Berlioz - Les Francs-Juges Overture

The earliest composition for orchestra by Hector Berlioz that is still in the repertoire is the overture to his opera Les Francs-Juges.  Berlioz wrote the opera to a libretto by Humbert Ferrand, a close friend of Berlioz. The name means The Free Judges  and refers to trials held in medieval Germany by a fraternal order of lay judges, or free judges. These Vehmic courts operated in the area of Westphalia in Germany, and sometimes held trials in secret.  They were one of the few organizations that derived their power directly from the Holy Roman Emperor and as such had the power to use the death penalty.

Berlioz tried to get the opera performed shortly after its composition in 1826, but funding was not available to stage it. He revised the opera twice and tried to get it performed, but after 1833 he destroyed most of the work except for the overture and a few excerpts.  The plot of the opera concerns a wicked uncle that tries to cheat his nephew out of his throne and beautiful fiancee. The nephew is brought before the Free Judges who convene in The Black Forest in Germany, and is sentenced to death. The fiancee manages to escape the clutches of the evil uncle and save her beloved.

Berlioz wrote the overture while he was still a student at the Conservatiore and was unsure that his writing for

Humbert Ferrand

the trombone was playable. Berlioz years later wrote,

I was at that time so ignorant of the mechanism of some of the instruments that after I had written the trombone solo in the Introduction in the key of D flat, I feared it might be too difficult to play. So I took it to one of the trombone players of the Opéra who examined it and reassured me by saying that ‘D flat as it happens is one of the best keys for the instrument, and you may count on the passage having a grand effect’.

 The orchestra begins with a slow introduction that includes loud music from the brass that perhaps represents the Free Judges convening. The rest of the overture has main themes that are presented and developed in Berlioz's own style of sonata form.
Berlioz was also one of the great orchestral conductors of his era, and he performed Les Francs-Juges Overture many times in his career.

Even at this early time in his career, Berlioz's penchant for large forces and novel orchestration is evident in this work. Berlioz's reputation for using large forces grew and when Berlioz visited Vienna Prince Klemens von Metternich asked him, “Is it not you who writes for an orchestra of 500 players?” Berlioz replied, “Not always, Monseigneur, I sometimes write for only 450.”

Widor - Piano Concerto No. 1 In F Minor

If someone has heard any music by Charles-Marie Widor (1844 - 1937) it is most likely the Toccata from his Symphony For Solo Organ No.5.  That Widor would be well known for an organ piece is understandable as he came from a family of organ builders and players, and was an organist himself at Saint-Sulpice Catholic Church (the top appointment for a French organist) in Paris for 64 years.  He was a strong influence in the French revival of organ playing and taught organ and composition at the Paris conservatory.

But Widor was also a master of orchestration and wrote a treatise on the subject. Besides the ten symphonies for solo organ, he composed many piano pieces, chamber works, operas and orchestral works. Widor composed the Piano Concerto in F Minor, Opus 39 in 1876. The premiere was in November 1876 with Louis Diémer as soloist. Le Ménestrel, a French music journal, printed the following review about the concerto:

Louis Diémer

"The concerto for piano and orchestra by M. Widor is a very remarkable work. Perhaps the young and already wise organist of Saint-Sulpice has yielded a little to the inclination of the most recent school of composers to favour form over substance, but there are some beautiful harmonic effects and interesting development of ideas. The finale is the best of the three movements, I think—despite all the success of the Andante—based on a motif that is very lively and forthright with rather the appeal of a scherzo. Thanks to his playing, so precise and so firm, M. Diémer … made the most persuasive case for the concerto."`

The concerto is in three movements:
I. Allegro con fuoco -  The piano opens the first movement and is in the forefront until the second theme is announced by piano and orchestra. These two ideas are explored and expanded upon for the entire movement. The first theme builds to a climax in the coda, and the movement ends.

II. Andante religioso - Woodwinds make the first statement of a theme, the piano enters playing chords that will eventually evolve to another theme, but not before the first theme is restated by the strings. These two kernels are developed by piano and orchestra. There are beautiful passages for the piano playing arpeggios over a quiet accompaniment by the lower strings. Later in the movement the piano plays high in the treble with the strings, giving an impression of Widor's instruction of religioso.  The movement ends with the piano playing chords over a gentle accompaniment.

III. Finale: Allegro - Widor begins the finale with loud C octaves in both hands and the music has the feel of a scherzo:

 The rhythmic scherzo takes up much of the finale until a cadenza for soloist appears that makes a passing reference to some of the other themes heard earlier. The music shifts to F major and the concerto ends.

Widor was not only a master of organ compositions. He was also a first-rate orchestrator, so much so that he wrote a treatise on the subject. This concerto shows his mastery of the orchestra as well as the piano.

Tchaikovsky - String Sextet 'Souvenir de Florence'

When Tchaikovsky was made an honorary member of the Saint Petersburg Chamber Music Society in 1886 he promised to compose a chamber work and dedicate it to the society. After he decided the work was going to be a string sextet, he made some preliminary sketches in 1887 , but it wasn't until June of 1890 that he started to work on it in earnest. Tchaikovsky mentioned the sextet in letters to his friends and told of the difficulty he had in writing in what was a new form for him.  By November of 1890 the work was completed, but Tchaikovsky would not allow it to be published until he heard it in performance. There was a private performance of the work in Tchaikovsky's apartment in December, after which Tchaikovsky decided to rework the last two movements. It wasn't until December of 1892 that the first public performance of the original work was played.  Tchaikovsky's revised version was heard the same month and year. The revised version was published in June of 1892 and as promised carried a dedication to the Saint Petersburg Chamber Music Society. The title of the sextet refers to a trip Tchaikovsky made to Florence, Italy where he had sketched one of the work's themes. The work is for two violins, two violas, and two cellos. It is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro con spirito - The movement begins straight away with a spirited theme in D minor. The second theme is more lyrical and expansive in nature. The exposition is not repeated. The development section contends with the D minor first theme by way of a fugal treatment, the second theme expands its singing qualities. There is a short section where both themes play off each other that leads to the recapitulation which is followed by a coda. The first theme grows in intensity, speed is increased followed by the final chords.

II. Adagio cantabile e con moto - Full chords open the second movement in music that is in sharp contrast to the preceding movement. The gently sad D major theme is played by a violin to a pizzicato accompaniment. Soon the cello enters with the theme while the violin plays a counter melody. There is a mysterious middle section marked moderato that is more of an interlude, as it doesn't have any thematic connection with the rest of the movement. It is in D minor and consists of rapid sixteenth note triplets played up and down the fingerboard and Tchaikovsky instructs the players to play with the tip of the bow which gives a different texture to the sound. After this short diversion, the melody returns in the cello, the accompaniment is varied as the tune is expanded. The music is marked cantabile and slowly winds down, ending with a dynamic marking of  a hushed quadruple piano.

III.Allegretto moderato - A scherzo in all but name, it is in the key of A minor and time signature of 2/4 rather than the more conventional triple time of a scherzo. The theme is first stated by a viola and then by a violin. The trio is in A major and even more energetic. The scherzo returns and continues ot bounce and sway until it reaches a short coda ended by a pungent pizzicato chord by all six instruments.

IV.Allegro con brio e vivace - The finale continues the energy of the scherzo. It returnsto the home key of D minor, with the first theme played by a violin. After it runs its course a short fugal section appeas before the second theme appears. It is no less energetic than the first theme and after it has its say the development begins with the first theme being worked up to a fever pitch. The fugal section reappears but is more involved and complex this time around. The first theme gives way to the second theme once again and the music continues ot grow in intensity until the coda arrives which is marked piu vivace with a quadruple forte. The music becomes yet more intense as the strings run breathlessly to the closing chords.

Tchaikovsky was a man of incredibly complex and powerful emotions which caused him to have many a personal crisis, including periodic episodes of severe depression. The work is emotional in the extreme and caused Tchaikovsky much anguish and work to finish it, but he was justly proud of what he had accomplished and said so in a letter to his brother:

"What a sextet - what a fugue at the end - it's a pleasure! It is awful how pleased I am with myself: I am embarrassed not by any lack of ideas but by the novelty of the form."

The  Souvenir de Florence has within its pages the passion Tchaikovsky had for Florence as evidenced in the first two movements and the love he had for his native Russia which can be heard in the final two movements. It is a masterpiece of composition and emotion. The Souvenir de Florence was the only sextet he would write and it came late in his career, but three years before his controversial death in 1893.

Beethoven - Theme And Variations 'Eroica' Opus 35

Beethoven wrote many sets of variations for piano, the first set written when he was twelve years old in 1782, and the final set in 1823, the famous Diabelli Variations opus 120. Beethoven's first efforts were variations on themes of other composers, most often from operas of the day. Beethoven didn't place too much importance on the majority of these sets of variations as he assigned opus numbers to only four of them, with the two sets of opus 34 and 35 being the first to be assigned official publishing numbers.

Beethoven wrote to the music publisher Breitkopf & Härtel to try and interest them in publishing the two works:

"I have composed two sets of variations... Both sets are worked out in quite a new manner, and each in a separate and different way. . . . I assure you that you will have no regrets in respect of these two works - each theme is treated in its own way and in a different way from the other one. Usually I have to wait for other people to tell me when I have new ideas, because I never know this myself. But this time - I myself can assure you that in both these works the method is quite new so far as I am concerned."

 Both of these works were different in the sense that they were sets of variations on Beethoven's original themes. The opus 35 set in E-flat major, written in 1802,  is based on a theme that Beethoven originally used in a Contredanse  about 1800. He used the same melody in the finale of the music he wrote for the ballet The Creatures Of Prometheus about the same time. Beethoven saw a great deal of potential in this theme and must have been fond of it, for after he used it in the opus 35 set he reused it for another set of variations in the finale of his Third Symphony 'Eroica' in 1803. The opus 35 set is also referred to as the Eroica Variations becasue of this.  The works consists of an introduction, theme and fifteen variations, and a fugue:

Introduzione col Basso de Tema (Introduction, the bass of the theme) - The work begins with a E-flat major chord followed by the presentation of the bass of the theme before the theme itself is heard. It spans three octaves with no harmonization, just the bare bones of the bass. It is in binary form with each part being eight bars that are repeated.

A Due (Two, or double) - The playing of a bass at the beginning of a work was not unheard of, the passacaglia of the Baroque Era is one example. But what Beethoven does next is quite unusual, as he repeats the bass while an accompaniment plays in the treble. The position of the bass in this section is an octave higher than the bottom note of the bass in the introduction.

A Tre (Three, or triple) - The bass now climbs into the treble, an octave above its position in the previous section. The accompaniment becomes slightly more complex as it alternates between low notes and high.

A Quattro (Four, or quadruple) - The bass now climbs an octave higher yet as the accompaniment is spread out between the two hands.  The bass has had its own mini-set of variations, and Beethoven has shown with this beginning that the bass is just as important as the theme itself.

Tema (Theme) - The preliminaries are past, the theme finally makes its first appearance with the bass fitting it well. Perhaps the audience of Beethoven's day finally got a grasp of what's gone before when the them did arrive.

Variation 1 - With running sixteenth notes in the treble, Beethoven settles in to a more conventional way to embellish a theme.  Grace notes are used to spice up the theme.

Variation 2 - Sixteenth note triplets liven up the theme, and in the second section a cadenza is inserted between the two four-bar phrases.

Variation 3 - The left hand bounces from single bass notes to chords in the middle of the treble clef while the right hand plays chords higher up in the treble.

Variation 4 - Running notes in the bass while the treble plays high staccato chords.

Variation 5 - The texture gets lighter and in the second section sforzandos accent off the beat.

Variation 6 - The theme is played in chords in the treble while the bass plays sixteenth note broken octaves. The second section is written out in full as the ending of the second time around is different and segues directly to the next variation.

Variation 7,  Canone all' octtava (Canon at the octave) -  A canon on the theme at the distance of an octave with the bass a quarter beat behind the treble.

Variation 8 - Large jumps spread out the theme between bass and treble in the left hand while the right hand plays the accompaniment.

Variation 9 - Eighth note triplets play in thirds in the right while the left hand hammers out a B-flat preceded by the notes of the bass. The low B-flats finally rise higher in the second section while the grace notes persist.

Variation 10 - Beethoven reduces the music to two parts, almost in the style of a Bach two-part invention.

Variation 11 - A simple two note accompaniment is played while the theme plays in triplets high in the treble and drops down to the bass at the end of each section.

Variation 12 - A rising two note figure in the treble is answered in the bass with a descending two note figure. Both hands play together in contrary motion at the end of the first section. The second section has the right hand play the rising two note figure until it pauses on a B-flat dominant seventh chord. The two hands answer one another to the end of the section.

Variation 13 - Eighth note triplet chords in both hands are hammered out forte after an A natural grace note begins each measure. The second section has chords hammered out at fortissimo while the grace note changes to suit the harmony and theme.

Variation 14, Minore - The key changes to E-flat minor as a melancholy version of the theme and bass plays.

Variation 15, Maggiore, Largo - A highly decorated variation that perhaps gives us some idea of Beethoven the master of improvisation. There is a section marked Coda that can be considered an unnumbered variation. Transition material leads to the finale.

Finale Alla Fuga - Through all of the variations the bass has been as much a part of the variation process as the theme. In the final fugue the first four notes of the bass become part of the subject. The fugue is for three voices and the theme is not forgotten as it can beheard in bits and pieces throughout. The fugue segues into yet more variations on theme and bass. Beethoven rounds of the work with a short coda.

Chopin - Mazurkas, Opus 17

 Chopin was traveling to Vienna in 1830 when he first heard of the November Uprising in Poland, which brought on the war between Poland and their Russian occupiers. Chopin was on his way to Paris from Vienna in 1831 when he heard that the uprising had been brutally crushed. He arrived in Paris in September of the same year and was advised by friends and family to not go back to Poland until the political situation changed, but it never did in his lifetime. He became a more nationalistic composer after the crushing of the uprising, and  expressed his longing for his country by writing more music in the form of Polish native dances, such as the polonaise and mazurka. The mazurka is a dance that is usually lively in tempo, in triple time, and has distinctive rhythms such as the examples below:

Chopin used some of the characteristics of the traditional mazurka but also added other features to it such as counterpoint and other classical compositional techniques. Chopin's mazurkas are stylized versions of the folk dance and as such they are not suitable to dance to. This was Chopin's intent and he made a different form of the dance that was more suited for the recital hall.  

He began writing mazurkas in 1825 while still in Poland and continued to write them until his death in 1849.

He wrote at least 69 of them, with 58 being published. The rest are still in manuscript form in private hands or are lost.
He wrote the four mazurkas of opus 17 in 1832-1833 and they are the first ones he wrote in Paris. They were published in 1834.

1. In B-flat, Vivo e risoluto -  Chopin retains much of the flavor of the traditional dance with the rhythmic opening theme which id followed by a section of accented chords. The first theme repeats along with the accented chords. There is a third section that begins with a four-bar introduction to it that is accented off the beat, as is some of the third section. After the third section is played the opening two sections are repeated.

2. In E minor,  Lento, ma non troppo - A mazurka in contrast to the preceding one as there is a touch of sadness to the beginning. The next section is a little brighter in mood, but the melancholy melody of the first section repeats and the music ends quietly. 

3. A-flat major, Allegro assai - The first theme is gently accented on the second beat of the measure and repeats. The 2nd section shifts the accent to the third beat of the measure, and the first theme is repeated, and the entire 2nd section repeats.  A short transition is part of the third section and leads to eighth note triplets. After this section, the mazurka plays the beginning theme along with the 2nd section. The first theme ends the mazurka quietly. 

4. A minor, Lento, ma non troppo - Four bars of pianissimo chords begins the mazurka, one of Chopin's most intimate creations. The melody plays over chords and is embellished with grace notes and runs. The next section is in A major and has a descending motif followed by an ascending motif. The music modulates back to A minor as the first theme repeats with slight differences. There is a final section  of descending motifs and after the first playing it is repeated with embellishments. The music ends with the same four bars as the beginning with the last bar a eighth note triplet of d-e-d and a chord that resolves little. 

Chopin loved his country before he left it to make a name for himself in the music capital of Europe, Vienna. His subsequent exile from Poland deepened that love and caused him to become nostalgic and homesick. Some of these feelings are expressed in his music, especially the mazurkas. Chopin himself called them 'Little pictures', of his homeland, customs and people.  

Franck - Prelude, Chorale And Fugue For Piano

After many years of composing for solo organ and choral pieces César Franck renewed his interest in the piano. He had began his career as a virtuoso pianist while still a child, while his first compositions written as a child were for solo piano. Two of the pieces that saw his renaissance as a composer for the piano, the Piano Quintet in F Minor, and Les Djinns for piano and orchestra, were followed by pieces for piano solo, one of which was the  Prelude, Chorale and Fugue.

The organ music of J.S. Bach was a great influence on Franck, as was the music of Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner. In this piece Franck paid homage to this legacy by molding it in a traditional form while radically changing the style of music he put into it. Camille Saint-Saëns, the great French contemporary of Franck disliked the chromaticism and style of the music and declared, "It is neither a Chorale nor a Fugue." Of course he was correct; it was Franck's personalization of the forms. To a musician that had grown somewhat conservative like Saint-Saëns, this music did no service to the art of music. Regardless of the criticism of his music, (which could be very harsh) Franck continued composing and wrote some of the most beautiful music of the late 19th century. Music that looked backwards in some ways, and forwards in others.

Prelude - The music begins straight away in the key of B minor with a melody played in the middle of an arpeggiated accompaniment:

After seven bars, Franck draws attention to a time signature change 2/4 for one bar that is marked a capriccio. This one bar contains the kernel of one of the first main theme that is referred to throughout the work. The time signature changes back to common time as the kernel is expanded for a few measures before the prelude figuration heard in the beginning returns. The first theme reappears and is explored further. The prelude returns and leads directly to a two-bar transition to the Chorale.

Chorale - The key changes to C minor as the subject for the following fugue is partially revealed before the chorale proper sounds out by large rolled chords with the melody in the high treble:

The music follows this pattern of subject - chorale until the music modulates to the key of E-flat minor in the chorale.

Fugue - After a few bars of transition, the music modulates back to the home key of B minor. The music rumbles in anticipation and leads to the beginning of the fugue:

The fugue progresses with the fugue subject weaving its way through key changes as Franck explores the theme. All of the exploration leads to a cadenza of rapid 16th notes that lead to the reappearance of the prelude and its theme, which is itself explored and expanded. The chorale theme also reappears in a different guise. The fugue and chorale themes intertwine, and the music changes key to B major. Pieces of themes are heard in a grand coda that ends the piece.

Hummel - Piano Sonata No. 5 In F-sharp Minor

Beethoven and Hummel were friends for many years until they had a falling out around 1810. Hummel had been a student of Mozart and Clementi and was known for his delicacy and fluidity on the piano, while Beethoven was better known for snapped strings and broken pianos he left in his wake. Beethoven's playing was thundering, while Hummel's was singing. Beethoven's playing by contemporary accounts could be sloppy and he pounded, while Hummel's was precise and flexible. Both men were virtuosos of the first order in the Vienna of the early 19th century, but they were at opposite ends of the piano playing spectrum. Beethoven was a notoriously difficult person to get along with, and his life is littered with squabbles large and small that caused estrangement from many of his friends.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven also didn't much care for Hummel's compositions, but Beethoven was very sparse with his acceptance of most other composers' music. Perhaps what set Beethoven off the most was that Hummel made arrangements of Beethoven's music, probably on artistic grounds as well as monetary. Copyright didn't exist and Beethoven didn't get any payment for the use of his composition as basis for an arrangement and certainly had no say-so in the arrangement itself.

All of this competition and bickering (as well as the huge difference in their piano playing) caused two camps to form in Vienna. Carl Czerny, student of Beethoven and Hummel and teacher of Liszt, had the opportunity to hear many of the virtuosos in Vienna including Beethoven and Hummel. Czerny wrote about the two opposing camps:

Carl Czerny

Beethoven's style could be characterized as tremendously forceful, full of bravura and fluency, while Hummel's was the epitome of the highest purity and clarity, full of graceful delicacy and elegance. Hummel's playing united Mozart's style with the style of Clementi, so it was natural that some would prefer Hummel's playing to Beethoven's, thus two parties formed which were hostile and vengeful to each other. Hummel's supporters accused Beethoven of mistreating the piano mangling clarity and purity, he brought forth only confusing noise through the overuse of the pedal and his compositions were full of unnatural melodies and vulgarities. In contrast, the Beethoven supporters accused Hummel of stifling all true imagination, his playing monotonous as a hurdy-gurdy, his fingers like spiders and his compositions pale imitations of Mozart and Haydn. 

The historical edge as far as influencing later generations of composers must go to Beethoven, who was such a Titan of music that like his music or not, composers had to come to terms with it. But Hummel was not without his influence. It has not lasted directly lasted as long as Beethoven's but the leading composers of the Early Romantic Age certainly knew and learned from his music. Chopin had a Hummel piano concerto in his repertoire, Schumann struggled to learn the 5th piano sonata and Hummel taught Thalberg and Mendelssohn. Hummel's Piano sonata No. 5 In F-sharp Minor was written in 1819 and is in three movements:

I. Allegro - Hummel begins the movement with a decidedly different opening motif of grace notes attached to octaves in each hand. The music is restless and disjointed as it stops, starts, slows down and resumes tempo. There are many short motifs that run through the exposition, but the listener must pay attention as there is no choice for the performer to repeat the exposition as Hummel writes a double bar line and goes directly to the development. The development goes afield with certain motifs modulating to different keys, and Hummel eventually makes hisway back to the recapitulation. Motifs reappear with changes of key, and the movement ends in F-sharp major. The music bristles with thirds and fourths, especially in the right hand, as well as rapid runs and rhythmic combinations. Hummel manages to write a first movement that sounds more like a fantasy than sonata form.

II. Largo con molto espressione - What appears to be the slow movement of the sonata starts with a surprise; a motif played in double forte.  After the initial surprise, the music assumes the demeanor of a slow movement that is a foretaste of things to come with Chopin and Schumann. The movement is punctuated by loud outbursts and quick runs up and down the keyboard. The movement is full of tempo designations and directions as well as dynamic markings.

III. Finale:Vivace - The preceding two movements were only a warm up to what Hummel has in store in the finale. The music has a relentless push forward in the two main themes, the first of which is hammered out in the high treble and the other in octaves in the right hand played against running notes in the left. There is a fugal episode that appears twice as the music keeps pushing to the final chord. Again the music is full of thirds and fourths, especially a two-bar run for thirds in both hands that is played twice. The first theme returns to round off the movement and leads to octave F's in both hands.

Some say Beethoven was a Classical Era composer, some say he was one of the first Romantics, but Beethoven defies categorization as one thing or the other. His music has elements of both, but he is a composer unto himself. With the writing of this sonata Hummel led the way for the full onset of the Romantic Era. Beethoven wrote some amazing music for the piano, but he never wrote a sonata like this sonata of Hummel's.  

When Hummel learned that Beethoven was on his deathbed, he traveled to Vienna, visited Beethoven three times, the last only three days before Beethoven died.  He promised to take Beethoven's place in a charity concert, and secured Beethoven's signature on a document supporting Hummel's attempt at getting copyright laws passed. Hummel was one of eight musicians that accompanied Beethoven's coffin to his grave.