Bortkiewicz - Piano Concerto No. 3 'Per aspera ad astra'

Sergei Bortkiewicz began his musical education in St. Petersburg, and went on to the Leipzig Conservatory to study. He made a few trips back to Russia after his studies but remained in Germany for the most part, where he taught at the conservatory and toured as a piano recitalist until the First World War.  After the war began, he was put under house arrest and was forced to return to the town of his birth, Kharkiv in the Ukraine, where he stayed on the family estate (his parents were of the Polish nobility) until the Red Army confiscated the estate after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

He escaped under great political danger by steam ship to Turkey where he landed in Constantinople in 1919.  He gave concerts, and eventually obtained a visa, went to Yugoslavia and ended up in Austria in 1922. He obtained Austrian citizenship in 1925 while he was in Vienna, and remained in that city for five years.

It was while the composer was in Vienna that he wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3 in 1926. He had been through many hardships since the First World War, and this was a time of relative calm in his life. The concerto is subtitled per aspera ad astra, which translates from Latin to mean 'from hardship to the stars', or 'through resistance to light', which takes on deep significance due to the composer's hardships.

The concerto is in five sections, which are played without a break.

I. Grave - The concerto begins with the contra-bassoon uttering a theme in its lowest register in the key of c minor. After a short dialogue with the piano, the music transforms into the first of two themes - the first of which is dramatic while the second is more lyrical. The dramatic theme reappears and leads to the next section. The structure of this section is basically an introduction and sonata form first movement. The structure is very tight and condensed, almost to the point of being terse.

II. Cadenza - The solo piano cadenza is in the tradition of the classical first - movement concerto cadenzas, but there is no recapitulation of the themes after it. Bortkiewicz leads directly to the next section.

III. Andante - This section sees the piano take on the role of 'star' with some of the themes, and also in accompanying the orchestra. Rich keyboard figures and thick chords alternate with bare octaves as Bortkiewicz's gift of melody is shown. This is the longest single section of the concerto.

IV. Lento, Maestoso, Solenne -  The richness of the music continues as the music hearkens back to some of the other themes already heard. The piano's accompanying figures ripple and glitter up and down the keyboard as the orchestra states material that grows more familiar. The piano alternates from the background to the foreground as the music grows more majestic and solemn.

V. Moderato - What at first sounds like a solemn ending to the concerto leads to the final section where the end of the struggle is starting to shine in the light of the stars. The music grows more into the key of C major as modulations grow and swell into the light of the closing theme which is richly repeated. With strings shimmering,  the rest of the orchestra is punctuated by brilliant figures on the piano until bells are added to the already glistening orchestra and soloist, and the music ends in a brightness of light.

Bortkiewicz is compared to Rachmaninoff, and there are similarities. His melodic gift was great, his workmanship likewise. He was an unabashed late Romantic  who didn't embrace 20th century music innovations.   And the more I hear his music, the better I like it. He is one of my favorite lesser-known composers.


 

Beethoven - Cello Sonata No. 3 In A Major

Beethoven followed in the footsteps of Mozart and Haydn, the two giants of late 18th century music and composed in most of the forms they used. As with many creative artists, he used forms and conventions as blueprints for his own ideas and transformed  the traditional forms of expression into something very personal. So it is that having a set of guidelines and rules doesn't stifle creativity for those who have the spark of creative genius within them, but can actually enhance their artistry.

Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein

Beethoven was the first major composer to write sonatas for solo cello and piano,  and his 5 sonatas for cello are important additions to the literature. The third cello sonata in A major was written in 1808, a period of intense compositional activity that saw the creation of many of Beethoven's most well-known pieces such as the 5th Symphony and the Violin Concerto.  It was dedicated to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein, an amateur cellist, close friend of Beethoven, and one of a group of music lovers that paid Beethoven an annual fee to entice him to stay in Vienna.  Beethoven probably dedicated this sonata to him out of gratitude.

The sonata is in three movements:
I. Allegro ma non tanto - The sonata opens with the primary theme stated by the cello alone. The cello holds the final note of the theme as the piano restates it. Beethoven expands the usual number of themes heard in a movement written in sonata form by the addition of two contrasting secondary themes. In the development section, the primary theme is varied and contrasted with the other themes and the mood changes abruptly and often. The recapitulation begins with the original theme played by the cello but unlike the opening it is accompanied by the piano. There is a short coda, and the movement ends forte.

II. Scherzo : Allegro molto - This is the only scherzo found in the cello sonatas, and the theme begins on the upbeat. The syncopated theme continues throughout the scherzo, including the trio section.

Beethoven repeats the trio of this scherzo when the usual form calls for playing it only once. He did this in other scherzos of this period as well.  

III. Adagio cantabile, Allegro vivace - This sonata has no separate slow movement save for the short Adagio cantabile that opens the finale. It acts as a contrast to the previously heard nervous scherzo and the joyous final movement. It is in sonata form with a jaunty first theme and a more lyrical second theme. The development section gives the players the opportunity of lending their virtuosity to musical expression that covers the ranges of both instruments. The themes progress to the end, and after many excursions afield, the work ends solidly in A major.

Rachmaninoff - Symphony No. 2 in E Minor

Sergei Rachmaninoff was an immensely gifted pianist and fine orchestral conductor, but he thought of himself first and foremost as a composer. In his earlier years while still in Russia, he composed most of his 45 opus numbered works. With the political and cultural upheaval brought about by the Russian Revolution of 1917,  Rachmaninoff lost his livelihood (his family were members of the bourgeoisie) and fled the country, never to return.

From 1917 until his death in 1943, Rachmaninoff was constantly on tour in Europe and the United States as pianist and conductor to provide for his family and had little time or inclination to compose. He composed only six more opus numbers during those years.  His prodigious memory was legendary, along with his singing piano tone, quiet demeanor at the keyboard, and his huge hands. He was one of the great piano virtuosos of the 20th century.

His success as a composer came while he was still a student. His one-act opera Aleko was written in 1892 and was such a success that the Bolshoi Theater agreed to perform it.  The Symphony No. 2 was written in 1906-07 and was first performed in 1908 at St. Petersburg with the composer conducting.

The symphony is in 4 movements:
I. Largo, Allegro moderato - The symphony begins with a slow introduction with the low strings stating the main motif that will appear in various forms in all four of the movements. This motif dominates the introduction and main section of the movement as it begins quietly and slowly and through variations transforms into powerful music played by the full orchestra. The secondary theme of the movement has the strings and woodwinds alternate until the theme ends quietly. The development section begins with a solo violin initially playing the main theme which is again transformed into rapidly moving variants until a passionate climax is reached. The recapitulation begins, the second theme is emphasized in the parallel key of E major. The end of the movement returns to the home key of E minor and brings the opening movement to a resounding close.

II. Allegro molto -  Unlike many symphonic scherzos that are written in three beats to the measure, this one is written in two beats to the measure. It is in the usual scherzo-trio-scherzo form, but the scherzo itself has two contrasting themes, as does the trio. It's a combination of the traditional scherzo with aspects of sonata form also. The second theme of the scherzo itself resembles the main motif of the first movement in motion and rhythm.

III. Adagio - Along with an innate sense of rich orchestration, Rachmaninoff is also well-known for a remarkable gift of melody. One of his best melodies is heard here as the movement begins with the violin and then the main theme of the movement (which itself is related to the main motif of the first movement) is played by the solo clarinet. The movement has two other themes that Rachmaninoff states and then weaves them contrapuntally with the initial theme.

IV. Allegro vivace - The last movement begins brilliantly in E major. The initial theme is interrupted by a secondary theme, after which the initial theme returns. It soon makes way for a broad theme that the orchestra sings at length. A brief reference is made to material from the third movement which leads to the development of themes, a repeat of the themes, and a rousing ending to the work.

Rachmaninoff refers to differing themes within and without movements, all of which are related to the very first motif heard in the low strings in the slow introduction. This gives a structural and aural continuity to the entire work which helps it to be liked and appreciated by experienced concert listeners as well as casual listeners. It's one of the best examples I know of music that just 'sounds' right to many ears. The work of a master musician and composer, one of Rachmaninoff's finest compositions.

Weber - Clarinet Concerto In F Minor

Many composers have written concertos for solo instrument and orchestra with a specific soloist in mind. Sometimes the performer was the composer themselves.  In the beginning of the Romantic era it was the norm for musicians to enter the music scene of the times with their own compositions.  All of the great composer/performers from Beethoven to Brahms and many others were soloists in their own works.

Composers also wrote for performers for instruments besides their own. Such was the case with Weber's Clarinet Concerto in F Minor.  It was written in 1811, a time of transition for the clarinet. Improvements were made to make it more chromatic and flexible, and one of the most well-known of the virtuosos of the improved instrument was Heinrich Bärmann. He played in the court orchestra of Munich from 1807 until he retired in 1834. His son was also a virtuoso on the instrument.  Bärmann exploited the improvements on the instrument and was known for his tone and wide dynamic range.

The concerto is in the traditional three movements:
I. Allegro - The work begins with the cellos and double basses stating the main theme with accompaniment

Heinrich Bärmann

by the violas and violins. After the initial statement of the theme, the full orchestra blurts out a double-forte chord, and the theme is played by the violins. The orchestra sets the stage for the entrance of the clarinet with hushed sounds. The clarinet enters with a different melody. Weber's writing for soloist is in turn brilliant and plaintive, with the orchestra being more than an accompaniment. Changes of key ensue as the main theme is once again stated by the low strings, the clarinet finally utters a sad song as the movement quietly winds down and dies away. Weber's flair for orchestration is evident in this first movement, as well as the entire work. The instruments are as if they were singers in a dramatic scene of an opera.
II. Adagio ma non troppo -  Weber uses three horns in this movement, and has them alone play with the clarinet through some sections. The movement moves from minor agitation to solemn dignity as the clarinet sings its way through the movement.
III. Rondo; Allegretto - The clarinet shows the agility it can have in the hands of a master performer as it dances the lively tune of the finale.

The clarinet is a unique member of the orchestra. It is a single-reed instrument with a cylindrical bore (the bassoon and oboe are double reed instruments with a conical bore.) In the hands of a good musician it can have one of the widest dynamic ranges of any instrument. It has three distinct registers or tone qualities, from the rich, deep and breathy chalumeau register(from the ancestor of the clarinet the chalumeau ) to the bright and clear clarion register (a type of early trumpet with a bright sound)to the brilliant and sometimes piercing altissimo register(Italian for very high).  Weber uses all of these registers and qualities of the instrument in his concerto and it is one of the gems of the repertoire.

 

Liszt - Hunnenschlacht (Battle Of The Huns)

In 1847 Liszt gave up his life as a traveling piano virtuoso and devoted himself to musical composition. He had been made honorary music director at the court of Wiemar in 1842, and after his retirement he moved there.  He composed all but one of his symphonic poems in Wiemar from 1848-1858.

As music director, Liszt was also conductor of the court orchestra. He helped to expose the music of Berlioz, Wagner, and many other composers to a wider audience during his years in Wiemar.  He also played many of his own orchestral works there. Liszt came to orchestral composition relatively late in his life and having an orchestra at his disposal aided him greatly in fine-tuning his compositions. He admitted that he needed to hear his works before he could finalize them.

His symphonic poems are based on the orchestral overture, which in turn was a development of the operatic overture. While operatic overtures were usually a panache of tunes from the opera about to be heard, the symphonic overture was similar to symphonic movements, and were written in sonata form.  Liszt used a different form and was a pioneer of cyclic form where musical motifs are played, varied and repeated. These motifs don't always follow a pattern of repetition. They can enter and leave in no set fashion and can be varied in many ways throughout the composition. Some of the symphonic poems show the seams and sound episodic, some meld into a seamless 'poem', but it is well to remember that these compositions were experiments in sound and form. As such, they inspired many other composers such as Wagner, who used the idea to create his leitmotifs in his operas.

Hunnenschlacht by Wilhelm von Kaulbach

Some of the symphonic poems were inspired by works of art.  Hunnenschlacht was inspired by a painting of the same title by Wilhelm von Kaulbach. The painting depicts the battle of the Catalaunian Fields in 451 AD where Attila The Hun led his army in an invasion of Gaul against a coalition of Roman and Visigoth generals and their soldiers. Contemporary descriptions of the battle contributed to the legend of the ferocity of the battle.  The 6th century philosopher Damascius heard that the fighting was so severe "that no one survived except only the leaders on either side and a few followers: but the ghosts of those who fell continued the struggle for three whole days and nights as violently as if they had been alive; the clash of their arms was clearly audible" It was this description of the battle that is depicted in the painting by Kaulbach.

Liszt opens the piece with the beginning of the battle, with Liszt giving the directions: "the entire tone color

should be kept very dark, and all instruments must sound like ghosts". To help achieve the effect he wanted, Liszt also directs the strings to play with mutes, even in the loud sections.  The battle lasts for roughly the first half of the work. The second half is begun with the solo organ playing Crux Fidelis, (Faithful Cross) an ancient church chant. This represents the victory of the Christian forces and slowly leads to a triumphant ending, with the solo organ having the last word.

The quoting of the ancient church hymn and the added organ (the oldest keyboard instrument known and a fixture in the Catholic church) is used by Liszt to avow his life-long faith in the Catholic church. The triumphant ending can also be looked at in the broader sense as a representation of love conquering hate.

The complex personality and genius of Liszt make him a paradox. From womanizer (by reputation or fact) to taking minor orders in the Catholic church, from brazen virtuoso to thoughtful musician, from indulging in the writing of what would be the equivalent of banal 'pop' music today to composing some of the best pieces of music by any composer. There is no denying that his was a great musical mind capable of exploring and experimenting in music. As his former fiance and lover Countess Sayn-Wittgenstein said of him, "'Liszt has thrown his spear further into the future than Wagner."  The influence of Liszt in music history is only now being known.

Bruckner - Symphony No. 9

Bruckner began composing his 9th Symphony straight away after his 8th symphony in 1887, and he worked on it intermittently until he died in 1896.  In those nine years he had left to live, he devoted much of his time to revising some of his earlier symphonies at the urging of friends and students.  Bruckner was obsessed with trying to make his music more palatable to his contemporary audience and second-guessed himself so much that it has led to confusion over so many versions of his works.

Why was Bruckner so willing to revise, and be complaisant with his student's efforts to revise his works? The perfectionism of a man such as Bruckner no doubt had a great deal to do with it. Perfectionism in art can be a good thing, or a bad thing. In art, and life in general, perfection is a journey...it isn't a goal that can ever be reached. We are all full of mistakes, flaws great and small, in other words we are human. A masterpiece of any kind is defined by its imperfections (no matter how slight or great) as much as by its beauty.  Bruckner appears to have been a compulsive man by nature, so he may have had little choice in the matter. His 9th symphony was, in some ways, a casualty of that compulsiveness in that while he had sketched and planned  a 4th movement, he never completed it. But the three movements he did complete are a fitting tribute to his artistry, genius and mastery.

While there have been reconstructions by musicologists of the 4th movement, they are a curiosity.  The completed symphonies of Brucker and three movements of this work are a wealth of great music. Any realization or reconstruction, no matter if done by a learned and sympathetic scholar, is but a commentary on the composer's music in question. Interesting in itself up to a point, and valid if taken in the right context, but unnecessary.

I. Feierlich, misterioso  (Solemn and mysterious) -  Per Bruckner's directions, the beginning of the symphony is shrouded in solemn mystery as the orchestra begins quietly and deeply. The beginning is in D minor, but this movement goes far afield as D-flat major makes an appearance after the opening bars, with E major and references to other keys abound in this vast first movement. It is in Bruckner's personal variation of traditional sonata form as themes are stated and developed over time.  There is a series of climaxes, which resolve into further development of other themes. Bruckner can seem fragmentary with these climaxes, as they usually end with silence from the orchestra, but as with his sudden pauses when going to a different theme and his key changes, these methods create tension and expectation for what is to come.  The movement ends with a final harmonically questioning climax that does not resolve completely, but points the way to what is to come.

II. Scherzo, Bewegt-lebhaft (rough, agitated - lively) - A scherzo that has been called brutal by some, it begins quietly with pizzicato strings until it loudly erupts with a simple rhythm that begins on the downbeat of the previous bar, and masks the time signature by heavily accenting each note of the rhythm in the woodwinds and brass and with down bows from the strings. The trio is opposite in feeling and provides a respite before the scherzo returns with a vengeance.

III. Adagio, Langsam, feierlich (slowly and solemnly) - Bruckner's harmonic waywardness continues in this last Adagio. The violins open with a B below middle C that swoops up to a C natural above middle C, a jump of a ninth. This movement also has several climaxes, along with music that sounds like fragments of music heard before, whether from this symphony or Bruckner's previous two symphonies.  The final climax builds slowly, and ends with a horrible chord for full orchestra that contains the seven notes of the harmonic minor scale, a chord that was 'sanitized' in some of the editions of the symphony edited by a Bruckner pupil. The ensuing silence after this chord is almost deafening and it is an example of how silence is an integral part of music. There are some coarse descending notes from the brass, and the music makes a quiet end in the major.

Haydn - Symphony No. 52 in C Minor Hob. I/52

Within the symphonic output of the prolific Josef Haydn there are symphonies of his middle period that fall under the label of Sturm und Drang, (storm and stress). These are dramatic works, reflecting the same dramatic elements that were found in contemporary German literature. Examples of these dramatic symphonies are Number 44 (Trauer) and Number 49 (La Passione)  and perhaps the most dramatic of all, number 52 in C minor.

The symphony is scored for two oboes, one bassoon, two horns, strings and continuo. It is in four movements:

I. Allegro assai con brio -  Haydn begins the first movement straight away with a theme full of energy and biting accents. The second theme is in a major key and is in great contrast to the first. This initial contrast sets the pace for a movement that is full of tension and mood swings.

II. Andante - A stately, easy dance-like theme is interrupted periodically by darker moments, in keeping with the overall tension of the symphony.

III. Menuetto e trio - Allegretto -  Haydn transforms the courtly dance by using accents and mild dissonance into a subdued stomp. The underlying tension is broken temporarily by the bright trio, but the stomp has the final word.

IV. Finale - Presto - Haydn maintains tension by continuing the strong accents and tones in the minor key. The strings chatter away, and the symphony ends in the minor.