Spohr - Violin Concerto No. 8 In A Minor 'In modo di scena cantante'

Although few of his compositions are played today, Louis Spohr was a well respected and highly regarded violinist, conductor and composer in the early 19th century.  He wrote nearly 300 works in all musical genres but what reputation he still has is founded on his works for clarinet and orchestra and the violin concertos.

From 1803 to 1844 Spohr wrote 18 concertos for violin, of which only one is played with spring regularity, the Violin Concerto No. 8 In A Minor.  The subtitle of the concerto is Italian and translates as In the form of an operatic scene. Spohr was a contemporary of Paganini who tried to steer the concerto form away from the glitter and artificial technical display that was overtaking the form early in the century. While Paganini's Violin Concertos were not merely empty display pieces, Paganini did write his share of bravura passages for the soloist in them, thus Spohr made a conscious effort to counter the tendency other violinist composer's had to emulate Paganini. In his later concertos he attempted to create profound and memorable works by other means than empty display.

The 8th Concerto was written for a specific audience in mind, as Spohr was about to embark on a tour of Italy. He made the assumption that since Italy was the land of opera, it would be difficult to keep the attention of the Italian audiences with a more conventional concerto. He wrote the work as if the violin were a singer, and also kept the orchestral accompaniment uncomplicated as he had heard the orchestras in Italy were not as proficient as in France or Germany. The work was premiered at La Scala in Milan, and as Spohr wrote in his autobiography:

Uncertainty about how my playing and my compositions would please the Italians left me somewhat anxious … but with the first measures I noted that the audience was receptive. My anxiety disappeared, and I played without inhibition.

The concerto is in three main sections that are played without a break:

Recitative - Allegro molto - The work begins with a statement by the orchestra which is answered by an operatic-like recitative by the soloist.  The soloist continues to answer statements by the orchestra in this first section until a short transition leads directly to the next section.

Adagio - Recitative: Andante -  The orchestra plays preliminary material that is followed by the soloist's aria that is lightly accompanied. A contrasting section consists of a quickening of the tempo as the soloist plays in the low register of the violin. The aria returns and its closing leads to another recitative for the soloist. The final section follows without a break.

Allegro moderato - A full blooded theme is first presented by the orchestra. A short section of counterpoint leads to other thematic material for the orchestra. The soloist enters with the first theme, after which the second theme that consists of passage work for the soloist is played. The soloist and orchestra explore new thematic material until a recapitulation begins, after which a fragment of the first theme leads to a cadenza for the soloist.  The concerto's loose ends are tied up by the orchestra in a short ending.

Spohr was an important transitional composer who had one foot in the Classical era and the other in the Romantic era. The quite novel and nontraditional form that Spohr used in the 8th violin concerto influenced many later composers. Spohr seems to have been a very happy family man, far removed from the Romantic notion of the suffering artist.  He had a general curiosity about many things and at one time was one of the most popular composers and performers in Europe.

The time in which he lived was a time of upheaval in the arts as well as society. The European Revolutions of 1848 were a direct result of those upheavals, and along with his other interests Spohr was also a liberal believer in democracy and wasn't afraid to voice his disagreement with the repression and brutality that was common in his time.  The fact that he was physically a large man may have helped him be open with his thoughts. In an era when any man six feet tall was considered large, Spohr was six foot six and had large athletic hands that made the violin look small. This no doubt also helped him in his career as a conductor. The sight of him towering over the orchestra when he was on the podium must have been impressive.

Brahms - Double Concerto In A Minor

Johannes Brahms was born and grew up in Hamburg Germany, a port city that had (and still does) some rough edges. As an adult, Brahms' personality was quite rough around the edges too. Whether this was due to events of his childhood is still under debate. Whether there will ever be any concrete evidence for any causes for his personality quirks, there is no denying he could be a difficult man to get along with, even with his oldest and dearest friends.

His dear friend, colleague and master violinist Joseph Joachim had been a friend since they first met when Brahms was nineteen years old.  There is bound to be friction between two such remarkably talented artists, but the major riff between them had nothing to do with music. Joachim, evidently a very jealous and suspicious husband,  had accused his wife of infidelity. Brahms wrote the wife a consoling letter telling her he believed she was innocent of the charges, and years later when Joachim sued for divorce Brahms' letter was read in court and helped the court to decide in her favor. It was the first Joachim had heard about the letter, and he became furious. He didn't speak to Brahms or associate with him for years, but continued playing and promoting Brahms' music.

Joseph Joachim

When Brahms offered Joachim the premiere of his Double Concerto four years later, Joachim relented and accepted.  Joachim, cellist Robert Hausmann and Brahms conducting performed the premiere of the work in October 1887.  Reviews of the work were mixed, not least of all from some of Brahms other friends. But Joachim was delighted with the work. The Double Concerto is in three movements:

I. Allegro - The orchestra opens the work with a powerful but short statement. The cello enters with more introductory material until the orchestra winds silence the cello's passion with the first theme of the movement. Both of the soloists play their version of the theme, after which the orchestra returns with more thematic material. Brahms, a composer that was accused of being over-academic, changes thematic material each time it is repeated, a process Schoenberg called developing variation. Brahms was an academic in the sense that he revered and used the older forms of music, but he made changes within the form to suit the purpose of expressing himself.  The soloists play thematic material and the variations with and against each other while being accompanied by an orchestra that also does the same with the soloists.

II. Andante - Two measures of introduction lead to the statement of the main theme by soloists and strings:

The first bar of the initial 4-bar phrase of this theme gives the impression on the ear as if it is two beats in a bar - that is two 3-note triplets, contrary to the 3/4 time signature. The second bar returns to three in a bar, the equivalent of an optical illusion, but of the ear.  Brahms excelled at these subtle but effective methods of metrical shifts, especially in his later works. This gives a feeling of ambiguity to the basic meter of the movement that adds a richness to a melody that at first sounds like a lullaby. The movement has a slightly contrasting middle section before the theme returns, and as was Brahms' way, it isn't repeated verbatim.

III. Vivace non troppo -  Brahms had a fondness for dance music, especially Gypsy dance music. The main theme of this rondo/sonata hybrid is rhythmically strong, vibrant and is heard immediately in turn by first the cello and then violin.  There's much going on throughout the movement, with some of the thematic material turning reflective in nature, a characteristic found in most of Brahms late works.

The Double Concerto was Brahms final work for orchestra. The last years of his life were devoted to chamber music, music for voice and music for piano.  Brahms and Joachim remained on cordial terms for the rest of Brahms life, but they no longer had the same kind of friendship as before the riff.

Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor

Camille Saint-Saëns composed his second piano concerto in 1868, ten years after writing his first piano concerto. By this time Saint-Saëns had met and worked with many of the leading composers of the time. He had been introduced to Liszt years before and the two became friends.  While Saint-Saëns was professor of piano at a French music school he caused a furor when he upset the usually conservative repertoire offered to students by including works of contemporary composers.

The reputation of musical conservative still follows Saint-Saëns, but that came about later in his long life when he became increasingly curmudgeonly towards Debussy and other younger composers. In his younger days Saint-Saëns was known as an innovator, with the second concerto being a good example.

The second piano concerto was written at the request of another one of Saint-Saëns' composer acquaintances, the Russian pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein, who was in the process of developing his reputation as a conductor. Saint-Saëns wrote the work in three weeks, and the premiere of the concerto happened so soon after completion of the work that Saint-Saëns complained that he had insufficient time to practice the work, as he was the soloist.  The concerto got a mixed reception at the premiere, but it went on to become Saint-Saëns most popular work for piano and orchestra and is still in the repertoire. The concerto is in three movements:

I. Andante sustenuto -  While Saint-Saëns first concerto kept to a classical model of a piano concerto, the second concerto shows its differences immediately as the soloist plays an extended cadenza in the very beginning of the first movement. The piano continues until the orchestra interrupts the cadenza with two loud chords and a short episode that prepares the way for the hearing of the first theme played by the solo piano.  The piano repeats the theme with orchestra accompaniment, after which orchestra and soloist engage in a dramatic dialogue, after which the music becomes more serene as the second theme is presented by piano and orchestra. The second theme expands slowly until it dissolves into a slowly building dramatic section. The piano thunders out octaves and the first theme returns.  The soloist introduces new material in another cadenza until material from the opening of the movement returns in hushed tones. The tension and drama change suddenly as the soloist plays forte, the orchestra repeats the loud chords from the beginning, and orchestra and piano join in as the movement ends.

II. Allegro scherzando - In an extreme example of contrast between movements, the second movement begins with a quiet rhythmic figure on the timpani. The soloist and orchestra take turns in a Mendelssohnian scherzo, with the first theme seeing the soloist playing fleet of finger figures with a light and rhythmic accompaniment. The second theme is first played by orchestra while the piano accompanies. The music remains light and delicate while themes come and go, until the woodwinds and timpani enter into a short dialogue based on the rhythmic motive of the opening. Everything winds down to a quiet ending.

III. Presto - Saint-Saëns returns to G minor for the last movement, a tarantella of great speed and passion. The main theme is repeated between episodes of other material, but as with the previous two movement Saint-Saëns made something different of the form. The tarantella eventually takes over as the piano frantically scrambles towards the end of the work with the orchestra running alongside until the thundering chords of the orchestra and running notes of the piano end the work.

Weber - Concertino For Horn In E Minor

Carl Maria von Weber was an early Romantic composer that had a tremendous influence on other musicians in the 19th century.  He was primarily an opera composer, but he wrote works in other forms as well,  particularly solo concertos for piano and other instruments.

Weber wrote a total of 15 concertos, with 7 for wind instruments, some of which are still in the repertoire and are studied by wind instrument students. One of his more curious solo concertos is the Concertino For Horn In E Minor. Weber was fond of the horn and used it to good effect in his operas, but as with many composers he consulted experienced horn players when he was writing the concertino in 1806. He revised the concertino for a different player in 1816.

Horn virtuosos of the day performed the work on the natural horn which consists of a tube over twenty feet long that had a bell at one end and a mouthpiece at the other.  Changes in pitch were accomplished with lip tension and by the insertion of a hand in the bell. Extra pieces of tubing called crooks had to be added or removed from the instrument to allow it to play in different keys, something that composers had to account for in their scores as any time a horn was to change the key in which it played there had to be sufficient time to change the crook.  Valves began to be used on horns around 1818 but it took some time for them to be accepted by older players and composers. Weber's concertino is now played on the modern valved horn, but it is still a very difficult piece to bring off. The concertino is in 4 sections:

I. Adagio - The orchestra begins by playing two chords, after which the soloist enters. This short section acts as an introduction to the work. The soloist plunges to the bottom of the instruments register that leads the music directly to the next section.

II. Andante con moto - The horn plays a theme that is also taken up by the orchestra. This section is a set of variations on this theme. The first variation is a slightly decorated version of the theme. After each variation by the horn the orchestra plays a short version. The second variation has the soloist making great leaps and arpeggios. The third variation increases the decoration of the theme with faster notes and more arpeggios.  The difficulties for the horn player increase yet again in the fourth variation. The orchestra leads directly to the next section.

III. Recitative - adagio - Weber treats the horn as a vocalist in one of his operas as it plays sad, sometimes dramatic material while the orchestra punctuates the soloist. Towards the end of the third section, the horn plays unaccompanied, at least by any other instrument. After some notes that are at the very bottom of the range of the horn, Weber instructs the soloist to hum a note as another note is played. This gives the effect of the horn playing a chord, a four-note chord is notated in the score. A note played on the horn is held while alternating notes are hummed into the instrument. A quiet timpani roll brings the strange sounds of a horn accompanying itself to a close and leads to the final section.

IV. Alla polacca -  The horn plays a polonaise, a Polish dance that was something of a craze of the times.  The horn and orchestra take turns the polonaise between short interludes of other themes. The horn part continues on its virtuosic way, until it plays a string of trills (notoriously difficult on the natural horn). With one last trill for the soloist. the orchestra brings Weber's tour de force for the horn to a close.

Along with a video of a soloist playing the piece on a modern horn, beneath it there is a video of the same concertino being played on a natural horn.

C.P.E. Bach - Flute Concerto In D Minor Wq. 22

Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach spent thirty yeas in the employ of Frederick The Great, king of Prussia. His duties were not over taxing, (he played continuo for the King's nightly playing of flute sonatas and concertos) so he had ample time to devote to composition. It was while he was employed at the court in Berlin that he wrote copiously for keyboard, including two sets of published sonatas.

It was while Bach was in Berlin that he also wrote the Concerto In D Minor For Flute, perhaps as early as 1747.  There is evidence that the same music was used in an arrangement for a keyboard concerto, but there is some disagreement among musicologists as to which version was the original and which was the arrangement.  In either case, the flute version probably gave his Royal Highness fits trying to play it.  The concerto is in three movements:

I. Allegro - The orchestra begins by playing the themes of the movement. The soloist enters and gives its own more decorated renditions of the themes. The orchestra repeats the themes before the flute develops them with added ornamentation and key changes.  The main rhythmic theme is alternated with the soloist's statements as Bach keeps the momentum going to the end of the movement.

II. Un poco andante - A movement of smooth elegance that is not without sections of subdued drama for the soloist. Bach gives the soloist an opportunity for a cadenza shortly before the movement ends.

III. Allegro di molto - The movement begins in a whirl of rapidity that is maintained throughout. The music is a harbinger of the Sturm und Drang style of music  that would come into fashion later in the 18th century.  The opening theme returns throughout the movement and leads the soloist to run to keep up with the orchestra in music of great virtuosity and drama. The orchestra has the last word with a final statement of the main theme followed by an abrupt ending.

Bach took up the position of Cantor and Director of Music at Hamburg in 1768, and in his autobiography of 1777 he expressed his disappointment and frustration during his time in Berlin. Bach had gained the reputation of one of the great keyboard players in Europe early on, but it was his compositions that probably held him back from being more appreciated at court. As Annette Richards, organist, musicologist and authority on 17th and 18th century music has written:

Outside music, the cultural references of JS Bach were more or less exclusively theological. But with CPE Bach, things are completely different. Engaged with poets, painters, philosophers, his music is a reflection of the burgeoning secular discourse of his time.  Even among his contemporaries you get a sense that CPE Bach is an acquired taste. His music – or the music he considered representative of his talents – is miles away from the elegance and balance we associate with this period. Timelines are crisscrossed, he is endlessly stopping and starting, wrong-footing the listener and causing his audience to reconsider its relation to the music. In that sense, it's very postmodern, a kind of meta-music.

The composer himself had something to say about his style and originality in his autobiography:

Because I have had to compose most of my works for specific individuals and for the public, I have always been more restrained in them than in the few pieces that I have written merely for myself. At times I even have had to follow ridiculous instructions, although it could be that such not exactly pleasant conditions have led my talents to certain discoveries that I might not otherwise have come upon. Since I have never liked excessive uniformity in composition and taste, since I have heard such a quantity and variety of good [things], since I have always been of the opinion that one could derive some good, whatever it may be even if it is only a matter of minute details in a piece, probably from such [considerations] and my natural, God-given ability arises the variety that has been observed in my works…..Among all my works, especially for keyboard, there are only a few trios, solos, and concertos that I have composed in complete freedom and for my particular use.  

Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 2 In A Major

Franz Liszt's 2nd Piano Concerto was published in 1863, but sketches for the work went back as far as 1839 when he was still touring Europe as a piano virtuoso.  During the intervening years between the initial ideas for the concerto and the final version, Liszt had retired from the concert platform and accepted the  directorship of music at the Wiemar court where he gained experience not only as a composer, but as an orchestral conductor.

A comparison between the 1st Piano Concerto In E-flat Major  and the 2nd Concerto Piano Concerto In A Major show how Liszt had changed as a composer and an artist. While the solo part for the 1st Piano Concerto is overtly virtuosic, the difficulties in the solo part of the 2nd Concerto are not as obvious. While both concertos are played without a break, the first nonetheless falls into four distinct sections, while the seams are not quite so obvious in the 2nd concerto. Liszt attempted to integrate piano and orchestra even more in the 2nd than the 1st concerto, and used the Concerto Symphonique compositions of Henry Litolff as models.  Liszt was well acquainted with Litolff's works for piano and orchestra, and also knew Litolff personally. Liszt dedicated the 1st Piano Concerto to Litolff, and wrote Concerto Symphonique on the manuscript of the 2nd Piano Concerto.

The late music critic Michael Steinberg summed up the difference between the 1st and 2nd piano concertos when he wrote :

The Concerto No. 1 is an octaves-and-glitter piece with small poetic ambition. The Concerto No. 2 is another matter. Liszt is sparing with devices guaranteed to bring down the house...even more important is the pervasiveness of a manner, a tone, that asks listeners for concentrated attention and delicacy of response. An expert keyboard athlete can make a go of the First Concerto. The Second Concerto is for poets...

The 2nd Piano Concerto is in one continuous movement that contains six sections:

I. Adagio sostenuto assai - The primary theme of the entire work is heard directly from the woodwinds in a quiet progression of chords. After the clarinet plays the theme, the piano accompanies the strings in presenting the theme. Liszt immediately begins to embellish and transform the theme in the solo part, as other secondary themes appear, sometimes in the piano, sometimes in the orchestra. The piano makes a run to the depths of the piano's range in a short solo that leads to another variant of the main theme. The give and take between piano and orchestra continues and leads directly to the next section.

II. Allegro agitato assai - A scherzo that has Liszt going far away from the home key of A major. A variant of the main theme leads to the next section.

III. Allegro moderato -  The main theme is taken up by the cello with piano accompaniment in this lyrical section. The piano trades off with the cello woodwinds in music that sings in a mellow mood.

IV. Allegro deciso - The transformation of the main theme continues, and other secondary themes reappear, also in different guises. A short transition leads the way to the next section

V. Marziale un poco meno allegro -  The main theme is transformed into a march. The strongly rhythmic variant serves to bring the music back to the home key of A major. After the march the transformations continue and lead to the final section.

VI. Allegro animato - A coda to the concerto, the piano and orchestra continue their partnership as the music changes in mood and character. Glissandos in the solo part punctuate the unbuttoned joy of the final comments on the main theme and a few secondary ones. The orchestra and soloist play passages that lead to the final chords.

Handel - Organ Concerto In D Minor Opus 7, No. 4 HWV 309

George Handel's Opus 7 set of six organ concertos was published after Handel's death by his publisher John Walsh of London.  Whether Handel intended to publish them isn't known, but Walsh wanted to capitalize on Handel's reputation as soon as he could, for in those times music was a commodity that had a very short shelf life. Audiences not only expected but demanded new music, and a lot of it. The fickle public could turn its back on a composer soon enough when they were still alive, even sooner after their death.  Music publishers of the time could be notorious in their efforts to turn a quick profit on a composer's works. There was no copyright laws, and publishers thought nothing of printing editions of music that they never paid the composer for.

Walsh may have pieced together some of the concertos from Handel's other compositions, but Handel himself did this as well, as did many composers of the time. The music used in the six concertos was written roughly between 1738 and 1751.

Handel wrote the concertos for a specific purpose; as entertainment for the audiences of his operas and oratorios during intermissions. These concertos were used as drawing cards, kind of an extra bonus to entice listeners to attend the opera or oratorio.  An advertisement for a Handel oratorio concert that ran in the London Daily Post on the 5th of March 1735 made mention of the performance of two concertos:

At the Theatre-Royal in Covent Garden, this present Wednesday .... will be perform’d an Oratorio, call’d Aesther. With several New Additional Songs; likewise two new Concertos on the Organ.

Handel was a virtuoso organist, and his powers of improvisation were put to good use, as he would sketch out the orchestral parts in score and improvise much of the organ part. The concerto is in the form of a sonata chiesa and has four movements:

Adagio - The first movement begins with the orchestra playing a slow, noble theme. The soloist enters and comments on the theme with the strings providing a light, occassional accompaniment.
Allegro -  Handel follows the pattern of a sonata chiesa as the next movement is quicker of tempo and lighter in mood.
Adagio (Organo ad libitum) - Handel did not notate any music for this movement, but left the entire third movement to improvisations from the organist, which would have been Handel himself when these concertos were first played.
Allegro - A favorite of Handel's for he first used the tune in a concerto for violin over twenty years prior.