Mahler - Symphony No. 6 In A Minor 'Tragic'

Mahler's 'Big Bang'

While Mahler was inspired in his compositions by Beethoven, Liszt, Bruckner and Wagner, like all of the masters he developed his own style of composing. He was known as one of the world's greatest opera conductors, but wrote no operas himself. He was more than a passable pianist but left no piano compositions of any consequence, likewise with his chamber music. His instrument of expression was the orchestra, and he was a master of orchestration with a lifetime of practical knowledge gained from his conducting duties and a gift for creating themes that lent themselves to orchestral development. 

Mahler's symphonies 1-4 were influenced by the German folk poem collection Das Knaben Wunderhorn.  Each of the first four symphonies used material from songs Mahler had written to the texts of selected poems from the collection, but his symphonies 5,6 and 7 were purely instrumental.  The Sixth Symphony is one of Mahler's most conventional as far as the first movement structure. He sticks to the traditional sonata form with exposition, development, recapitulation and coda.  The symphony consists of four movements. There is some controversy as to the proper order of the two middle movements. Some conductors put the Scherzo directly after the first movement, some revers the two. The following video of the symphony has the Scherzo as the second movement, the Andante as the third. 

I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig -  The work begins with the orchestra playing the first theme, a brisk march in the home key of A Minor.  The first theme is rounded off by a motif that happens throughout the symphony, a major chord played in the trumpets accompanied by a march rhythm in the percussion, and while the trumpets play the home note and fifth of the chord, one of the trumpets lowers the third of the chord and transforms it to a minor chord.  The second theme is heard, a soaring melody that Mahler's wife Alma, claimed to represent her.  The exposition begins with a development of the march theme, which is suddenly transformed into an idyllic setting complete with the gentle clinking of cowbells. The march theme reappears with  vengeance and is whipped into a climax which leads directly to the recapitulation. The march rhythm persists, and begins a coda that develops the march theme even further. The 'Alma' theme reappears in a grand manner and ushers in the triumphant ending of the movement.

II. Scherzo: Wuchtig - This scherzo is one of the strangest Mahler ever wrote. It opens with the timpani beating out a rhythm, almost as if to mock the preceding seriousness of the timpani's rhythm of the first movement march.  The brass also chimes in with slurs and slides after the end of the first section of the scherzo, almost as if they thumb their noses at the preceding drama. Through it all, the orchestra keeps up the parody and the sarcasm until with a few quiet titters, the movement ends.

III. Andante moderato -  This movement serves as a contrast to the drama of the first movement and the bitter sarcasm of the second.  It also gives the listener a chance to breathe easy before the last movement.

IV. Finale: Sostenuto - Allegro moderato - Allegro energico - There is really nothing in the previous three parts of the symphony that prepares the listener for what happens within this movement. The movement begins mysteriously and has a shattering reprisal of the timpani rhythm of the first movement. The orchestra wanders as if it is caught in a maze. It breaks out here and there, but returns to its brooding meditation. The orchestra breaks out in a march similar to what has been heard in the first movement, but it is even more frantic. The orchestra reaches two climaxes, after which the celebrated 'hammer blow of fate' occur. The timpani motif of the first movement is heard throughout the final section as the orchestra gets more and more frantic, as if it is struggling to avoid the inevitable.  There is a quiet agitation before the end, and the orchestra slowly dies away before a shattering, incredibly loud climax signals that all the energy expended in the struggle has been concentrated into one last 'big bang' that creates nothing but destroys all.

There is no wonder why Mahler's sixth is among the least performed of his works. Mahler's world of the Sixth Symphony, in the final cataclysmic climax, shows that it is all for naught. We cannot escape our fate.  The world of the Sixth Symphony can seem like a world of senseless struggle, bitterness, heartache and loss. For most people to reflect on this is not an easy thing.  It has been noted that on the night that he was to premiere the work Mahler paced backstage, wringing his hands and sobbing.  He did not authorize the symphony to be subtitled 'Tragic', but the work does fit the title.

Haydn - Piano Sonata No. 53 In E Minor Hob. XVI/34

Only the later keyboard sonatas of Joseph Haydn were for piano, as the earliest ones were for harpsichord. Some of the middle sonatas were for harpsichord or piano, at the performers discretion.  But the transition from harpsichord to piano was inevitable, as the piano was capable of a much wider dynamic range, variety of tone color, and expression.

Haydn lived through a time of transition of forms of music as well. What modern listeners would call a sonata was derived from various multi-movement works of the Baroque era. Haydn himself did not begin to call his keyboard sonatas by that term until 1771. His early works were called partitas or divertimenti. Haydn was also influential in the development of the forms of the string quartet and symphony.

There are two numbering systems primarily used for the keyboard sonatas. The oldest is the one created Anthony van Hoboken, the other by H. C. Robbins Landon. The Hoboken system is categorized by genre, thus all of the keyboard sonatas fall under the heading of Hob. XVI. The Landon system was based on chronological order as much as possible, and is under the heading of L. Thus the sonata in this post is Hob. XVI/34 in the Hoboken system and L.53 in the Landon system. To add to the confusion, Landon lists 62 sonatas, but not all of them are extant while some are spurious.  Hoboken also has a total of 62 sonatas (including the lost ones), but his numbering system only goes as high as 52. He gives alternate numbers and letters to the lost or spurious ones. Many times, both numbers are given for a sonata in an effort to securely identify it.

The sonata is in three movements:

I. Presto - The first movement begins with a theme in the home key:

This theme goes through a short development and leads to the second theme in G major. This theme is in 5-bar phrases, and after 15 bars the exposition is repeated. The development section begins with the first theme, now in E major and transformed into one 5-bar phrase. After this theme is developed, the second theme is likewise, and leads to the recapitulation of the first theme. The second theme returns, now also in the home key of E minor. As is customary, (a holdover from the binary beginnings of sonata form) the entire second section of development and recapitulation is repeated.

II. Adagio - This slow movement in G major has the right hand playing a decorated melody with a simple accompaniment in the left hand:

Haydn varies the melody until the movement segues directly to the finale, something that happens infrequently in Haydn's sonatas.

III. Molto vivace - Marked by the word innocentemente (innocently), the final movement begins briskly with a theme in E minor that is accompanied by an Alberti bass in the left hand:

Haydn varies this material between repeats of the theme.  Unlike Mozart whose music could be a never ending stream of new melodies, Haydn could make the most of basic material heard at the beginning of a movement.

Telemann - 'Burlesque de Quixotte' For Strings

Music can be looked at as belonging to one of two broad categories; absolute music or program music. Absolute music is music that has no apparent story attached to it, is not about anything, while program music has some sort of story or outside influence guiding it. Those two definitions are quite vague, but they can at least be taking-off points for a superficial categorization of music (if the listener needs one). Superficial for there are many instances of 'absolute' music that do have a story behind them, real or contrived. And program music also has a sense of  absoluteness to it in that while it may be possible to relate specific actions through sound (the bird calls in Beethoven's Sixth Symphony come to mind), music's strength is in evoking an atmosphere or feeling rather than specific actions.

Franz Liszt and the creation of the tone poem put program music 'on the map', but music written to tell a story had been written long before that. Many composers used flutes to imitate birds, drums and trumpets to imitate martial music, horns to imitate the hunt. Music like this was not common, but it did exist. French composers of the Baroque era especially wrote music with a 'program', at least in the sense that the pieces carried a title that helped express the music. The French orchestral suite was developed into a form that made use of descriptive titles for the individual pieces, and Georg Philipp Telemann helped to popularize the French orchestral suite in Baroque-era Germany.

Don Quixote by  Gustave Doré

Friend to Handel and Bach (he was godfather to C.P.E. Bach), Telemann was born four years earlier than either and outlived both.  One of the most prolific composers of his or any other generation (he composed some 3,000 pieces), he came from a family of mostly non-musical members, and except for a two-week stint of lessons with an organist had no musical instruction. He taught himself how to play many instruments, and composed sacred and secular music as well as music for the stage. He kept abreast of trends in the music of his time and was an important composer in the transition from the Baroque era to the Classical era.

Telemann's Suite For Orchestra 'Burlesque de Quixotte',by its very designation as a burlesque,  is meant to be a light-hearted tribute to the novel Don Quixote by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. The book was itself looked upon (and was written to be) a humorous one as the translation from the full title shows: The Ingenious Low-Born Noble Don Quixote of La Mancha. Telemann's suite is written for strings and consists of an overture with six titled pieces in the form of Baroque dances:

Miguel Cervantes

Overture - Written in the French Overture style, the music begins with a slow section in dotted rhythms. After this, the tempo increases and the music becomes fugal. When the fugue is done, the slow tempo and dotted rhythms return and lead to the end of the overture.

Don Quixote Awakens -  Don Quixote's dream to become a chivalrous knight on a quest for adventure and romance is begun, with long notes and pauses

Don Quixote Attacks The Windmills - In his rag-tag armor, make-shift helmet and lance, Don Quixote's delusions of grandeur have caused him to see windmills as monsters and dragons to be slain. The music's rapid tempo and repeated notes represent his imagined foes.

Pining For The Princess Dulcinea - Of what use is a knight's courage if he has no princess to fall in love with?  Don Quixote imagines a peasant woman he has seen as his princess and names her Dulcinea, and longs to tell her how much he loves her. The strings play hushed sighs and the music stops and starts in sympathy with his feelings.

Sancho Panza - Don Quixote's rotund manservant Sancho is portrayed as he is jostled and mocked by villagers.

The Galloping Of Rosinante and Sancho's Galloping Donkey -  Don Quixote's horse Rosinante is heard galloping in a steady in three tempo. Sancho's stubborn lurching donkey is portrayed in music that pauses and dotted rhythms. Rosinante is heard once again to finish the scene.

The Sleep Of Don Quixote - Telemann's Don is put to sleep and has happy dreams of his conquests in jaunty music that ends gently.
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Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 3

Among the teachers Beethoven studied with early on was Joseph Haydn. Beethoven took counterpoint lessons with Haydn but the relationship took a turn for the worse when Haydn suggested that Beethoven add the words 'a pupil of Haydn' on his first compositions to be printed, the Opus 1 piano trios.  Haydn possibly offered the suggestion to give the young composer's work the prestige of Haydn's world-wide fame, but Beethoven took it the wrong way and balked at the suggestion.  Beethoven later said that he had learned nothing from Haydn when he was his student, but Haydn thought enough of Beethoven to consider taking him along on his second journey to London in 1796.  But that didn't happen, and when Haydn made the trip the lessons with Beethoven stopped.  For the most part, it looks as though Haydn treated Beethoven well, although he did call him 'the great Mogul'. In any case, Beethoven was never an easy personality to get along with, even in his younger years.

Beethoven and Haydn came to respect each other, with Beethoven considering him an equal to Mozart and Handel. Haydn too respected Beethoven's talent and compositions. And as far as Beethoven not learning anything from Haydn, perhaps he didn't learn a great deal in the formal lessons he took from him, but from Haydn's compositions Beethoven learned much.

The first piano sonatas Beethoven had published were the three sonatas in his Opus 2, all of them dedicated to his old teacher Haydn. The third one in the set, in C Major, is written for a virtuoso and is a good example of Beethoven's piano playing abilities. It is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro con brio - Beethoven opens the piece with a motive in triplet thirds that  test the musicality of the performer right off:

What makes this movement unique for the time it was written is that Beethoven uses three instead of the customary two themes in sonata form. After the first theme there is the first secondary theme:

After the statement of the theme Beethoven works his way to the second secondary theme:

This all happens in the exposition of the first movement amid virtuosic passages and key modulations. In the working out of these themes in the development section there are more surprises as Beethoven uses his skill and imagination to keep the listener interested. Beethoven even uses a cadenza towards the end of the movement, something most generally heard in a concerto at the time. 

II. Adagio -  The slow movements in Beethoven's sonatas are distinctive for their ingenuity and expansion of mood and emotion. This slow movement has moments of serenity juxtaposed with moments of fury, an indication of Beethoven's personal temperament. 

III. Scherzo: Allegro - The scherzo of this sonata begins with a theme that is treated contrapuntally, and by way of contrast the trio is a simple minor key melody played in the bass while the right hand scampers about playing arpeggios.

IV. Allegro assai - Beethoven throws a few 'curves' at the listener in this movement. This sonata was written while Haydn was still alive and having a grand success with his second batch of 'London' symphonies. The great Mozart was only 5 years dead.  This sonata was written in a grand virtuoso style by Beethoven, but it also contains much that was characteristic and original to Beethoven that were increased in his later compositions. 

Liszt - Grosses Konzertsolo For Piano

Franz Liszt wrote his Grosses Konzertsolo (Grand Concerto Solo) in 1849-1850, three years before his Sonata In B Minor.   Liszt wrote it for a piano competition that was to be held at the Paris Conservatoire in 1850. Liszt dedicated the work to Adolf von Henselt, one of the premier virtuoso pianists of the time. The work proved so difficult that Henselt couldn't master it which caused him to comment:

"It is not in the realm of possibility for me to play this piece..."

Liszt made two other versions of the work; one for piano and orchestra under the title Grand Solo de Concert which was not published,  and another arranged for two pianos published under the title Concerto Pathétique.  

The work is an experiment in form and substance that Liszt continued and refined in his Sonata In B Minor.  It is in one continuous movement. The opening begins with a dramatic main theme followed by a quiet section that leads to a transitional passage that brings the music back to the main theme. Next there is a grand theme played in large chords that is marked grandioso. This theme continues in the middle register of the keyboard as the accompaniment flows around it. This is basically the exposition of a sonata form movement. Liszt then inserts what amounts to a slow movement marked Andante sostenuto. This theme slowly unfolds and gains in complexity until a cadenza appears, after which the music grows to a double forte as the theme is hammered out. Themes from the exposition reappear and the drama of the opening section returns. Themes are developed, the music continues in dramatic fashion until a section is reached that is written in 4 staves and marked Andante, quasi marcia funebre:

  Themes continue to be developed,  the music again grows in intensity and ends in the major mode.

Henselt wasn't the only virtuoso of the day that refused to play this work. Liszt sent a copy of it to Clara Schumann but she publicly begged off the work claiming excessive technical difficulties while in private she criticized the work for what she considered empty virtuosity. There is no record of the piece being played at the piano competition in Paris, and outside of Liszt's pupil Carl Tausig who Liszt said was the first pianist to perform the piece, it may have been only Liszt himself that could have surmounted the technical and musical difficulties of the work. 

Dreyschock - Piano Concerto

Alexander Dreyschock was born in Bohemia in 1818 and became one of the era's top virtuoso pianists. By the time he was 20 years old he was an accomplished pianist and went on a tour of Europe.  He was renown for his stunning technical ability, especially in playing thirds, sixths and octaves. He was also known for his compositions for the left hand alone which he played in his recitals. He garnered the praise of Berlioz and other musicians of the time, while others were not as impressed. Felix Mendelssohn heard him and said, "He plays some pieces so admirably, you fancy yourself in the presence of a great artist, then immediately afterwards something so badly that you change your mind." Others commented on his marvelous tone while still others complained that he played loud enough to be heard in the next town.

There seems to have been somewhat of a circus atmosphere to his recitals, as he would amaze the audience with his technique with his own compositions and transcriptions of other composer's music.  He increased his reputation as a master of technique with his transcription of  Chopin's Opus 10, Number 12 Etude, the famous Revolutionary Etude with octaves in the left hand instead of single sixteenth notes.  Legend has it that he practiced the piece twelve hours a day for six weeks until he could bring it up to tempo. Mendelssohn heard him play the transcription and was amazed by it. Anton Rubinstein thought enough of Dreyschock's abilities to hire him on as a staff member at the newly-founded St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862. He was named Professor of Piano, and also Court Pianist to the Tsar and Director of the Imperial School of Music for the Operatic Stage.  Dreyschock died in 1869 of tuberculosis

Most of his compositions were for piano solo, with his single piano concerto being written around 1865. As with many concertos written and performed by the composer, Dreyschock emphasizes his strengths with the type of music he writes. The concerto is reminiscent of the Chopin piano concertos as there is no doubt that the spotlight is on the piano throughout, with all the crackling virtuosity that the composer was known for.   It is in three movements:

I. Allegro ma non troppo - The first movement is in loose sonata form, with there being no exposition repeat and the development/recapitulation sections being combined.  The orchestra begins with a statement of the first material, the piano enters and comments.  The second group of themes is ushered in by the piano with orchestra accompaniment. There is no usual exposition repeat of this material. The development section and recapitulation is combined and the piano develops one of the beginning themes, after which the horns have a short fanfare that brings forth the development/recapitulation of some of the second group of themes.  A brilliant coda for octaves and other Dreyschock 'tricks' brings the movement to a close.

II. Andante con moto  -  This movement for me shows Dreyschock's rather plain gifts for writing any kind of music for piano that is less than technically brilliant. The music sounds like an obligatory 'slow' movement that the times called for with not much sweetness or lyricism. There are some rather awkward moments, and the music sounds like nothing but 'filler' until the fireworks can start again.

III. Allegro vivace - There are two major themes in this movement, the first in a minor key in a rapid tempo and dramatic mood, the second rather attractive theme is in a major key in a slower tempo and a more mellow mood. A third theme is heard prancing along in a major key until the first theme returns. The theme is expanded upon slightly until  the second theme is heard in a different key than before. Then a fiery coda winds up the movement spitting fire with octaves chasing each other, whirlwind single-note runs and other knuckle-busting goings-on that no doubt brought down the house.

Saint-Saëns - Piano Trio No. 2 In E Minor, Opus 92

Saint-Saëns is a composer accused by some of superficiality and glibness, but the second piano trio shows the criticism to be unjust.  Gone is the Mendelssohnian early romanticism of his earlier piano trio. The second trio was written in 1892, a time when Saint-Saëns was looked upon as an ultra-conservative, and as such his music was out of fashion and not played very much.  Nonetheless, he continued to compose and even experimented with different musical language.  He lived almost another thirty years after he wrote the second piano trio, and ended his composing career with sonatas for wind instruments (one each for clarinet, oboe, and bassoon) and a few piece for piano and voice, in 1921.

Piano Trio No. 2 is in 5 movements:

I. Allegro non troppo - The movement begins with a theme taken up by violin and cello as the piano plays an agitated accompaniment. A second theme is in E major. The development section expands the themes amid a general feeling of turmoil and passion. The themes return in the recapitulation, after which the agitation of the opening of the movement returns in the coda and after a run from the piano a unique cadence ends the movement.

II. Allegretto - The beginning of the movement gives the impression that it is going to be one of Saint-Saëns' delicate trifles, as a tripping tune in E major and 5/8 time is played.  Contrasting sections in the minor show that the movement is not just gentle salon mood music. The piano has some particularly brilliant music in the contrasting sections. The opening theme has the final say in an emphatic close.

III. Andante con moto - Written in A-flat major, this movement has a lyrical theme that is the basis of the entire movement.

IV. Grazioso, poco allegro - A graceful movement that begins in G major with a waltz-like tune. There is a slight contrasting section, more like an intermezzo.  The interplay between the instruments begins again with the opening theme as the music slows down and ends.

V.  Allegro -  Two themes, the first in E minor and the next in E major, begin the movement. Material is treated contrapuntally on its own before the first theme is integrated into it. The second theme returns and leads to a very rapid version of the first theme and the ending chords.