicato was an almost unknown string technique until Béla Bartók began to use it in 1928 in his 4th String Quartet

VIII - Lamento Adagio -  Another suggestion is that this is a lament for the dead and wounded. 

I've inserted a video of the group Voices Of Music, a group that performs Renaissance

and Baroque music on original instruments. They seem to have a good time performing it, very much in the spirit of Biber's intent I think.  

Berlioz - Roman Carnival Overture

In many ways Hector Berlioz was unique among the 19th century classical composers. He was not a child prodigy and only began his musical studies at the age of 12. He was groomed by his father (who was a physician) for a career in medicine, so he was discouraged from learning the piano in his youth and never learned to play the instrument. He learned the guitar and flute on his own, and never had any formal training in harmony and trained himself with text books.

In the France of Berlioz's day there was a government scholarship for artists called the Prix de Rome. It was originally for painters and sculptors but was extended to include music composition in 1803. Many French composers vied for the scholarship as the winner traveled to study at the French Academy in Rome for two years with all expenses paid by the French government. The entrants had to compose a fugue and a cantata to a text supplied by the judges, a group of conservative French musicians. There was also a pension provided to the winner for the duration of their study, which was one of the reasons Berlioz applied for the prize. He tried four different times before he finally won in 1830. This was after he had composed and premiered the first version of the piece he is most well-known for, his Symphonie Fantastique. 

Bust of Benvenuto Cellini

While Berlioz composed very little music while in Rome (he detested the city and took every opportunity to travel elsewhere in the country), he came to love the surrounding countryside which served to inspire much of his later music such as Harold In Italy. An expectation for a returning Prix de Rome winner was the composition of an opera. Berlioz's first operatic effort was Benvenuto Cellini, with the libretto based on the autobiography of the 16th-century sculptor, poet and musician. Berlioz looked upon Cellini as a kindred spirit which acted as an inspiration to the composer. The opera was premiered in 1838 and received four performances before the rest of the scheduled ones were canceled, as the opera was a complete failure. Berlioz drastically revised the score for a revival of the opera under the direction of Franz Liszt, and made further revisions for another performance by Liszt in 1852 and the opera became a success.  

After the initial premiere of 1838 (and before the successful revival of 1852), not wanting to let some of good tunes go to waste that he had composed,  Berlioz composed a stand-alone overture from some of the themes of the opera in 18.  He called it Le Carnaval Romain  (The Roman Carnival). The second act of the opera does take place in a carnival in Rome. The opening of the overture is a fragment of a saltarello  from the original opera. Berlioz then uses music from a love duet of the opera played by the English horn. He then quotes some choral music, where upon the opening saltarello returns and combines in a dialogue with the love theme. The saltarello overpowers the love theme, and the music gets wilder and wilder until the brass and woodwind loudly trills out the final chord with the strings. 

The Roman Carnival Overture was a success for the composer, and it was used as a prelude to the second act of Benvenuto Cellini in its revival, but it did have its detractors. Berlioz's music could be wild in content and unique in orchestration. His knack for orchestral innovation was not always easy for listeners to comprehend, nor was it easily understood by some contemporary conductors and musicians. Indeed, Berlioz became a conductor initially because he was so dissatisfied with the way his music was performed. As with so many other aspects of this composer, he was self-taught as a conductor.  But through hard work and natural ability, he became one of the best conductors of his era as well as being one of the most important and influential composers of the Romantic era.  

Méhul - Symphony No.1 In G Minor

Étienne Méhul was a French composer at the time of the French Revolution and Napoleon. He was well-known in his time as an opera composer, and some have called him the first romantic composer. Méhul offered up his first symphony around 1809 in France. Critics were divided as to its worth, even the composer himself offered up an explanation:

"I understood all the dangers of my enterprise; I foresaw the cautious welcome that the music-lovers would give my symphonies. I plan to write new ones for next winter and shall try to write them... to accustom the public gradually to think that a Frenchman may follow Haydn and Mozart at a distance."

While audiences and critics of his time were mixed towards his symphonies, the audience and critics were impressed with Méhul's 1st Symphony in G minor when it was played by  the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn in 1838.  Robert Schumann was in the audience and was quite taken with the symphony.

The 1st Symphony is in 4 movements :
I. Allegro - The movement begins in G minor with an agitated theme that is reminiscent of Mozart's initial theme in his 40th Symphony. There is a downward movement that occupies this first theme. The theme proceeds and leads to the second theme which is of a calmer nature. The second theme features something of a reversal in feeling as well as direction as the music move upward.   The development section expounds on fragments of the initial theme. The recapitulation begins, followed by a summing up by a coda of the main theme and the music returns to its downward movement as the music ends.

II. Andante -  A set of variations, music that strolls in contrast to the proceeding dramatics of the first movement. Méhul's theme is a French Chants de Noël (Christmas Carol).

III. Menuet : Allegro moderato -  Pizzicato strings play the theme quietly. The trio is louder and has the strings play with the bow. This movement impressed Schumann considerably. After praising the symphony in general, Schumann writes:

"A remarkable feature too, was the similarity of the scherzo (to the scherzo of Beethoven's 5th Symphony), and in such a striking way that there must have been a remembrance on one side or the other; I am not able to determine on which, since I do not know the year of birth of the Méhul."

As both Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Méhul's 1st Symphony were being composed in 1808, there is no possibility that either composer heard each other's work.

IV. Final : Allegro agitato -  A final movement that again reminds Schumann of Beethoven's 5th, this time the first movement. Méhul builds the movement from a short rhythmic motive with a personalized sense of sonata form. The composer goes far afield with key changes in the development section, the symphony continues in its restless and intense manner until the final chord.

Paganini - Violin Concerto No. 3 In E Major

Paganini began making his reputation as early as 1813 before he toured Europe. His reputation was made in tours of his native country of Italy.  His First Violin Concerto was the only one of his own that he performed until he made serious plans to tour Europe in the 1820's.  He rapidly composed two more violin concertos for his planned tour, Number Two in B minor and Number Three in E Major.

Paganini began his European tour in Vienna in 1828 and performed these three concertos to great acclaim. Paganini would distribute the orchestral parts of the concertos only at the last minute and always played his solo part from memory. In those days before copyright, music was constantly being 'pirated' by music publishers with the composer getting nothing in return for their work. Paganini amassed a large fortune from his concert tours, not least of all because he was so secretive with his music.

All three of these concertos follow the same general plan of three movements, as do contemporary works of the genre.  These concertos are Italianate in style, like the music of Paganini's countrymen Rossini and Donizetti. The middle slow movements of the concertos are like short operatic scenes for violin and orchestra, while the first and last movements are more involved.  As Paganini was the violin virtuoso of his age, the solo violin parts ask for a brilliant technique that covers all aspects of violin playing. They are still demanding works to play nearly 200 years after their composition, so it's no wonder that Paganini caused such a furor with his playing of them. The music world had never seen or heard the likes of Paganini before.

Violin Concerto No. Three begins with an introduction for orchestra, as do the first two concertos.  The orchestra then proceeds with the exposition of the first movement. Paganini's orchestration is colorful, straightforward and competent, but with a difference in timbre perhaps caused by Paganini using the guitar as his preferred instrument for composing. Berlioz also played the guitar, and his orchestrations have a slightly different sound also. The violin enters and immediately takes center stage as the orchestra takes its role as accompaniment.  The solo violin expands on the themes earlier stated by the orchestra until a place for a cadenza is reached, after which the orchestra brings the movement to a close.

The 2nd movement is a sweet aria for violin and pizzicato strings with the woodwinds adding pastel colors.

The 3rd movement is a Rondo in the tempo of a polonaise, a Polish dance.  The violin dialogues with the orchestra in different episodes between repeats of the main theme. Paganini uses left-hand pizzicati, flying bow work, double stops, harmonics, the whole gamut of  pyrotechnics for the violin until the work comes to a close.

Alkan - Symphony For Piano Solo

Alkan's Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs (Twelve Studies in all the minor keys), Op. 39 for solo piano were published in 1857. But  due to a combination of the difficulties and eccentricities of the works themselves and Alkan's lack of self promotion, only a few of the etudes were heard during his lifetime in the 1870's. None of them were to be heard again until  Eron Petri played the Symphony in 1938.

Alkan was a virtuoso pianist that rivaled Liszt in technique, and while not all of his piano works bristle with intense technical difficulties, the minor key etudes are certainly some of the most challenging  piano music ever composed.

Etudes number 4 - 7 constitute the symphony for piano solo, and it remains one of the few compositions by any composer designated as a symphony. It is in 4 movements.

I. Allegro -  The first movement of the symphony is in C minor and is in sonata form.

The opening theme in the left hand octaves is the basis of most of the other themes in the movement. The first theme shifts into the right hand and after transition material another motif  in E-flat major is heard. The exposition is repeated. The development section makes the most of the first theme by shifting key changes. The recapitulation brings back the first theme in the key of C minor and leads to a coda where the theme trades off between hands until a two-bar chromatic downward run in the right hand begins in single notes:

The run is repeated, this time with the third of the C minor chord added at the beginning and every 1st note of the 4-note sixteenth note groups in the run as well as a third added to every 5th note of the sixteenthnote group. This gives the effect of the run being in thirds. Also, it adds an accent in such a way as to break up the 12 sixteenth notes of 2 groups of 6  to 3 groups of 4 time in the right hand:

The run is repeated for a third time, this time with the fifth added to complete the C minor chord and ther 5th added to the a-flat major chord, thus giving the effect of the run in triads. It also gives the illusion of being in 3/4 time:

The coda moves towards a C major chord, but the chord changes to C minor to end the movement. Alkan stayed true to the form of the first movement of a symphony, almost classical in proportion, but included passion and changes of mood along the way.

II. Marche Funèbre - Andantino - The first edition of the etudes had the following on the title page: Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un Uomo da bene (Funeral march on the death of a good man). No one knows to whom Alkan was referring to. Some think it might have been his father who had died two years before.

The theme is played legato over a staccato accompaniment. The movement is in F minor following the key scheme of the set of 12 as it is in a perfect 4th from the preceding movement. the middle section is more lyrical for contrast, and the march resumes. Before the end, a drum roll deep in the bass interrupts the march. A short coda reaches a climax before the music dies away and ends in F major.

III. Menuet - Hardly a menuet as known by Haydn and Mozart, this is a hectic scherzo in B-flat minor.

The energy of the scherzo dissolves into a lyrical trio that is in contrast. The scherzo returns and leads up to a short return of the trio until it ends in B-flat major.

IV. Finale - Presto -  The most technically challenging movements of the symphony. It is in E-flat minor, but modulates in and out of the home key.

The pace does not let up, even if the minor mood of the music changes to major. Breathlessly, it continues to run (with a few delicious dissonances on the way) until it finally runs itself out and ends with E-flat octaves in each hand.

Rossini - Bassoon Concerto

 From the years 1812 to 1822 Gioachino Rossini wrote thirty operas, or the average of three every year for ten years. These works were his most popular, and he wrote nine more up to the year of 1829 when his last famous opera, 'William Tell' was written. It was the last opera Rossini was to write, as he went into a forty year retirement. He wrote some music during these last forty years, including in the last ten years of his life a collection of 150 pieces in various forms that he called Péchés de vieillesse, or Sins Of Old Age.  There had been rumors that Rossini had written a bassoon concerto, but it wasn't until the 1990's that a manuscript score was found in a library in Italy of a bassoon concerto which on the front piece states that it was by Rossini.

The story goes that Rossini had written the work for Nazareno Gatti, a bassoon student, for his final examination.  Rossini was an advisor at the music school in Bologna where Gatti attended, but scholars aren't sure how much Rossini was involved with writing the concerto. He may have sketched it out for someone else to finish, as he did with many of his compositions during his retirement. Some say Gatti finished it, or Gatti may have wrote the entire work and put Rossini's name to it. In any event, scholars agree it was written in the 1840's and in the style of Rossini. If it truly was written by Rossini, it would represent his final work for orchestra, as the aforementioned Péchés de vieillesse were chamber works or solo piano.

I. Allegro - The work opens in the key of B-flat major with the orchestra stating the themes of the movement as per usual in a concerto, especially this movement that is built more in Classical era form and techniques than Romantic.  The bassoon enters and plays  the first theme along with punctuations of the low registers of the instrument. The orchestra begins the second theme with light pizzicato violins. The clarinets play along with the soloist and the music goes into the development section.  The soloist gets a chance to show off the instrument and after the recapitulation a short coda allows the bassoon to reach the heights and depths of its range as the music comes to a close.

II. Largo - The music shifts from B-flat major to C minor, a key quite distant from B-flat major.  In this lyrical movement the bassoon sings as if it is a soloist in a scene from an opera. The tonal range of the movement showcases the bassoons unique timbre changes in its registers. The movement ends with dramatic tremoloes in the strings as the music fades away.

III. Rondo - The plethora of notes for the soloist doesn't let up in the finale, nor their extreme ranges. The music is in the key of F major, something different than many concertos of this time as it isn't in the same key of the first movement. The title page of the manuscript states that it is a Concerto da Esperimento , or an Examination Concerto. The music truly is a test for the soloists technical and musical abilities. The question of its authorship not withstanding, this concerto is a fine representation of what the bassoon can do in the hands of a virtuoso, and is a valuable addition to the repertoire. 

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Woods - Slippery Elm Rag

Ragtime music still has a following and popularity after over 100 years. It was a bona fide sensation after the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago that celebrated the 400th anniversary of the founding of the New World by Columbus. While Ragtime and its earlier forms had been around for a number of years before then, it was around the fair at many venues (not actually inside the fair) that ragtime was first heard by those who never heard it before. Scott Joplin and other pioneers of the form made the trip to Chicago to perform in taverns, restaurants, and bordellos in the area.

The affinity for ragtime grew until Scott Joplin had his biggest hit of all, his 1897 Maple Leaf Rag. It was Joplin who insisted that despite the roots of ragtime, it had become a classical form and should be treated and played as such. This lead to Joplin admonishing potential players right on the sheet music - "Don't play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast." This was also part of the rehabilitation of ragtime, as black ragtime piano players would have competitions against one another to see who could come up with the best ideas, and who could play the fastest.  Of course tempo is a relative thing, and the tempo of a ragtime piece can be pushed to a certain extent, if the character of the piece calls for it. But the slap-dash, break neck speed that ragtime's been subjected to by some is what Joplin was against. 

Clarence Woods was born in 1888, raised in Eastern Kansas, and Carthage, Missouri right in the middleof Ragtime country when he was learning how to play the piano. He left home early on, and began traveling with vaudeville shows and stock companies as an accompanist. He also started working as a silent movie accompanist as well. In 1907 he was performing in the Fort Worth, Texas area and wrote some of his early ragtime pieces there. His first folk rag was Slippery Elm, written in 1912.  He continued to write ragtime as well as early blues pieces. He was married and divorced, continued to work as a professional musician. During the Depression, his livelihood was hit hard like many musicians, and when he lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he was an organist at a local skating rink.

Opportunities increased after WW II, as he lead an orchestra, became a local radio personality, and began composing more. His last compositions were never published, and much of his compositions and arrangements were for concert band. He also worked for a time as a composer/arranger for Ringling Bros. Barnum And Bailey Circus, as well as performing on the organ and steam calliope. He passed away in 1956 while visiting his son in Davenport, Iowa. 

Slippery Elm is an instance where a composer took Joplin's advice about playing fast seriously. Woods tempo indication is 'Very Slow', and when it is heeded, the piece can remind the listener of a Chopin Nocturne. Slow and easy, a little bit of drama with a touch of melancholy. Good ragtime is indeed classical in nature, and shows that it graduated from its roots of bordello and tavern hectic qualities to bitter sweet music. And in many ways, when ragtime is played slowly, it has a whole other set of difficulties in performing it. A steady, clear underlying beat that will naturally accentuate the syncopations, and a rounding off of the edges into a smooth, meditative style of music. 

The name Slippery Elm also fits the music quite well. The inner bark (sometimes leaves) of the Slippery Elm was used by Native Americans and in folk medicine for the treatment of skin rashes, upset stomach, colon issues, sore throats, and other uses. The inner bark releases a gelatinous substance that is used for many kinds of inflammation. There is scant evidence as to the efficacy of its use, but some people still use it. It was said to soothe and comfort inflamed tissues, as the music of this rag gives soothing comfort to the ear.

Haydn - Symphony No. 88 In G Major Hob. I/88

 Joseph Haydn's name as a composer was known even before he was semi-retired and living in Vienna.With his six symphonies written for the Concert de la Loge Olympique orchestra of Paris in 1786, and his two sets of six symphonies written for Johann Peter Salomon of London in 1791-1795, his reputation as the most famous composer of western music of  the era was secured. 

He worked as Kappellmeister for the Esterházy family of Hungary, and all of the music Haydn composed up until 1779 was the property of his employer. But with the renegotiation of his contract in 1779, he was allowed to take outside commissions and sell to publishers. 

Symphony No. 88 was the first written after his Paris Symphonies in 1787, and has become one of his favorites, despite not having a nickname or being included in a set. Haydn did allow a violinist that played in the Esterházy orchestra, Johann Tost, to take it along with Symphony No. 89 to Paris to try and sell them, which he did.   

 The Symphony is in four movements:

1. Adagio-Allegro  -  The symphony begins with a short introduction, that haltingly leads to the more animated beginning of the movement proper.

The rest of the movement consists of the traditional repeats and alterations of this single theme. Haydn wrote many works in sonata form that deviated from the normal of the time of two or more themes, usually contrasting. But Haydn's creativity does not make this, a mono thematic movement, monotonous by any means. At the beginning of the recapitulation, a flute is added, and Haydn finishes the movement with a short dialogue between woodwinds and strings.

 

 

 

 

 2. Largo -   The slow movement manages to bring a feeling of melancholy with an underlying nobility as well. It is a set of variations on the opening theme which played by the oboe and cello an octave apart with a light accompaniment from bassoon, horn, viola, and contrabass.  Johannes Brahms after hearing this movement said "I want my 9th Symphony to sound like this." , which says a lot about the depth of feeling Haydn reached in this short set of variations. The flow of the music is interrupted by the trumpet and timpani. It is only the second instance of Haydn using trumpet and timpani in a slow movement up to that time.

3. Menuetto - Allegro  - The Menuetto reflects the changing character of the symphonic minuet that would lead to it being replaced by the Scherzo, if not in name, but by character. The minuet has a heavy downbeat, more like a peasant stomp than a graceful minuet. The trio of the Minuetto has a melody in oboes and violins with a drone accompaniment in cellos and bassoons.

 

 

4. Finale: Allegro con spirito  This finale is a com- bination of rondo and sonata form, a hybrid that was perhaps used by Mozart. While the origins, as in who first used it, my be sketchy, there's no doubt that it was a product of the Classic era of music, when composers such as Haydn, Beeth-oven, and Mozart were experimenting in different forms. Rondo-sonata form went on to be used in not only the Classical era but in the Romantic era as well by Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. The movement has been described as a perpetual motion piece, and it does zip along at a fast pace. The bassoons and horns have a particularly delightful section of accompaniment that has them chugging away at staccato thirds in the tonic and dominant.

Haydn - Motet 'Insanae et vanae curae'

The beginnings of Haydn's motet Insanae et vanae curae (Insane and stupid worries flood our mind) began in 1775 with the composition of his first oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia (The Return of Tobias). The work written to an Italian liberetto was first performed in 1775 in Vienna and was a resounding success. But by 1781 the public's musical taste had changed so much that another planned performance in Vienna in 1781 failed to materialize due to lack of interest. Haydn revised the work and in 1784 a performance of the revision was performed in a benefit concert in Vienna. The oratorio had one more performance in 1808, after which Haydn took one of the choral numbers from the oratorio and rewrote it to a Latin text.

While Il ritorno di Tobia was popular in its day, it could not compete with Haydn's two masterpieces in the form The Creation and The Seasons. Perhaps that is why Haydn extracted this fine choral piece from it and revised it as a stand-alone work.  The piece is in two contrasting sections. The first section is one of fear and dread, the second section is a more lyrical one. Each section is repeated. The original was written for choir and orchestra, but there is a version for choir and organ that was not written by Haydn that is sometimes performed.

Insane and stupid worries flood our minds,
often mad fury fills the heart, robbed of hope,
O mortal man, what good does it to strive for worldly things,
if you neglect the heavens?
All things work in your favor, with God on your side.

Ives - Variations On 'America'

Charles Ives, 1889

Charles Ives was born in 1874 in Danbury, Connecticut. His father George Ives was a U.S. Army bandleader in the Civil War and also led the Municipal Band in Danbury.  Ives' father was an unorthodox music teacher to his son as he encouraged him to explore nontraditional harmony and structure. Ives told a story that when he was five years old his father saw him pounding out the drum parts to George's band music on the piano with both fists. Instead of telling his son that was the wrong way to play the piano, George told him there's nothing wrong with playing the piano that way as long as you know what you're doing and sent him to a drum teacher.  Ives' father also would have two marching bands, one at each end of the town square and each playing different music in different keys, march toward each other. Charles Ives credited his father with being the most influential musical figure in his life.

Charles Ives took to the organ and became so proficient on the instrument that he was a professional church organist when he was fourteen, the youngest one in the entire state at the time. Ives attended Yale University and upon his graduation he was hired as an insurance actuary by a firm in New York. He made the insurance business his life's work. He excelled in the insurance business and composed in his spare time. Most of his music was neglected in his lifetime, especially in the years he was active as a composer. Ives ceased composing any new works after 1927, although he did revise some that were already written. His music began to get some performances in the 1940's and after a performance of Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting, Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music. He was also very active in financially supporting other 20th century composers and their music.

Ives' music won the support of a young Leonard Bernstein who conducted  Ives' Second Symphony on a live radio broadcast in 1951. Arnold Schoenberg, the great composer and teacher knew of Ives and after Schoenberg died in 1951 (three years before Ives), Schoenberg's widow found a note written by her husband in his desk that had been written in 1944:

There is a great Man living in this Country – a composer. He has solved the problem how to preserve one's self-esteem and to learn. He responds to negligence by contempt. He is not forced to accept praise or blame. His name is Ives.

One of his earliest pieces was Variations On 'America', written for organ in 1891 when Ives was 17 years old. It was written for a Fourth Of July celebration and the music shows how much his father had influenced the young man. The tune is also known as 'God Save The King' in Great Britain.

Introduction and theme- The work begins with an introduction to the tune that fragmentarily suggests parts of the tune itself.  The tune is finally heard in a straight forward arrangement for the organ.

1st Variation -  The tune is repeated over a running sixteenth note accompaniment in the first section, and an even more florid accompaniment of 32nd notes in the second section.

2nd. Variation - The pace changes slightly, along with the rhythm of the tune. At the end of the first section there is a descending figure of chromatic chords that gives the impression of a chuckle. The second section has subtle harmonic changes.

Interlude - A fragmentary rendition of the tune that Ives evidently didn't find worthy enough to call a variation, this interlude has one hand playing in the key of F major (the home key of the piece thus far) while the other hand and pedals play in D-flat major, an early example of bitonality.

3rd Variation - Ives gives a sprightly rendition of the tune, like music perhaps heard on a merry-go-round, all in the key of D-flat major.

4th Variation - Ives shifts gears and throws this variation in the key of F minor. He labels this variation a Polonaise, but it sounds like spirited Spanish dance to me.

Interlude - This time Ives has one hand play in A-flat major while the other hand and pedals play in F major.

5th Variation - Marked Allegro - as fast as the pedals can go, the pedals have the main variant.  The tune continues in elaborate dress that shows how good Ives' organ technique must have been. The variation leads to a coda that has fragments of the theme tossed off in full volume, along with pauses for good measure. The music gets more hectic until a full throated repeat of the tune ends the work.