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. 

While Berlioz composed very little music while in Rome (he detested the city and took every opportunity to travel

Bust of Benvenuto Cellini

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.  

Loewe - Symphony No. 1 In D Minor

Carl Loewe came to be known as  'The Schubert of North Germany' and was born in 1796. He was especially known for his songs and ballads but was also a singer, conductor, and composer of other types of music. The quality of his vocal music caused Richard Wagner (known for his withering condemnations of many of his contemporary composers) to comment that Loewe was a serious German master that used the German language with meaning, and who could not be overly revered.

Loewe received his first instruction in music from his father who was the village cantor. While he was a choir boy he had a high soprano voice that became a baritone after his voice broke. While Loewe was in the choir at the Marktkirche in Halle, his talent so impressed the Kappelmeister Daniel Gottlob Türk that he took the lad into his home as a private pupil. After the death of Türk he managed to obtain a scholarship at the local university where he majored in theology and philosophy. He had already written an opera and some songs by this time.

After his schooling was over in 1819 he left Halle to do some traveling and met Goethe, Hummel and Weber. In 1820 he was invited to apply for a teaching post at the Gymnasium and seminary in  Stettin, Prussia ( after World War Two this town was renamed Szczecin and is now in  Poland). He passed the examinations, won the position and stayed there the rest of his working life. A year later he was appointed the royal and municipal musical directorship and became organist for the local church. He began concert touring as a singer, pianist and conductor in the 1840's and appeared in Vienna, London, Scandinavia and Paris. He was said to have a fine baritone voice and a commanding stage presence.

As a conductor he conducted the premiere of Mendelssohn's Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1827, and did most of his composing in the years he was in Stettin. He wrote chamber music, music for piano solo, cantatas, operas, and over 400 songs and ballads for voice. He also wrote two symphonies, the second in E minor had its first performance in 170 years in 2004. His first symphony in D minor is in 4 movements:
I. Allegro maestoso - The movement begins with a strong D minor chord from the full orchestra, followed by the dramatic first theme. A shorter, more lyrical second theme in a major key played in the woodwinds, appears and is soon swallowed up by the repetition of the first theme as the exposition is repeated. The development section expands on pieces of the first theme, along with fragments of the second theme. After the short development section the recapitulation begins with the repeating of the first theme with modulations that lead into the second theme in a different major key than before. The first theme returns in a short coda that throws the ending back to the dramatic. A sonata form movement with bold themes, terse and concentrated in mood.

II. Scherzo - Vivace - A strongly rhythmic scherzo in the minor that turns fugal for a brief sequence before it returns to the opening material. The entire scherzo is repeated, the trio enters with statements from the woodwinds that are commented on by the strings. The trio is short, and the scherzo is repeated in full.

III. Andante grazioso - A short intermezzo with apparently not too much to say, perhaps the weakest movement in the symphony, but it does show Loewe's lyrical side.

IV. Adagio espressivo -  The opening of the finale is the closest thing to a slow movement this symphony has. A gentle theme leisurely unwinds. The next section has the strings play pizzicato, then the theme begins at a quicker pace with a counter melody played with it. A second theme is begun in the oboe, then with the full orchestra. The first theme returns with the woodwinds and returns to a slower pace. The theme repeats in different combinations of instruments. A fugal rendition of the theme is next heard in the strings and continues with woodwinds. The theme appears in the flute, once again in the major. The second theme is heard again, the full orchestra once again plays the theme and the movement builds to the final statement of the theme and after a short coda the movement ends.

Loewe resigned his positions in Stettin after 46 years of service due to poor health. He moved back to Germany and died of a stroke in 1869. As a curious aside, in 2012 while renovations were being done on a pillar in the cathedral in Stettin where Loewe was an organist, an urn was found inside the pillar that was thought to contain the heart of Loewe. A commission was appointed to investigate, and after examining documents and inscriptions on the pillar, it was determined that the urn did indeed contain the heart of the composer.

Villa-Lobos - Chôros No. 1 For Guitar

Late in the 19th century Brazil experienced a period of modernization and social revolution. The music conservatories in Brazil primarily focused on instruction in the European style of music before modernization, but Villa-Lobos had very little formal training in musical theory and harmony. Born in 1887, most of his education was gained by listening to and observing the musicians that played at the family musical evenings planned by his father, who was a librarian and musician. Music of his native country and of Latin America, as well as European classical music tradition contributed to the formation of his style.

Heitor learned to play the cello, guitar and clarinet and played with bands of street musicians. His early compositions were based on improvisations on his guitar. He was also a cellist in a Brazilian opera orchestra for a time. After much practical experience as a performer he decided to compose seriously.

He wrote a tremendous amount of music in many forms. One of his first masterpieces was a set of pieces titled Chôros, which is a Portugese word that means weeping. The term came to be used for the music played by bands of street musicians in Brazil that improvised their music on Brazilian and African instruments. Villa-Lobos uses many types of Brazilian music for his Chôros in many different combinations. Originally there were 14 Chôros, but the scores for the last two are lost. Villa-Lobos also composed an Introduction for the set for guitar and orchestra, and a final two for violin and cello duet.

Villa-Lobos spent time in Paris and most of the Chôros were composed there.  The Mexican composer Manuel Ponce was in Paris at the same time and met Villa-Lobos. He had this to say about him:

"Villa-Lobos, in his curious trilingual dialect (French, Spanish, Portuguese) tells me that his music comes directly from the Brazilian forests. It evokes his far-off Amazonas, the violence of the savage rhythms, negro melodies twisted in their bodies’ syncopations, in the frenzy of dances which the composer’s genius has managed to link together in the prodigious ‘choros’, one of which caused a scandal in the Pasdeloup concerts."

Chôros Number One was the first to be written in 1920 and is for solo guitar. The guitar is a unique instrument in many ways. To write well for the classical guitar, the composer usually has to be a good guitarist themselves, which Villa-Lobos was. The piece is short, and full of the rhythms and sounds of Brazil combined with a European feel for structure.

J.C. Bach - Symphony In B-flat Major, Opus 18 No. 2

The youngest surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Christian Bach was trained in music by his father and his older half-brother C.P.E. Bach. When he was twenty years old he went to Italy and converted to Catholicism, which probably sent his Lutheran ancestors rolling over in their graves. Whether out of conviction or convenience,  his conversion helped his career in Italy as he was appointed organist for the cathedral in Milan. His furthered his musical education while in Italy and began composing operas. It was on a trip to England to supervise the performance of some of his operas that he found London to his liking. He stayed there until his death in 1782.

He adopted the English equivalent of his name and was known as John Bach. He joined forces with viola da gamba and cello player Carl Abel (who was also trained by J.S. Bach) and began the Bach-Abel Concert series, the first subscription concerts in England.  Many famous performers appeared in these concerts, and various works by Haydn got their first hearing at these concerts. Bach was very popular until the late 1770's when the fickleness of the public turned their attention to other composers. He died deeply in debt in 1782. 

Carl Abel

J.C. Bach broke away from the style of music from the rest of his family and composed in the new galante style which emphasized melody with an accompaniment instead of  polyphony.  J.C. Bach didn't promote or much care for the learned style of his father, as he called him "the old wig."  He also compared himself to his brother C.P.E. Bach by saying, "My brother lives to compose; and I compose in order to live." 

Like his older brother C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach's music influenced many composers, most notably Mozart. Bach had met the younger composer when Mozart toured England. They played piano duets together, and the first piano concertos by Mozart were orchestrations of some of Bach's keyboard sonatas.  J.C. Bach was once credited with writing over 90 symphonies, but modern scholarship has determined that about half of that number are actual Bach compositions. The Opus 18 symphonies are some of Bach's finest works. Although composition dates are not known for all of them, they were published in 1781. The second symphony in this set is actually an overture from one of Bach's operas, Lucio Silla. Opera overtures were in fact the ancestor of the symphony and were used somewhat interchangeably. The symphony is in three movements:

I. Allegro assai - Unlike the symphonies of C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach uses flowing melodies. The first theme brings a fanfare quality to the fore, with  secondary parts of the theme segueing to the actual second subject, here played by a pair of flutes being answered by a pair of oboes while the strings play a simple accompaniment. The exposition is not repeated. The first theme expanded upon which constitutes the development section. Bach does not have a formal recapitulation. After the development of the main theme the secondary theme is played once again and the movement comes to a close. 

II. Andante - An example of the importance of melody in the galante style, as the tune is simply accompanied. 

III. Presto - A simple tune danced by the strings with the woodwinds adding seasoning. A contrasting middle section of answer and call between strings and woodwinds leads to a repeat of the opening and the very short finale is over.  

C.P.E. Bach - Symphony In F Major Wq. 183/3

C.P.E. Bach, known as Emmanuel to his friends, left the employ of Frederick The Great in 1768 after spending 30 years in Berlin. The years in Berlin had been fruitful as he composed many works for the keyboard while there as well as writing his famous An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments. This book changed keyboard technique forever and is an invaluable guide to how music was performed in Bach's day.  He was one of the first musicians that recommended the use of the thumbs when playing the keyboard. There is some evidence that his father J.S. Bach also allowed the use of the thumbs in certain circumstances, but Emmanuel broadened their use.

It was not only this treatise that changed the unorthodox to the orthodox. Emmanuel's compositions did also. He stands between two musical eras, the Baroque and Classical. He didn't compose music in the galante style of his younger brother Johann Christian either. Emmanuel's music takes sudden turns, runs the full gamut of emotions. He keeps the listener off balance, for just as you get a good foot hold of what's going on, he throws the listener a curve. That is what makes his music appealing for some, and perhaps not so much for others. Robert Schumann disliked Emmanuel's music, Johannes Brahms loved it.

After his stint in Berlin Emmanuel got the position of director of music in Hamburg, succeeding his godfather Georg Philip Telemann who had recently died. Emmanuel was more of a businessman than his father, for while he was in Hamburg he published and sold his compositions himself and earned more money than his father ever did.

While he was in Hamburg he wrote the set of  symphonies known as the Four Symphonies In Twelve Obbligato Parts. These symphonies were printed in Emmanuel's lifetime and intermittently throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. They are the only works of C.P.E. Bach that have an unbroken history of performance from Emmanuel's lifetime to the present.

The third symphony in F Major follows the three movement pattern of the rest of the symphonies in the set:
I. Allegro di molto - Bach begins straight away with a theme of short statements followed by a pause. The theme quickly evolves into longer statements. After a short pause the woodwinds make their comments and the theme returns to its evolution through the strings. The second theme also consists of short statements by the strings, but the wind instruments play more of a role in this one by filling in the harmonies. The strings proceed to a trill followed by a large downward leap. A short interlude is played by the strings, and the trill and downward leap is repeated. The development section has the first theme commented on and the second theme interjects with key changes. The first theme reappears, the second theme is played in the tonic, complete with the trills and downward leap. The first theme appears once again, but is suddenly cut short as a brief lead-in is played that changes the mood and prepares for the second movement that is played without pause.

II. Larghetto - The violas and cellos play a theme in D minor that is taken up by the whole orchestra. Bach instructs the cembalo (the keyboard instrument that is part of the basso continuo) to remain silent through this short movement.

III. Presto - The cembalo is directed to resume playing as a sprightly theme is played by the violins and winds as the rest of the orchestra backs them up. The music plays piano for a few bars, and the orchestra answers with a forte. This section is repeated. The second section has the music change keys and elaborate on the theme. This section is also repeated.

Glière - Symphony No. 1

Reinhold Glière attended the Moscow Conservatory and was taught by some of the best music teachers in Russia in the late 19th century.His studies included the violin and the usual harmony and theoretical subjects. One of his main influences was Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov who taught him composition and instrumentation. He graduated with high honors in 1900 and shortly after began teaching at the Gnessin School of Music in Moscow.

He began writing the first symphony during his final year of school in 1899 and finished the work in 1900.  It is solidly cast in the tradition of Russian symphonies by Tchaikovsky. Glière especially shines in his use of the orchestra. There are some that discount Glière as a symphonist, but I disagree. At the very least he wrote with a firm orchestral and compositional technique, and his earliest symphony is a pleasure to listen to, even if it doesn't hit the depths or the heights.  He only wrote three symphonies with his last one being his masterpiece, Symphony No. 3 Ilya Muromets.

Symphony No. 1 in E-flat is in 4 movements:

Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov

I. Andante - Allegro moderato - Andante - The first movement begins with a gentle introduction played by the clarinet. The oboe soon takes up the tune, and the strings continue to set the mood. This introduction contains bits and pieces that gel into the first theme which is ushered in with the oboe and clarinet taking turns before the full orchestra has its say with the theme. There is additional material played after the first theme and this leads directly into the second theme. The clarinet plays the mellow and lyrical second theme. The horns take up the second theme, and after a slow winding down of  the music the development section begins with the oboe leading the way for the first theme's expansion. A chromatic development has the theme rise in pitch and intensity. Rumbling snatches of the second theme are next to be developed. A climax is reached and quickly subsides as the recapitulation begins. The two main themes are repeated with obligatory key change given to the second theme. The horn plays the second theme, trading off with the oboe. The four horns once again nobly play the second theme. The coda is short, and the movement ends with the identical slow introduction that opened it.

II. Allegro molto vivace - The second movement is a scherzo written in 5 beats to the bar:

 After a short introduction for horns, cellos and basses, the violins and violas scamper along in eighth notes with the 5/4 time signature translating to 2+3 beats to the bar. The woodwinds take up the scamper, and the music modulates and grows into a tripping stomp before it dies back down to the opening figure in the violins. The trio is begun by the clarinet and manages to smooth out the tripping quality of the 5/4 time signature somewhat. The music swells in volume as the trio is interrupted by the beginning scampering figure a few times until the trio is silenced and the scherzo proper returns. The movement ends with a loud chord by the orchestra.

III. Andante - A slow (but not too slow) lyrical melody in G minor with a Russian flavor begins the movement. It slowly unwinds, slightly ebbs and flows until it melts into another gentle theme played by the oboe. The first theme is elaborated on, the music continues to unwind and Glière shows how well he learned about the orchestra from Ippolitov-Ivanov. The music reaches a climax shortly before the end. It dies down after that to a poignant end.

IV. Finale : Allegro - A short introduction by the horns and orchestra before the rapid dance tune begins. The second theme is right in keeping with the mood of the movement. The development section begins straight away with a motive played from the first theme. The music gets a little more intense as the first them continues to be developed. The horns play the secondary theme as the woodwinds chirp an accompaniment. After the rather straight-forward (but pleasant) development, the first dance tune appears in full to begin the recapitulation. The second theme appears, the music comments on the opening of the first theme, and the movement ends.

Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 In E-flat Major

The early part of the 19th century was a time of great change in music.The shift from a composer depending on the patronage of the church or royalty, to being an independent artist began with Mozart, as he was one of the first major composers that was free-lance. Beethoven also was a free-lance composer in the sense that he was not a paid member of a royal court.  Composers more and more were dependent on publishers looking to make a profit by printing their works, and the more popular the work the more money it made.

As there was no sound recordings, the piano was a popular instrument and most well to do households had family members that took lessons and played the instrument in varying degrees of ability. This was the age of the pianist composer,  and many times the way these composers made a name for themselves (thus drawing the attention of publishers and patrons) was by writing and performing their own piano concertos. In this they were following the lead of Mozart who did the same thing early on. Beethoven also made his first big splash as a composer/performer of his first two piano concertos. Chopin wrote two concertos and performed them in his debut in Vienna, and the list goes on all the way to the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.

Franz Liszt was in his prime as a touring virtuoso in the 1830's and 1840's when the composer/pianists were in full swing. Although he wrote a few pieces for piano and orchestra (one of them being Malédiction for piano and strings) it is interesting that he wrote no piano concertos during this time, at least ones that he finished, performed and published. The Piano Concerto No. 1 wasn't written until 1849. He continued to refine the piece and it was premiered in Weimar in 1855 with Liszt at the piano and Berlioz conducting. After the premiere he continued to work on the score and it was published in its final version in 1856.

Some of the themes for the first concerto were written in a notebook by Liszt as early as 1830, so the concerto had a long gestation. Liszt wrote a lot of music when its all added together, over 700 pieces of all kinds. Sometimes he wrote fast, and it can be said that he wrote too much. But he took especial care with this concerto, and it is one of his best pieces.

The concerto has 4 movements played without pause:
I. Allegro maestoso - The first movement begins with the strings playing part of the main theme of the entire work. This fragment is played twice with the rest of the orchestra answering each time.
The piano then enters in thundering octaves. After a short solo, the orchestra resumes playing the main theme while the piano comments upon it with another solo. Orchestra and piano alternate until the piano and clarinet enter into a short dialogue. The piano introduces a second theme with the solo clarinet and then a solo violin commenting on it. The entire string section enters and the music segues back to the main theme. A chromatic run from the piano signals the end of the first movement and the second movement begins without pause.

II. Quasi adagio - Muted strings play a mellow version of the main theme and the piano enters and transforms the main theme into a lyrical, gentle nocturne. The orchestra enters playing part of the theme while the piano comments upon it in a feeling of slight agitation. The piano calms once again and returns to a dreamy mood. Trills in the piano are accompanied by solo winds playing a new theme. This continues until the trills cease and the third movement begins without pause.

III. Allegro vivace - Allegro animato - A triangle begins the movement and is answered by pizzicato strings. The piano plays a theme, and themes from the other two movements enter in a scherzo for piano and orchestra. After some prancing from piano and orchestra, the main theme that began the work reappears as in the beginning. The next section begins without pause.

IV. Allegro marziale animato - The orchestra begins a new rhythmic theme complete with the triangle. previous themes now begin to reappear and the piano sparkles as it comments. The pianist has to play some of the most difficult music ever written for the piano as the main theme reappears and the tempo increases to break-neck speed. The music modulates to the home key of E-flat major and roars to a thundering conclusion.  Liszt had this to say about the last movement:

"The fourth movement of the concerto from the Allegro marziale corresponds with the second movement, Adagio. It is only an urgent recapitulation of the earlier subject-matter with quickened, livelier rhythm, and contains no new motive, as will be clear to you by a glance through the score. This kind of binding together and rounding off a whole piece at its close is somewhat my own, but it is quite maintained and justified from the stand-point of musical form."

Eduard Hanslick

The first piano concerto was roundly criticized when it became known. It is, after all, a piece that looks forward in form and material, and is a fine example of Liszt's cyclical technique of basing an entire work on a few short themes. It deviated from the form of the 'conventional' concerto in that it is played without pause. It also is in 4 movements, more like a symphony than a concerto.  The Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick, a proponent of anything Brahms and opponent of anything Liszt, dubbed it the Triangle Concerto when it was played in Vienna in 1857. Hanslick's influence in Vienna caused the concerto to not have another performance in that city until 1869. Liszt addressed his use of the triangle:

"The Scherzo in E-flat minor, from the point where the triangle begins, I employed for the effect of contrast. As regards the triangle I do not deny that it may give offence, especially if struck too strong and not precisely. A preconceived disinclination and objection to instruments of percussion prevails, somewhat justified by the frequent misuse of them. And few conductors are circumspect enough to bring out the rhythmic element in them, without the raw addition of a coarse noisiness, in works in which they are deliberately employed according to the intention of the composer. The dynamic and rhythmic spicing and enhancement, which are effected by the instruments of percussion, would in more cases be much more effectually produced by the careful trying and proportioning of insertions and additions of that kind. But musicians who wish to appear serious and solid prefer to treat the instruments of percussion en canaille (lowly people, riff-raff), which must not make their appearance in the seemly company of the symphony. They also bitterly deplore inwardly that Beethoven allowed himself to be seduced into using the big drum and triangle in the Finale of the Ninth Symphony. Of Berlioz, Wagner, and my humble self, it is no wonder that 'like draws to like,' and, as we are treated as impotent canaille amongst musicians, it is quite natural that we should be on good terms with the canaille among the instruments. Certainly here, as in all else, it is the right thing to seize upon and hold fast [the] mass of harmony. In face of the most wise proscription of the learned critics I shall, however, continue to employ instruments of percussion, and think I shall yet win for them some effects little known."

Hanslick is but a footnote in musical history. The first piano concerto of Liszt is firmly in the repertoire. Score one for the triangle.