Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4 In F Minor, Opus 36

For many of the Romantic era composers,  the writing of symphonies presented problems. Especially with the use of sonata form. The great symphonic composers like Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and even Bruckner used themes when they used sonata form while the Romantics used melodies.

What created the problem was the differences between a theme and a melody. A theme can be a short motif, such as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or it can be as long as a Brucknerian theme from one of his symphonies.  It is the character of the theme, the way that it can be changed and developed, that made for the success and utilization of sonata form.  A melody can be beautiful and complete in itself, but not all melodies can be successfully used and developed in sonata form in a symphony.  That is the dilemma that Romantics like Tchaikovsky faced when he began to write symphonies.

Tchaikovsky had a great gift for melody, but he was not the supreme architect like Beethoven who could take a few notes and construct a finely wrought symphonic structure around it. Tchaikovsky's first three symphonies were written in a more strict adherence to sonata form and structure. It wasn't until his 4th symphony that Tchaikovsky wrote a symphony in a very loose symphonic structure.  The 4th was not immediately popular, the premiere of it caused much criticism, probably due to the fact that if a regular concert-goer that was in the audience expected a 'traditional' symphony, they most certainly didn't get one.  But time has proven that Tchaikovsky's way with the symphonic form allowed him to stay more true to his talent. The three symphonies he wrote in this loose form are played way more often than those first three that are closer to tradition.

The 4th Symphony is in the traditional four movements:

I. Andante sostenuto — Moderato con anima — Moderato assai, quasi Andante — Allegro vivo - The many changes of tempo in this movement tell a great deal about the musical and emotional content of it. This movement alone is longer than the other three put together. The music has vitality and power, with melodies that weave in and out of the loose structure,  melodies that are developed, and some that aren't heard but once.  Tchaikovsky's newly discovered way to write a first movement for a symphony fits his musicianship and temperament very well. There is always drama in Tchaikovsky's music, and this movement runs the length of emotion from calm reserve to borderline hysteria.

II.  Andantino in modo di canzona - A beautiful melody is played and configured, with a central section of reflection on things already heard that builds into climax that is related more to the first movement than this one. The opening melody is heard again and there is more of a darkness to it now than the beginning. The music slowly and gently comes to a quiet close.

III. Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato — Allegro -  One of the most original orchestrations of a master orchestrator, this movement has the strings playing pizzicato throughout. The winds pick up after the opening and play a tune until the brasses interrupt with a marching tune reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's ballet music. The strings return as in the opening, then enter into a dialog with the winds, the music is again interrupted by the marching brass, the pizzicato strings return and end the movement on a quiet note.

IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco - The movement begins with a clash of cymbals and a rollicking tune. After that, Tchaikovsky quotes and old Russian song, In the Field Stood a Birch Tree. The tune is repeated a few times with different instruments, the first theme that began the movement returns until  the orchestra carries on with variants on the old Russian song. A direct quote from the beginning of the first movement interrupts the proceedings and leads back to the opening of the movement. Snatches of the old Russian folk song are heard and the orchestra whips itself into a grand ending.

 

Mozart - String Quintet No. 4 In G Minor K.516

A string quintet ensemble is usually made up of a string quartet; two violins, viola and cello, with the addition of another cello or viola.  On occasion a double bass may be one of the extra instruments. The two string quintets Mozart wrote in 1787 have an additional viola added, because reportedly Mozart's favorite stringed instrument to play was the viola.

The pair of quintets are a study in contrast, as the one in C major is of a decidedly more sunny disposition than the one on G minor, a key that seems to be Mozart's key of passion and deep feeling. He wrote the pair of quintets around the time of the composition of his opera Don Giovanni, as well as the final illness of his father.

I. Allegro - The movement begins straight away with a hushed, agitated theme played in the first violin to an accompaniment from the second violin and first viola:

This theme is traded between violin and viola, and is transformed into the second theme, which begins in G minor but shifts to B-flat major. Lesser motives are heard, but the minor mode lurks throughout the exposition. The development section begins with the first theme. It moves from instrument to instrument as the section remains for the most part in the minor mode. The recapitulation has both themes repeated in G minor, The conventions of the time more often as not would have called for the movement to end in the major mode, but Mozart keeps the music solidly in G minor all the way to the end.

II. Menuetto: Allegretto -  The second movement minuet is far removed from the original courtly dance. It is in G minor, and is punctuated by two loud chords heard on the 3rd beat of the 4th and 6th bar:

The trio is in G major, but still has a shade of melancholy over it.

III. Adagio ma non troppo - Played with mutes on all five instruments throughout its length, the third movement is in E-flat major. Mozart's chromatic transition to the second theme in B-flat minor is taken up again as this minor key theme transforms into B-flat major and is repeated. The music delves back into despair once more before the sweetness of E-flat major brings the movement to a close.

IV.  Adagio - Allegro - Mozart begins the final movement in the darkness of G minor once again. But after the music shifts tempo, key to G major in 6/8 time,  The preceding dark movements are balanced out by this rondo, as is in full keeping with the music aesthetic of the Classical era. 

Mozart

Henselt - Piano Concerto In F Minor, Opus 16

 If there was ever a pianist afflicted with compulsive piano practicing, it had to be Adolph von Henselt (1814 - 1889), a German pianist, teacher and composer. He would practice ten  hours a day, read the Bible he had on his piano music stand while he did finger exercises, and when he gave a concert he had a dummy piano offstage to practice on between the selections he played and at intermission.  He practiced so much that he would dampen the strings of his piano with quills so the sound wouldn't get on his nerves.

And a nervous man he was, at least before and during a concert. He had such a bad case of stage fright every time he had to play in public that he would get physically sick. He would have to be pushed out onto the stage to start his recitals, play through the selection and then literally run back off the stage.  He toured extensively in Germany in 1836. He realized that he didn't have the nerves to be a traveling virtuoso, so he settled in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1838. He had previously played there before the Czar, who took a liking to his music and to Henselt.  By the time Henselt had turned 33, his touring days were over. He gave only a handful of concerts after that.

All of the compulsive practice gave Henselt an astounding technique. He was most well known for an incredible hand span on the keyboard. Through diligent (and compulsive) stretching of his hand and fingers his relatively small hands were able to extend a twelfth. His left hand could play the chord C-E-G-C-F without resorting to the use of the pedal or arppegiating the chord. He wrote etudes for the piano in all the major and minor keys, and like Chopin's etudes each one addressed a specific problem of technique.  Much of his reputation was because of these etudes, some of which drove most pianists to despair.

Henselt also composed a few chamber pieces, a piano concerto that Anton Rubinstein finally gave up trying to learn (along with the etudes) because, "it was a waste of time, for they were based on an abnormal formation of the hand. In this respect, Henselt, like Paganini, was a freak."

Henselt became a great influence in the musical life of Russia after he moved there.  He spent the rest of his life in St. Petersburg, only leaving occasionally for a trip back to his native Germany.  He taught piano at the conservatory and later became Inspector General of all the music instruction institutions in Russia. He influenced and helped bring about the Russian school of piano playing that was well-represented  by pianists such as Rachmaninoff.  Henselt also gave up his career as a composer early on. After he finished his piano concerto in F minor, he wrote virtually nothing else for the rest of his life.

By all indications, Henselt was a complicated man. He was a terror as a piano teacher as he could tolerate no imperfection or mistakes. Patience was not one of his virtues. But yet he was highly influential and helped create a whole national school of Russian virtuoso piano players.  He composed relatively little, yet his compositions show the talent of a master. He was one of the greatest pianist that ever touched the instrument, and equal of Liszt said some.  Yet he had such a bad case of stage fright that he concertized for only a short time.  He will in many ways remain an enigma. Clara Schumann gave the premiere of the concerto in 1844, with a few other pianists tackling the difficulties for performance. Henselt performed the concerto but rarely. 

I. Allegro patetico - The concerto begins with the orchestra playing themes that will be heard again when the soloist enters, typical of a concerto of this era. The opening orchestral exposition is the only time the piano does not play, thus making stamina an integral part of the writing. Filled with every kind of piano configuration, the music sounds well, a great example of an early Romantic era concerto and many of the difficulties in execution aren't obvious to the listener without a score. Even in the more lyrical parts of the movement, the soloist has to deal with virtuoso piano writing.  After the exposition, parts of the development has the orchestra play a lyrical variant of a theme, after which the piano enters and expands on it. The recapitulation goes through the usual repeat of the themes.  The movement comes to a close in a coda where the piano plays a cascade of descending octaves and the orchestra takes up the first theme that has been transposed to a major key. 

II. Larghetto - The lyrical second movement brings a change of mood to the concerto, but even in the most lyrical passages, Henselt writes mitt-fulls of notes. The middle section of the movement grows more impassioned before the lyricism returns to end the movement with a segue directly to the finale.

III.  Allegro agitato - The entrance of the soloist in this movement is in thundering octaves which leads to the theme of the rondo.

This concerto is an attractive piece of music, and Henselt shows that he was more than an average composer for the orchestra. But it will always be most well known for the horrendously difficult piano part. 

Rossini - Bassoon Concerto

 From the years 1812 to 1822 Gioachino Rossini wrote thirty operas, or the average of three every year for ten years. These works were his most popular, and he wrote nine more up to the year of 1829 when his last famous opera, 'William Tell' was written. It was the last opera Rossini was to write, as he went into a forty year retirement. He wrote some music during these last forty years, including in the last ten years of his life a collection of 150 pieces in various forms that he called Péchés de vieillesse, or Sins Of Old Age.  There had been rumors that Rossini had written a bassoon concerto, but it wasn't until the 1990's that a manuscript score was found in a library in Italy of a bassoon concerto which on the front piece states that it was by Rossini.

The story goes that Rossini had written the work for Nazareno Gatti, a bassoon student, for his final examination.  Rossini was an advisor at the music school in Bologna where Gatti attended, but scholars aren't sure how much Rossini was involved with writing the concerto. He may have sketched it out for someone else to finish, as he did with many of his compositions during his retirement. Some say Gatti finished it, or Gatti may have wrote the entire work and put Rossini's name to it. In any event, scholars agree it was written in the 1840's and in the style of Rossini. If it truly was written by Rossini, it would represent his final work for orchestra, as the aforementioned Péchés de vieillesse were chamber works or solo piano.

I. Allegro - The work opens in the key of B-flat major with the orchestra stating the themes of the movement as per usual in a concerto, especially this movement that is built more in Classical era form and techniques than Romantic.  The bassoon enters and plays  the first theme along with punctuations of the low registers of the instrument. The orchestra begins the second theme with light pizzicato violins. The clarinets play along with the soloist and the music goes into the development section.  The soloist gets a chance to show off the instrument and after the recapitulation a short coda allows the bassoon to reach the heights and depths of its range as the music comes to a close.

II. Largo - The music shifts from B-flat major to C minor, a key quite distant from B-flat major.  In this lyrical movement the bassoon sings as if it is a soloist in a scene from an opera. The tonal range of the movement showcases the bassoons unique timbre changes in its registers. The movement ends with dramatic tremoloes in the strings as the music fades away.

III. Rondo - The plethora of notes for the soloist doesn't let up in the finale, nor their extreme ranges. The music is in the key of F major, something different than many concertos of this time as it isn't in the same key of the first movement. The title page of the manuscript states that it is a Concerto da Esperimento , or an Examination Concerto. The music truly is a test for the soloists technical and musical abilities. The question of its authorship not withstanding, this concerto is a fine representation of what the bassoon can do in the hands of a virtuoso, and is a valuable addition to the repertoire. 

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Debussy - Première Rhapsodie For Clarinet And Orchestra

 In 1909 the Director of the Paris Conservatoire Gabriel Fauré appointed Debussy to the Board Of Directors. This position obligated Debussy to compose test pieces for Conservatoire students and be an adjudicator in examinations. His first duties in this post were to write two pieces for the clarinet department examinations, as well as be on the panel of judges. 

Debussy wrote the shorter Petit Pièce and the longer Première Rhapsodie in 1910, both for clarinet with piano accompaniment. Evidently Debussy was not looking forward to listening to a class of clarinetists playing the two pieces over and over again, but as it turned out Debussy was delighted with the experience and how well his pieces sounded as he wrote in a letter to his publisher:

“The clarinet competitions went extremely well, and, to judge by the expressions on the faces of my colleagues, the Rhapsodie was a success.”

Prospère Mimart

The success of the piece suggested that it was more than a student examination piece, so Debussy made an orchestrated version in 1911. It was dedicated to the professor of clarinet at the Paris Conservatoire Prospère Mimart, who also premiered the orchestral version in 1911. It has remained one of the most played pieces for clarinet solo in the repertoire ever since, and is still heard in clarinet examinations in the piano accompanied version. 

The piece is in free form, true to the name of rhapsody, and offers many technical challenges for the soloist in breath, endurance, and range. It is a piece for a advanced student or a professional clarinetist. Debussy fulfilled  the requirements of an examination piece as the work covers all aspects of a virtuoso technique and musicality, while also writing a musical piece that the music lover who knows nothing about clarinet technique can enjoy. 

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 32 In C Minor Opus 111

The piano played a key role in the life of Beethoven. It was as a young virtuoso that he made his first mark in his adopted home of Vienna.  As he played in the salons and homes of his patrons, his reputation as a pianist grew. His skill as a improviser was unmatched, his contemporaries called him the greatest improviser of his era.

It was a natural thing for Beethoven to compose for the piano. Not that it came to him easily. We have proof in the form of his sketchbooks how he would mull things over on paper and in his mind until the composition was as he wanted it, polishing and perfecting.  The thirty two piano sonatas he wrote are part of the core piano repertoire and music in general. They hold a vast mount of musical ideas, challenges for playing and interpretation, and the sheer variety and range of emotion contained within them dictate that they will remain part of the core repertoire. If Beethoven had written nothing but these 32 sonatas, chances are he would still be regarded as a great composer.

Beethoven wrote his final sonata in 1821-1822, twenty seven years from the writing of his first, but there is more than years that separate the two. The first sonata is full of youthful exuberance, is in four movements, and shows flashes of originality and brilliance while still maintaining at least a passing nod to the sonata structures of Haydn and Mozart.

The last sonata sees a Beethoven that has weathered much, learned much, and progressed much. The work is in two movements, the first being written in raw-sinewed, sprawling sonata form that has a short introduction that Chopin paid tribute to in the opening of his 2nd piano sonata (Beethoven's 32nd piano sonata was a favorite of Chopin's). it also has a first theme that is deep and ominous  that is given a fugal treatment in the middle of the movement. The second movement is an Arrietta and variations that take piano writing to new heights and sounds. From the jazz-sounding section to the cosmic trills near the end of the work, Beethoven transcends the instrument and writes music of a purity that is rare and beautiful. 

When it is remembered that Beethoven was almost totally deaf when he composed this sonata, we can only marvel at the precision and clarity of his 'mind's ear' that created something so beautiful, had the wherewithal to write it down in such a precise way, without ever actually 'hearing' it.  Just look at the two lines of music for one of the Arietta variations printed below:

The variations end with sustained trills that accompany the theme as the music slowly winds down and ends.

Handel - Organ Concerto In G Minor Opus 4, No. 1 HWV 298

Handel's fame during his life was based on his abilities as a performer as well as his success as a composer.  There is the legend of his participating in a contest with Domenico Scarlatti for bragging rights concerning their performing abilities. Tradition has it that while Scarlatti was chosen as the winner on the harpsichord, Handel was chosen as having even greater abilities on the organ. Scarlatti himself is thought to have said that Handel was the first person that ever showed him the potential of the organ.

Be that truth or fiction, Handel was definitely a virtuoso on the organ, which Handel decided to use to his advantage.  Opera in 18th century London was the rock concert of its day. With audiences dividing into different camps for different composers and singers,  opera companies would vie for the most popular singers to ensure that the box office would sell out. Handel's direct competition at the time was a rival opera company that had just hired the famous castrato singer Farinelli, who was setting the London opera scene on its ear. Handel himself tried to secure Farinelli's services for his opera company, but when he couldn't meet his price, Farinelli's singing lured so many people away from Handel's operas that it threatened to bankrupt him.

Handel first played the G minor organ concerto in a performance of his choral work Alexander's Feast in 1736. It was shortly after this in 1737 that Handel suffered a stroke that temporarily cost him the use of his right hand and arm. He was recovering from this until May of the same year when he had a relapse. All of the symptoms vanished after he took the waters at the spa town of Aachen in Germany.

The concerto begins with a slow, stately movement that has two main themes that are developed freely with the organ answering the orchestra in decorated replies. There follows an allegro movement that continues the decorative organ responses to the orchestra with different themes. The short adagio leads to a minuet and two variations.

The Handel organ concertos are a milestone in the development of the keyboard concertos of the Classic and Romantic ages.  While there are many examples of concertos for violin and other instruments before Handel and Bach's time, it is Handel and Bach that set the stage for the concerto for solo keyboard and orchestra that gave Mozart and Beethoven notoriety as virtuoso performers.