Haydn - String Quartet In C Major, Opus 76, No. 3 'Emperor'

The six string quartets of Opus 76 were composed in 1796-1797 and were the last complete set of quartets that Haydn wrote. He had been publishing string quartets in groups of six almost from the time he first wrote them, and Mozart followed suit. Beethoven kept up the tradition when he published his first six string quartets as Opus 18.

Joseph Haydn's String Quartet In C Major, Opus 76, No. 3 gets its nickname  from the second movement which is a set of variations on the tune of the Austrian National Anthem God Save Emperor Franz that he had written in 1797. Austria did not actually adopt the anthem until 1847. The anthem was popular early on and was adopted by Germany with a different title and words:  Deutschland über Alles. The tune was kept as the anthem of Germany after World War One by the Wiemar Republic, retained as the anthem by Nazi Germany, and is still the national anthem of Germany today.

By the time Haydn wrote Opus 76 he had returned from his triumphant tours of England in 1795 and while he was retained as Kappelmeister at the Esterházy court, it was only on a part time basis. He was now a famous man and after having served his employer for so many years was now free to compose as he wished, and also to accept commissions for works. The Hungarian Count Joseph von Erdödy commissioned the six quartets of opus 76 and was the dedicatee. For this reason the set is also known as the Erdödy Quartets. 

String Quartet Opus 76, No. 3 In C Major is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro -  The first theme is heard straight away, and after a few bars the theme changes to a dotted rhythm. The last part of the theme resembles the opening, and after a short transition the second theme in G major is heard. The exposition is repeated. The development begins with the dotted rhythm of the first theme and a dialog between the instruments constructed around a fragment of the beginning of the first theme. Then the viola and cello alternate playing two-note chords at the distance of a fifth while the violins play an extended variant of the dotted rhythm of the first theme which gives the impression of a village dance tune. The recapitulation repeats the two themes with the  modulation of the second theme to the tonic, C major. After the recapitulation Haydn has the development and recapitulation repeated. After that the second ending of the section brings the movement to a close in C major.

II. Poco adagio, cantabile -  The movement is in G major, the theme is God Save The Emperor Franz and Haydn writes 4 variations on it.

III. Menuetto - Allegretto -  The minuet is in C major, the trio is in A minor.

IV. Finale, Presto - The finale begins in C minor, and after the exposition, development and recapitulation, the themes finally modulate to C major in the coda.

Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

 Paul Hindemith was a prolific composer, teacher, conductor and violist. Hindemith had played 2nd violin in other quartets until after World War One, when he switched to the viola. He formed and played with the Amar Quartet from 1921 until 1933, and was considered one of the world's premiere violists. 

Some of his compositions were played at a contemporary music festival in Salzburg in 1922 and as a result was beginning to be noticed internationally. He became an organizer of another music festival in Germany and had some works by Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg performed. With the rise the Hitler regime, Hindemith's music was being labeled as degenerate by some high-ranking Nazi officials while others disagreed. His music continued to vacillate in and out of favor. Hindemith had been Professor at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik in Berlin since 1927, and with continuing pressure from Joseph Goebbels to resign from the school, he accepted an invitation from the Turkish government to go to Ankara in 1935 to help reorganize musical education in that country. He also had a tour of The United States in the 1930's as a viola soloist. By 1938, Hindemith had decided to emigrate to Switzerland with his wife, who had Jewish ancestry. 

He went to The United States in 1940 and began teaching at Yale University and became a U.S. citizen in 1946. He went back to Europe in 1953 and taught at the university in Zürich until her retired from teaching in 1957, but continued to conduct and compose up to his death in 1963.

Hindemith's music went through different phases, from late romanticism of his first works to a highly contrapuntal style later on. He composed in all musical forms and combinations of instruments, some of them quite unique. Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber was first suggested to him as a ballet taken from the music of Carl Maria von Weber, an early romantic - era composer.  When the project fell through, Hindemith wrote the Symphonic Metamorphosis in 1943. 

The work is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro -  Hindemith took the themes and the structure of the themes and kept them relatively the same, while harmonies, textures, and most everything else was fair game for change. The themes he used came from works that were originally written for piano, so the orchestration is all Hindemith. This first movement's themes came from a Piano Duet For Four Hands, Opus 60, No. 4 ,and consists of two themes, the first of which is:

Hindemith underlines the militaristic march feeling of the theme with the orchestration and the subtle changes of harmony. 

II. Scherzo: (Turandot) -  Moderato - Lively -  This movement uses the theme from Weber's incidental music to the play Turandot, Opus 37. The legend of Turandot that inspired the play was the same legend that inspired Puccini's unfinished opera of the same name.The theme is taken from the overture: 

The theme is repeated numerous times, and Hindemith treats each repetition in a different style,  with an exceptionally creative one has the percussion play off one another. Not surprisingly from an accomplished musical theorist and contrapuntalist, Hindemith uses counterpoint as well. The music grows into a more modern repetition before the music ends in a simple, quiet chord. 

III. Andantino - The third movement is more lyrical and serves as a contrast to the scherzo. The woodwinds are highlighted with solos as they are accompanied by complex harmonies in smooth and mellow music.

IV. Marsch -  The final movement is from Opus 60, N0. 7, the same collection that the first movement came from. The movement begins with the brass playing the first measures:

The music grows more and more intense with each repetition, with an undercurrent of near menace until the middle section in the major is first heard in the horns. Textures and harmonies grow more complex, and the opening music repeats in subdued dynamic initially, but the orchestra's brass roar out the middle section again. The opening motive is heard one more time and the music comes to a rousing finish.  Hindemith got all that he could from the themes he used,  and the work shows Hindemith's skill and talent for orchestration as well as developing a theme. 

Röntgen - Cello Concerto No. 2 In G Minor

Although not a cellist,  Julius Röntgen, had a love affair with the instrument that lasted over 60 years of his life. He wrote 14 sonatas for cello and piano, 2 sets of variations for cello and piano, 3 cello concertos as well as numerous chamber works that included the instrument. Röntgen was great friends with many cellists, including Pablo Casals which whom he played in chamber music recitals and dedicated some of his cello works to.  Five of his six sons went on to be professional musicians, with

Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Major, Opus 102

By the time Dmitri Shostakovich began writing his 2nd Piano Concerto in 1957 he had lived an artistic life full of official censure and criticism. In the age of Stalin's ruthless paranoia, to be officially censured was often times a literal death sentence. Shostakovich managed to stay alive, but it had taken a toll on his already melancholy nature and the mood of much of his music.

But the 2nd Piano concerto is an exception. It was written for Shostakovich's son Maxim as a present for his 19th birthday.  Shostakovich himself said the work had "no redeeming artistic merit," but he may have been getting a head start in averting the inevitable negative criticism some would have.  The concerto is in three movements:

I. Allegro - The bassoon enters with the first theme with the piano close behind. The second theme quickens the paced and is played in single notes one octave apart in the piano. Some listeners have detected a similarity between this second theme and the sea shanty What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor. A third theme is played by the piano in single notes two octaves apart. After the third theme is played, the piano plays loud octaves while the orchestra plays a variant of the drunken sailor theme which is developed. The music comes to a tremendous climax and then halts. The piano takes off on its own with a fugal rendition of the first theme until the orchestra returns with the first theme. The drunken sailor theme returns and the movement comes to a close.

Dmitri and Maxim Shostakovich

II. Andante - The second movement is expressive music that touches on Shostakovich's melancholy nature, but in a romantic, tender fashion. The piano gently rises in register as the muted strings are suspended. Cross rhythms give a slight feeling of tension to the broad melody.  At a time when modern music was making extreme demands on players and listeners, Shostakovich's music wrote a short, thoroughly romantic movement that still pleases audiences. The music slowly unwinds and quietly comes to rest. The last movement begins without pause.

III. Allegro - The first theme is a lively dance with a few chuckles thrown in from the piano, which is followed by the second theme in 7/8 time. The third theme is the celebrated tongue in cheek quotation in Hanon piano exercise style, a joke written into the concerto for Maxim. The three themes are repeated, interlaced and developed. The 7/8 theme returns after which a coda finishes the concerto with a thunderous flourish.

There was a time early in Shostakovich's career when he was divided between being a composer or a concert pianist. Although he chose composer (and maintained later in life that he should have been both) he was no slouch as a pianist. Despite his comments about the lack of artistic merit, Shostakovich was fond of the 2nd concerto and played it in concert a few times. He made recordings of both concertos as soloist and they show him to be more than up to the task. His recording of the 2nd piano concerto shows him in fine form as he plays the music at break-neck speed and with a spiky touch in the first movement that fits the character of the movement very well. It is rare that a composer himself leaves a definitive performance of his own work, but Shostakovich did that with both concertos. 

Handel - Organ Concerto In B-flat Major, Opus 7, No. 1

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a German composer who spent time in Italy before finally settling in England.  

He was a virtuoso performer on the organ and harpsichord and there is a story of a contest between Handel and Scarlatti in Rome, Italy on organ and harpsichord. Handel was judged superior on the organ while Scarlatti was judged superior on the harpsichord. He was born in the same year as both Scarlatti and J.S. Bach, but he never met Bach.

Handel has been highly esteemed by other composers. Mozart reportedly said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt." And Beethoven was another admirer. "He was the master of us all, the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb. Go to him and learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means," Beethoven said of him.

He wrote in most forms of his time, but had his fame rest on Italian Opera and Oratorios. He wrote 42 Italian operas and when they fell out of favor he wrote Oratorios, of which his Messiah is the most well-known.  During the intermissions of his Oratorios, Handel would conduct and play an organ concerto for orchestra and organ.  He wrote 16 Oran Concertos, some of which have connections with specific Oratorios.

Most of the Organ Concertos are written for a one-manual organ without foot pedals. The concerto discussed here is an exception as it was first performed on a two-manual organ with pedals. Handel left some of the parts of some concertos out, usually a place in the score that reads ad libitum, or at liberty, and he fully expected the performer to improvise the missing part as was the custom of the day.  That fact makes performances of these concerti unique,  with no performance the same as the last.

This concerto is taken from his Opus 7 set of six concertos.  A contemporary critique of Handel's playing as written in 1776 by Sir John Hawkins in his book General History Of The Science And Practice Of Music:

"A fine and delicate touch, a volant finger, and a ready delivery of passages the most difficult, are the praise of inferior artists: they were not noticed in Handel, whose excellencies were of a far superior kind; and his amazing command of the instrument, the fullness of his harmony, the grandeur and dignity of his style, the copiousness of his imagination, and the fertility of his invention were qualities that absorbed every inferior attainment. When he gave a concerto, his method in general was to introduce it with a voluntary movement on the diapasons, which stole on the ear in a slow and solemn progression; the harmony close wrought, and as full as could possibly be expressed; the passages concatenated with stupendous art, the whole at the same time being perfectly intelligible, and carrying the appearance of great simplicity. This kind of prelude was succeeded by the concerto itself, which he executed with a degree of spirit and firmness that no one ever pretended to equal."

Handel's Organ Concerto Opus 7 No. 1 in B flat Major:

 

Haydn - Piano Sonata No. 59 In E-flat Major Hob. XVI/49

Unlike Mozart and Beethoven, Haydn was not a virtuoso pianist. He could get around on the keyboard well enough, but most of his playing was with other instruments in chamber music or (as was the practice of his day) leading the orchestra from the keyboard and playing along to fill out the ensemble.  He did practically no solo playing in public. But the number of pieces he wrote for solo keyboard is substantial, with 62 sonatas (by modern reckoning) for the instrument alone, plus numerous other pieces.  Haydn not only saw the keyboard sonata evolve during his lifetime, he participated in its evolution.

Haydn played the harpsichord, clavichord, organ and later in his career the piano. Haydn wrote many of his early sonatas for harpsichord, a few for harpsichord or piano, but seven out of the last eight sonatas he wrote specifically for the piano. In the later sonatas for piano Haydn's style of writing changed to take full advantage of the dynamic capabilities of Viennese pianos and extended these changes after his introduction to the large 6 octave range and increased dynamic capabilities of English pianos during his two concert tours of the country. But the Sonata No. 59 in E-flat was written in 1789 before his trips to England. The expression markings are sparse (at least in the first edition, later editors added more) but they are there, especially sforzando markings that denote a sharp, sudden emphasis on a note.

The sonata is in 3 movements:

I. Allegro -  Haydn opens the first movement with a theme in the tonic of E-flat:

Not much of a theme perhaps, but Haydn makes much of the theme later. The second theme appears and is even more plain but it does 

manage to contrast the first theme enough to keep things interesting. The second theme leads to a repeat of the initial theme, but the theme has already gone through a change and is now more ornamented than before. After the decorated initial theme plays through there is a coda that offers up some new material, a theme that is played by crossing hands and a short section in thirds answered in the bass then the treble. After the repeat of the exposition, the development section grows out of the last notes of the coda to the exposition into counterpoint that leads to the first theme reappearance in changing keys. Material from the exposition coda returns and is developed.

After a short cadenza the recapitulation begins. The second theme returns, transformed to the home key, there is a short coda and the section comes to an end with a flourish. As with many sonatas of the time, Haydn directs the entire development and recapitulation sections be repeated. to my ears, the beginning of the repeat is rather jarring after hearing the close of the section the first time, but perhaps that is what Haydn intended. He wasn't above such things.

II - Adagio e cantabile - A tender adagio in B-flat that is interrupted by an impassioned section in a minor key. The alternation between the major and minor themes continues with both themes being decorated and expanded. The initial theme finally wins out and leads to a short coda that wraps up this gentle movement.

III. Finale : Tempo di Minuet - The minuet is in the home key, while the middle section is in the key of E-flat minor. The minuet returns the music to the home key and the sonata is finished with a short coda and a final cadence.

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 27 In E Minor, Opus 90

Beethoven's career took a different turn after the occupation of Vienna by Napoleon in 1805 and 1809. The stress caused by the occupation, plus his increasing deafness put serious composing on the back burner.  In the years 1812 to 1814 after composing his 7th Symphony Beethoven did little composing except for a few pot boilers like Wellington's Victory and the revision of his only opera Fidelio.  

Beethoven finally returned to his more serious composition efforts in 1814 with his 27th piano sonata. It is a two-movement work, and at one time had a program for it written by the composer himself.  The first movement is in E minor, and has the heading Conflict between head and heart, the second movement is in E major and has the heading Conversation with the beloved. The origin of these titles stems from when his friend Count von Lichnowsky, whom Beethoven dedicated the sonata to, asked for the meaning of the music. Beethoven replied that the sonata was a representation of the Count's love life. The Count was contemplating marriage to a woman his family disapproved of, the conflict between head and heart, and a a vision of marital bliss, the conversation with the beloved. Presumably the two had a good laugh over the titles and Beethoven did not have them published with the score. But the music does have the feeling of Beethoven's descriptive headings.

Each movement is prefaced by tempo indications in German instead of Italian, Beethoven's answer to musical nationalism. Tempo indications had traditionally been given in Italian because the first large music publishers happened to be in Venice, Italy. Beethoven was serious about his music and serious about how he valued German music, hence his break with tradition for the sake of German art.

The first movement is restless, the second peaceful. Beethoven was a composer of contrasts, and these two movements contrast each other very much. And it is interesting to note that the second movement is longer than the first, almost twice as long.  Is the second movement wish-fulfillment on the part of Beethoven, a man who had many conflicts, illness and stress in his life, that he could have double the peace and calm in his life as he had stress?  Recent scholarship has shown that for much of Beethoven's life, especially the final decade, he was an ill man. Add to that his deafness, and the will to not only go on living but to grow as an artist must have taken every ounce of strength and determination he could muster.

Whether this sonata actually does follow the program Beethoven gave to the Count, or is something much more personal can never be ascertained. That this is a sonata of contrast is certain.