Alkan - Selections From 48 Esquisses For Piano

The name Charles Alkan conjures up piano pieces of staggering difficulty,  immense length and  musical depth. And rightly so, with his Concerto For Solo Piano and other works that display a musical mind capable of creating colossal tapestries of complexity. But Alkan also had another side to his genius, that of a miniaturist. The Esquisses are an excellent example of Alkan's ability to have his musical say in much shorter pieces.

The title translates as 'sketches' and the set contains 49 sketches of tremendous variety and mood. Many of the pieces are also playable by pianists with a less than concert hall technique. They are a perfect introduction to the diversity of Alkan's musical thought. Most of the sketches are short, some very short.  The entire set of 49 sketches (the title says there are 48, but there are 49) can be played in about 75 minutes, so that averages out to about a minute and a half for each piece. Alkan's shifting moods are dealt with as they arise, and when the mood has run its course the piece stops.  The entire set makes for a good listen, but I've narrowed it down to eight of my favorites from the set:

• No.4 Les Cloches (The Bells) -  The piano begins with the tolling of bells that continues throughout.
• No. 10 Increpatio (rebuke, harsh criticism) - The piano's harsh opinion. About what, we don't know. 
• No. 16 Fantasia -  A rippling right hand runs a sprint, and the piece ends quickly.
• No. 18 - Liedchen (ditty) - A simple song.
• No.32 - Minuetto - Not really a minuet, but at the tempo of a minuet. The beginning is sad, with a middle section in a faster tempo and lighter mood.
• No. 37 Scherzettino -  A piece played very fast.
• No. 45 - Les Diablotins (little devils) - A short church chorale is interrupted by the demons. Each time the chorale is heard it is responded to , until the diablotin has the final word. 
• No. 49 Laus Deo (praise God) - A solemn, slow,  beginning that reminds the ear of different pitched bells tolling together gives way to a more  reverent hymn. The bells return at the end.  

Litolff - Concerto Symphonique No. 5

Living a complicated lifestyle evidently was a part of Litolff's personality. He traveled Europe on concert tours, got married and divorced, spent time in prison, had to escape from Germany after he participated in the revolution of 1848, married a widow of a music publisher and managed the publishing firm into a successful venture, settled in Paris, was a piano teacher and conductor, was married four times - the last to a woman seventeen years old when he was 57 years old, was afflicted with rheumatism in later life but still continued to compose.  It was a life filled with hard work, travel, romance, hardship, depression and physical pain in later years.

Composing was evidently part of Litolff's personality also, as he composed throughout his life, sometimes amid thunderous turmoil. The Concerto Symphonique No. 5  is his Opus 123 and was written in 1869. He died in 1891, 22 years later and continued composing, mostly operas,  up until the end.

The Concerto Symphonique No. 5  has some differences from the previous ones. For one thing, the other Concerto Symphonique's are not by any means easy to play, but the fifth is even more demanding.  The fifth never achieved the popularity of the others. In the other works the scherzo is the second movement, in the fifth it is placed third.  Overall, the general feeling of the fifth is a little more serious, somewhat more complicated.

The work opens with a long orchestral section before the piano joins in in the give-and-take style that Litolff used in all the concertos. The second movement is a slow, lyrical song. The third movement is the most diabolical sounding scherzo Litolff ever wrote.  The fourth movement's cadenza is written out and is a fugue derived from part of the theme that opens the movement.

Litolff and Liszt knew and admired each other's music, and each ones music influenced the other. The concertos of Litolff show the influence of Liszt in structure and harmonic language, and the fact that Liszt dedicated  his first piano concerto to Litolff can be meant as a tribute to his influence. For a musician that composed so much and was friends with and admired by such other composers as Liszt and Berlioz, the four Concerto Symphoniques  are really the only pieces available on recordings, and only one recording of each one at that. Litolff's most popular piece of music is the scherzo from the Concerto Symphonique No. 4  which is available in a few recordings. It would be a good thing to be able to hear more of this composer's music, in the concert hall and on recordings.

Litolff - Concerto Symphonique No. 5

Moscheles - Recollections Of Ireland

Ignaz Moscheles was a virtuoso pianist and composer that was good friends with Beethoven, mentor and friend to Mendelssohn and close associate with other Jewish musicians of the time like Anton Rubinstein, Joseph Joachim, and Ferdinand Hiller.  It was Moscheles who lead the counter-offensive when Richard Wagner wrote his antisemitic pamphlet 'Jewry In Music'


It seems Moscheles knew most all of the pianists of his time, and his honest and easy going disposition helped him to become friends with even some of the more modern (for his time) pianist like Liszt and Chopin.  Moscheles was born in 1794 and was fairly set in his ways technically when the music of Chopin and Liszt came to the fore. He tried diligently to play and relate to the music, but he had been taught the old school of playing and composing. With curved fingers that did most of the work at the keyboard, Moscheles couldn't really grasp the importance of using the arm and shoulder in playing the new works. As progress in composition goes, so goes the technique to be able to play it.  But to his credit he tried to keep an open mind and held his criticism to a minimum. It was his nature to be able to understand that he was indeed of the old school, and he tried to keep the things he thought were good about that in modern music.

Moscheles was very popular in England in the 1820's, and spent three weeks in Ireland in early 1826.. It was after this three week sojourn when he returned home that he wrote  Recollections Of Ireland. The work perhaps had its beginnings in improvisations on Irish melodies he played for audiences while in Ireland. He gave the first performance of the work in London later in 1826.

The work consists of four parts:
1. Fantasia - The orchestra begins with music that seems slightly familiar, the piano enters and expands upon these ideas.
2. Groves Of Blarney -  A gentle, sweet rendering of the tune evolves into glistening variations on the tune.
3. Garry Owen -  Originally an Irish drinking song that was made popular by the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. Moscheles varies the repetitions of the tune and it leads directly to the last movement.
4. St. Patrick's Day -  Moscheles sets the tune for the piano only, then the orchestra enters with a short episode and both join in for a variation of the tune.  Moscheles combines the tunes, and has the Groves Of Blarney enter for one last rendition and the melodies weave in and out before the joyful conclusion.

This music may not be a classic that plumbs the depths, but Moscheles didn't intend it to be. He intended it to be a pleasant diversion for piano and orchestra, kind of a tonal postcard of his visit to Ireland. To my mind, it accomplishes everything he wanted, and it deserves a place in the repertoire.

Moscheles Recollections Of Ireland

Alkan - Impromptu For Pedal Piano

Was Charles Alkan really a mystery as the pianist Ronald Smith (a champion of Alkan's works) called him in the title to his biography of the composer  Alkan the Enigma?  There is an essay by Stephanie McCallum, herself a pianist and champion of Alkan's works in her own right, that discusses the possibility that Alkan suffered from a form of autism or a mental illness. The fact that Alkan went into seclusion about 1848 after a brilliant start to his career as a composer and performer does beg the question.  There are words by Alkan himself in a letter:

“I’m becoming daily more and more misanthropic and misogynous…nothing worthwhile, good or useful to do… no one to devote myself to. My situation makes me horridly sad and wretched. Even musical production has lost its attraction for me for I can’t see the point or goal”.

Those are words of a man who is cognizant enough to recognize what is happening to him, while at the same time not knowing why. Depression, Asperger's Syndrome, Schizophrenia,  are all possibilities but it will most likely remain speculation. Alkan did begin giving a few recitals later in life, but essentially remained a recluse.

There is no doubting the genius of Alkan as a performer. There is ample evidence through witnesses that heard him play. Liszt himself said that Alkan had the finest technique he had ever seen. And we have the proof of his genius as a composer with the music he wrote, which is much more available in print and recordings than ever before.  And no matter what the reason for his turning away from society, there is also no doubt that he was original to the point of being eccentric in some of his compositions. The Impromptu for pedal piano is a case in point.

If a music lover knows anything about Alkan or his music, it usually is that he was a pianist and wrote piano music. But he also could play the violin and was a virtuoso of the pedal piano. The pedal piano resembles a regular piano but with the addition of an entire piano played by the means of foot pedals, like the pedals of an organ.  Alkan wrote a substantial amount of music for this instrument. The pedal piano was in vogue for a short time in the 19th century. Robert Schumann also wrote music for it.   The pedal piano is now a rare instrument and much of Alkan's music written for it has been transcribed for the organ.

The Impromptu is based on Martin Luther's hymn 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God',  a somewhat odd choice for a Jewish musician to make.  It was written in the late 1860's and is possibly the last piece he wrote for the pedal piano. Ronald Smith has written that the piece, while written in one continuous movement is actually in four distinct sections. The work begins as a passacaglia, with the hymn tune serving as the continual bass melody, the second section is a scherzo, the third a siciliano and the fourth a fugue.  So it is far from being what an impromptu implies. It is a highly structured set of variations, imaginative in form and sound. Like the man himself,  the impromptu is a complicated mixture of genius, eccentricity, power and mystery.

Paderewski - Piano Concerto in A Minor

Paderewski wanted to be known as a composer as much as a piano virtuoso, perhaps even more so.  He had scant little time to compose after his premieres in Vienna and Paris as his popularity skyrocketed.

Paderewski's career began in fits and starts with studying composition off and on in Warsaw and Germany. He was accepted as a pupil of the greatest piano pedagogue of the era, Theodore Leschetizky when Paderewski was 24 years old. Leschetizky lamented that Paderewski had begun serious study far too late to develop a concert technique, but Paderweski practiced non-stop to try and make up for lost time. He practiced so much that Leschetizky worried about him ruining his health with so much practice.  But Paderewski persevered, and became a piano virtuoso known around the world.

Paderweski was the most popular and most well-known of any pianist of his time. The adulation audiences gave him bordered on hysteria and he loved to play for them, sometimes giving so many encores that the encores took as long as the recital.

He traveled extensively and became a very rich man, so rich that many times he would refuse payment for a concert. He was also the second Prime Minister of Poland after World War One. He was not only a fine pianist but an excellent public speaker.

Paderweski finished composing and orchestrating the piano concerto in 1889 and it was premiered in 1890 in Vienna. Paderewski wanted to play the premiere himself, but he acquiesced to a request from Anna Essipoff (a brilliant pianist, student and wife of Leschetisky) to play the premiere.  Essipoff had played other pieces of Paderewski in her recitals and wanted to premiere this work also. The orchestra was conducted by Hans Richter, one of the great conductors of the era. The concerto is in three movements:

I. Allegro - The work opens with a loud statement by the orchestra by way of introduction. The first theme is played quickly after with woodwinds and strings. The piano enters and takes up the theme. After the theme is expanded, a second theme is played solo by the piano. After the expansion of the second theme the development section begins with the first theme. After a solo for timpani the soloist plays a short cadenza and the development section continues. Paderewski follows traditional sonata form as he brings back both themes in the recapitulation with the customary key changes in the secondary material. A cadenza follows the recapitulation, after which a short coda brings the movement to a virtuosic close.

II. Romanza: Andante -  Paderewski finished the orchestration of the concerto while he was in Paris, and in a move that he later admitted was presumptuous, he took the completed score to the apartment of Camille Saint-Saëns for his opinion. The two composers had previously met when Paderewski played Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 4 In C Minor.  After initially grumbling about being disturbed, Saint-Saëns read through the score while Paderewski played it on the piano. The entire concerto pleased Saint-Saëns, but it was the second movement that he asked to be repeated. Saint-Saëns advised Paderweski to not change a thing in the work, that it would be a crowd pleaser. It was in this second movement, in what can arguably called the heart of the concerto, where Paderewski comes closest to the passion and beauty of his country man's music, Chopin. The theme is first played gently by the woodwinds, and when the piano enters it plays its own rendition of it. After sections that are as light as tender chamber music, the theme grows in passion and depth until it gradually fades away at the end.

III. Allegro molto vivace - The final movement begins with  a stomping Polish dance that has plenty of opportunity for the soloist to show their stuff. It is followed by a more reverent theme in the orchestra that is ornamented by the piano in its own version. These two themes comprise most of the movement as they are altered and elaborated on each time they are played. A grand coda whips up the virtuosity as the music races to the finish.

Ippolitov-Ivanov - Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 2 'Iveria'

Ippolitov-Ivanov is not too well-known to most music lovers. His Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 1 is probably his best known work, at least the piece 'Procession Of  The Sardar' from the suite.  He composed a second suite of Caucasian Sketches that are just as tuneful and interesting as the first, but it is not heard on recordings or in the concert hall.

Ippolitov-Ivanov spent eleven years in the Caucasus region of Georgia and developed an interest in the folk music and culture of the area. He received a professorship at the Moscow Conservatory in 1894, and after he moved to Moscow he wrote the first Caucasian Sketches suite and also wrote a book about Georgian Folk Songs.

The 2nd suite has four movements:
I. Introduction : Lamentation Of Princess Ketevana - Princess Ketevana was a daughter of a ruling prince, a member of the Georgian nobility in the early 17th century.  She was wed to a ruler called David that died 6 months later. As queen she did many things for the people of Georgia.  She was threatened by many usurpers to the throne and when she refused to convert to Islam under threat of torture and death, she was in fact tortured and died a horrible death. Her story became part of Georgian folk lore.

II. Berceuse - A lullaby with an oriental sound to it.

III. Lesghinka - A folk dance that gets more frantic as it goes.

IV. Georgian March - A rousing march, perhaps for the military.

Ippolitov-Ivanov's music is rich in the culture and sound of the Georgia he came to know during his time there. A culture markedly different from his own Russian background,  it inspired him to write some very good music. Perhaps not the 'deepest' music ever written, but it is highly listenable and very well orchestrated. It wouldn't hurt for both of the Caucasian Sketches suites to be heard in their entirety more often.

Bruckner - Symphony No. 4 'Romantic'

Of all Bruckner's symphonies (9 official, 11 if you include numbers 0 and 00) the 4th is the only one that Bruckner himself gave a subtitle to, 'Romantic'.  Bruckner did have a 'program' for this symphony, dealing with medieval German life and hunters with their horns and such. Whether that is actually what he meant with the subtitle is anybody's guess, for it isn't known for sure if Bruckner had all of this in mind before he composed it, while he composed it or after he composed it.  Personally, I don't see Bruckner as a writer of program music like Liszt, where a subject outside of music is the inspiration for a composition. I think it is another of Bruckner's attempts to try and appeal to an audience and increase the chance to get his music heard.

The 4th is one of Bruckner's most popular works since its premiere in 1881 conducted by Hans Richter. This performance is of the 1880 version, the third of seven versions of this symphony. Bruckner rewrote movements, substituted new movements for old, made cuts and additions to this symphony from the original edition in 1874 to the final revision in 1888. If all that isn't confusing enough, Gustav Mahler made his own edition of the symphony in the late 19th century which was heavily cut and re-orchestrated.  The edition used in the following recording is the Nowak edition based on the 1886 edition.

The symphony begins with a single horn playing over tremolo strings. This is the main theme of the movement and is heard throughout. The brass section especially the horns are prominent in this movement. The second movement is song-like and different than a typical Brucknerian slow movement. The third movement is ushered in like the beginning of the first with tremolo strings but this time with horns and the other brass. In Bruckner's program, this movement represents hunters , the hunt and in the trio a peaceful song while the hunters eat after the hunt. The fourth movement begins yet again with string tremolos, but with a plodding accompaniment in the bass strings and a distant melody heard in the horns.

A few words about the conductor of the following recording of the 4th, George Solti.  Solti was born in Hungary and was a fine pianist in his youth. He heard a performance of Beethoven's 5th symphony and decided hne wanted to be a conductor when he was 14 years old. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy under Bela Bartok and others.  He came up the ranks in the opera house until he conducted his first opera in 1938 at the Budapest Opera house. When Hitler annexed Austria that same year,  the Hungarian government became very pro-Hitler and anti-semitism ran rampant. Solti being Jewish fled the country and moved to Switzerland where he earned a living as a pianist.  He won the Geneva International Piano Competition but had to wait until the end of the war to get back to conducting.

He held numerous positions with many different orchestras through the years but is best known for his tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1991. He was the first conductor to record Wagner's The Ring Of The Niebelungen in its entirety in a studio. He was a much-recorded conductor and still holds the record for the number of Grammy Awards won by a conductor with 31. Solti died in 1997.