LAST SEASONS PROGRAM NOTES
American Chamber Players
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1979 - 1828)
Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major for piano quartet, D 487:
When Schubert was a teenager he fell in love with Therese Grob, who had “a fine soprano voice,” and for whom he wrote the masterpiece, “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel.” For her brother Heinrich, who was an accomplished cellist and pianist, the 19-year-old Schubert wrote the Adagio and Rondo Concertante. Almost a small piano concerto, this work consists of two movements, played without a break. The slow introduction builds suspense and anticipation through using fanfare-like phrases and attention-getting chords. The rondo, which is the main attraction, is quick and has four contrasting themes in various keys. The themes do not alternate, as in a typical rondo, but are strung out in a series, are followed by a short development, and are then repeated in their entirety.
PHILLIPPE GAUBERT (1879 - 1941)
Three Watercolors, for flute, cello, and piano (1926):
Born in Cahors, France, Philippe Gaubert began studying the violin as a young child. After his family moved to Paris in 1885, young Philippe switched instruments, taking the first step toward a career as one of the most noted flutists of his day. His only teacher, Paul Taffanel, received a position at the Paris Conservatory in 1893; Gaubert enrolled at the celebrated music school at the same time, taking the prestigious Première Prix in flute performance the next year, at the age of fifteen. Teacher and student were quite a remarkable pair, with “signature” performing styles recognized as the “French method,” and the two collaborated on a teaching text, Méthode complète, that is still widely used today. Although he was regarded as a virtuoso instrumentalist, Gaubert was drawn into composing and conducting. When he was twenty-four, he landed a job as assistant conductor of the Concert Society of the Conservatory, and the next year he won the coveted Prix de Rome for composition. He continued to gain prominence as a conductor, rising to become head conductor of the Conservatory concerts and then, the ultimate post in Paris, director of the Opera.
Gaubert’s compositions include, not unexpectedly, many works for flute and piano, but he also wrote for many chamber combinations and for orchestra. The Trois Aquarelles, or “Three Watercolors,” are typical of Gaubert’s style: graciously written and fully idiomatic for the flute; flirting with contemporary “impressionist” trends and harmonic language, but remaining essentially conservative in order to showcase the lyrical as well as technical abilities of the players.
MAX RAIMI (b. 1956)
Variations on "Hevenu shalom aleichem" for flute and piano quartet (2018):
Almost every Friday night in my childhood, we would gather at my paternal grandparents’ home and celebrate the Jewish Sabbath. My grandparents were not deeply religious, but they felt profound nostalgia for the food and the songs of their childhood back in the Polish shtetl where they had grown up. (I should perhaps point out that they harbored no such nostalgia for the anti-Semitism, poverty, and limited opportunity they had left behind.)
We celebrated with the traditional Shabbos foods, reciting the ancient prayers and singing the songs they had brought with them from a bygone world. There is a great power in the experience of singing surrounded by people you love, and I often think that these early musical memories pointed the way for me to make a career in music. When Miles Hoffman commissioned me to write a set of variations for the American Chamber Players, I decided that I would use one of the melodies that I have been singing practically since I was born, Hevenu Sholem Aleichem, which is Hebrew for “We bring you peace”.
My technique in writing variations is unorthodox. I don’t follow the melodic line or the harmonies that provide the song’s structure in any remotely systematic way. Rather, I take all the different ideas that cohere to create the melody and treat them almost like Lego blocks—I take them apart, use them as a point of departure for musical development, and put them back together in a different order. This set of variations is also idiosyncratic in that it takes the traditional variation procedure and reverses the order of things. Rather than beginning with the theme, I save it for the end. The statement of the Hevenu Sholem Aleichem melody is the culmination of all the variations, not the starting point. It is almost as if you were to try to put together an Ikea bookshelf, and only afterwards were allowed to look at the directions—except, I very much hope, far more enjoyable. -- Max Raimi
Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major for piano quartet, D 487:
When Schubert was a teenager he fell in love with Therese Grob, who had “a fine soprano voice,” and for whom he wrote the masterpiece, “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel.” For her brother Heinrich, who was an accomplished cellist and pianist, the 19-year-old Schubert wrote the Adagio and Rondo Concertante. Almost a small piano concerto, this work consists of two movements, played without a break. The slow introduction builds suspense and anticipation through using fanfare-like phrases and attention-getting chords. The rondo, which is the main attraction, is quick and has four contrasting themes in various keys. The themes do not alternate, as in a typical rondo, but are strung out in a series, are followed by a short development, and are then repeated in their entirety.
PHILLIPPE GAUBERT (1879 - 1941)
Three Watercolors, for flute, cello, and piano (1926):
Born in Cahors, France, Philippe Gaubert began studying the violin as a young child. After his family moved to Paris in 1885, young Philippe switched instruments, taking the first step toward a career as one of the most noted flutists of his day. His only teacher, Paul Taffanel, received a position at the Paris Conservatory in 1893; Gaubert enrolled at the celebrated music school at the same time, taking the prestigious Première Prix in flute performance the next year, at the age of fifteen. Teacher and student were quite a remarkable pair, with “signature” performing styles recognized as the “French method,” and the two collaborated on a teaching text, Méthode complète, that is still widely used today. Although he was regarded as a virtuoso instrumentalist, Gaubert was drawn into composing and conducting. When he was twenty-four, he landed a job as assistant conductor of the Concert Society of the Conservatory, and the next year he won the coveted Prix de Rome for composition. He continued to gain prominence as a conductor, rising to become head conductor of the Conservatory concerts and then, the ultimate post in Paris, director of the Opera.
Gaubert’s compositions include, not unexpectedly, many works for flute and piano, but he also wrote for many chamber combinations and for orchestra. The Trois Aquarelles, or “Three Watercolors,” are typical of Gaubert’s style: graciously written and fully idiomatic for the flute; flirting with contemporary “impressionist” trends and harmonic language, but remaining essentially conservative in order to showcase the lyrical as well as technical abilities of the players.
MAX RAIMI (b. 1956)
Variations on "Hevenu shalom aleichem" for flute and piano quartet (2018):
Almost every Friday night in my childhood, we would gather at my paternal grandparents’ home and celebrate the Jewish Sabbath. My grandparents were not deeply religious, but they felt profound nostalgia for the food and the songs of their childhood back in the Polish shtetl where they had grown up. (I should perhaps point out that they harbored no such nostalgia for the anti-Semitism, poverty, and limited opportunity they had left behind.)
We celebrated with the traditional Shabbos foods, reciting the ancient prayers and singing the songs they had brought with them from a bygone world. There is a great power in the experience of singing surrounded by people you love, and I often think that these early musical memories pointed the way for me to make a career in music. When Miles Hoffman commissioned me to write a set of variations for the American Chamber Players, I decided that I would use one of the melodies that I have been singing practically since I was born, Hevenu Sholem Aleichem, which is Hebrew for “We bring you peace”.
My technique in writing variations is unorthodox. I don’t follow the melodic line or the harmonies that provide the song’s structure in any remotely systematic way. Rather, I take all the different ideas that cohere to create the melody and treat them almost like Lego blocks—I take them apart, use them as a point of departure for musical development, and put them back together in a different order. This set of variations is also idiosyncratic in that it takes the traditional variation procedure and reverses the order of things. Rather than beginning with the theme, I save it for the end. The statement of the Hevenu Sholem Aleichem melody is the culmination of all the variations, not the starting point. It is almost as if you were to try to put together an Ikea bookshelf, and only afterwards were allowed to look at the directions—except, I very much hope, far more enjoyable. -- Max Raimi
Mirari Brass Quintet
Neave Trio
Debussy Piano Trio in G Major:
Debussy came from a troubled, broken family with no musical background. Somehow he came to the attention of a piano teacher who coached him so well that, at age ten, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire by competitive examination, where he received a thorough conventional musical education. Over twenty years of intense study and musical activity elapsed before Debussy began to create his own inimitable, impressionistic idiom.
His student years were rich in experience; he knew Franck, Fauré, Gounod, Lalo, Bizet, and d’Indy, and he became an excellent pianist. In 1880 he took a summer job as pianist in the household of a wealthy Russian widow, Nadine von Meck. Mother of eleven, von Meck was widowed when her husband died of a heart attack upon learning of her infidelity. Best known as patron and confidante to Tschaikovsky, von Meck restlessly travelled with an entourage of children and servants. Debussy was to spend three summers as pianist in this road show, visiting Russia, Austria, Italy and other European countries. Von Meck became fond of her talented protégé, nicknamed him Petrouchka, played piano duets with him, and encouraged him to compose. During his first summer with her, Debussy completed this trio, which he had begun the year before. The work was finally published in 1986. –Craig Leman, 1992
Debussy came from a troubled, broken family with no musical background. Somehow he came to the attention of a piano teacher who coached him so well that, at age ten, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire by competitive examination, where he received a thorough conventional musical education. Over twenty years of intense study and musical activity elapsed before Debussy began to create his own inimitable, impressionistic idiom.
His student years were rich in experience; he knew Franck, Fauré, Gounod, Lalo, Bizet, and d’Indy, and he became an excellent pianist. In 1880 he took a summer job as pianist in the household of a wealthy Russian widow, Nadine von Meck. Mother of eleven, von Meck was widowed when her husband died of a heart attack upon learning of her infidelity. Best known as patron and confidante to Tschaikovsky, von Meck restlessly travelled with an entourage of children and servants. Debussy was to spend three summers as pianist in this road show, visiting Russia, Austria, Italy and other European countries. Von Meck became fond of her talented protégé, nicknamed him Petrouchka, played piano duets with him, and encouraged him to compose. During his first summer with her, Debussy completed this trio, which he had begun the year before. The work was finally published in 1986. –Craig Leman, 1992
Shostakovich Piano Trio in e-minor Op. 67:
Dimitri Shostakovich is another composer tossed around by political events. After the 1917 Russian Revolution he enjoyed the relatively permissive artistic climate, but as Stalin tightened his grip during the 1930s, Shostakovich was publicly censured for his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. He was rehabilitated after the premiere of his 5th Symphony in 1937, but within a few years Russia was at war with Nazi Germany. Shostakovich joined the fire brigade in Leningrad, but along with many other artists was evacuated to a remote city on the Volga River when the siege of Leningrad began. The siege was finally broken after 872 days in January of 1944, and Shostakovich was able to return. He wrote his e-minor trio the same year, dedicating it to a good friend, musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky, who had died at age 41. The whole piece is really a profound lament of the horrors of war.
The opening Andante begins with high harmonics in the cello, and the violin joins in with lower pitches than the cello. The piano enters and a fugue develops to a climax. The second movement Allegro con brio, is a short three minutes of frenzied dancing, with an undertone of forced gaiety. The piano alone plays seven chords at the beginning of the Largo. These chords are repeated throughout the movement, like tolling funeral bells, as the cello and violin play other material. Without a break the last movement, Allegretto, begins with pizzicatos in the strings. The main theme sounds like a slightly macabre Jewish dance. Some writers have speculated that this is a reference to the horrific persecution of the Jewish people, which was beginning to be publicly known about that time. The theme of the fugue in the first movement and the chords of the third movement also return briefly. Whatever Shostakovich’s intentions, he produced a powerfully emotional work that still speaks to us at many levels. –Angela Carlson 2014
Dimitri Shostakovich is another composer tossed around by political events. After the 1917 Russian Revolution he enjoyed the relatively permissive artistic climate, but as Stalin tightened his grip during the 1930s, Shostakovich was publicly censured for his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. He was rehabilitated after the premiere of his 5th Symphony in 1937, but within a few years Russia was at war with Nazi Germany. Shostakovich joined the fire brigade in Leningrad, but along with many other artists was evacuated to a remote city on the Volga River when the siege of Leningrad began. The siege was finally broken after 872 days in January of 1944, and Shostakovich was able to return. He wrote his e-minor trio the same year, dedicating it to a good friend, musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky, who had died at age 41. The whole piece is really a profound lament of the horrors of war.
The opening Andante begins with high harmonics in the cello, and the violin joins in with lower pitches than the cello. The piano enters and a fugue develops to a climax. The second movement Allegro con brio, is a short three minutes of frenzied dancing, with an undertone of forced gaiety. The piano alone plays seven chords at the beginning of the Largo. These chords are repeated throughout the movement, like tolling funeral bells, as the cello and violin play other material. Without a break the last movement, Allegretto, begins with pizzicatos in the strings. The main theme sounds like a slightly macabre Jewish dance. Some writers have speculated that this is a reference to the horrific persecution of the Jewish people, which was beginning to be publicly known about that time. The theme of the fugue in the first movement and the chords of the third movement also return briefly. Whatever Shostakovich’s intentions, he produced a powerfully emotional work that still speaks to us at many levels. –Angela Carlson 2014
Piazzolla - Estaciones Porteñas:
Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina in 1921, but grew up in New York City, where his family had moved in 1925. He learned to play the bandoneon, a small accordion-like instrument which instantly identifies tango music. At age 16 Piazzolla returned to Argentina, establishing himself as a working musician and forming his own tango orchestra in 1946. He disbanded this group in 1950 in order to devote himself to composing. In 1954 he received a grant from the French government to study with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. This remarkable woman, teacher of numerous luminaries, including Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, urged Piazzolla to compose in his own musical language. He later recalled, “Up to then I had composed symphonies, chamber music, string quartets; but when Nadia Boulanger analyzed my music, she said she could find nowhere any Piazzolla….I was ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician, that I had worked in the whorehouses and cabarets of Buenos Aires. Tango musician was a dirty word in Argentina when I was young. It was the underworld. Nadia made me play a tango to her and then she said, ‘Idiot! That is the real Piazzolla!’ So I threw away all the other music and in 1954 started working on my New Tango.”
Piazzolla first wrote Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) as a stand-alone piece of incidental music for a play in 1965, then added the other three pieces, unveiling them in May 1970 with his Quintet. By that time Vivaldi’s Four Seasons were becoming popular, and Piazzolla inserted a few sly references to them. Piazzolla’s pieces are some of the most advanced examples of his New Tango style, incorporating some jazzy harmonies along with elements of classical tango. Their popularity is evident in the fact that they have been arranged for many disparate ensembles –Angela Carlson 2018
Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina in 1921, but grew up in New York City, where his family had moved in 1925. He learned to play the bandoneon, a small accordion-like instrument which instantly identifies tango music. At age 16 Piazzolla returned to Argentina, establishing himself as a working musician and forming his own tango orchestra in 1946. He disbanded this group in 1950 in order to devote himself to composing. In 1954 he received a grant from the French government to study with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. This remarkable woman, teacher of numerous luminaries, including Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, urged Piazzolla to compose in his own musical language. He later recalled, “Up to then I had composed symphonies, chamber music, string quartets; but when Nadia Boulanger analyzed my music, she said she could find nowhere any Piazzolla….I was ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician, that I had worked in the whorehouses and cabarets of Buenos Aires. Tango musician was a dirty word in Argentina when I was young. It was the underworld. Nadia made me play a tango to her and then she said, ‘Idiot! That is the real Piazzolla!’ So I threw away all the other music and in 1954 started working on my New Tango.”
Piazzolla first wrote Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) as a stand-alone piece of incidental music for a play in 1965, then added the other three pieces, unveiling them in May 1970 with his Quintet. By that time Vivaldi’s Four Seasons were becoming popular, and Piazzolla inserted a few sly references to them. Piazzolla’s pieces are some of the most advanced examples of his New Tango style, incorporating some jazzy harmonies along with elements of classical tango. Their popularity is evident in the fact that they have been arranged for many disparate ensembles –Angela Carlson 2018
Delgani Quartet
Schubert - Quartettsatz:
Like Mozart, Schubert left a number of excellent unfinished compositions. Some he may have abandoned because, in his own words, “They don’t fly.” Others he probably laid aside, hoping to return to them, and tragically, ran out of time.
Following a four-year lapse after his sixteenth string quartet, Schubert wrote this Allegro in December 1820 as the first movement of a string quartet, started an Andante for a second movement, and then abruptly stopped. Four more years were to elapse before he returned to writing string quartets. Quartettsatz is German for Quartet Movement. Nearly always the lovely Allegro is played by itself, without the fragment of the Andante which follows.
The piece begins with a dramatic motif in triplets that Schubert develops and conjures into wondrously imaginative forms. The passion and complexity of the instrumental writing represent a giant leap from his earlier quartets, which he had written for his brothers (violins), father (cello), and himself (viola).
Years after Schubert’s death his brother gave Felix Mendelssohn the incomplete Schubert manuscript, eliciting this typically generous, thought thank-note:
…Through the very incompleteness of the work, the scattered, half-finished indications, I became at once personally acquainted with your brother more closely than I should have done through the complete piece..as if I saw him there, working in his room, and this joy I owe to your unexpectedly great kindness and generosity. –Craig Leman 2002
Like Mozart, Schubert left a number of excellent unfinished compositions. Some he may have abandoned because, in his own words, “They don’t fly.” Others he probably laid aside, hoping to return to them, and tragically, ran out of time.
Following a four-year lapse after his sixteenth string quartet, Schubert wrote this Allegro in December 1820 as the first movement of a string quartet, started an Andante for a second movement, and then abruptly stopped. Four more years were to elapse before he returned to writing string quartets. Quartettsatz is German for Quartet Movement. Nearly always the lovely Allegro is played by itself, without the fragment of the Andante which follows.
The piece begins with a dramatic motif in triplets that Schubert develops and conjures into wondrously imaginative forms. The passion and complexity of the instrumental writing represent a giant leap from his earlier quartets, which he had written for his brothers (violins), father (cello), and himself (viola).
Years after Schubert’s death his brother gave Felix Mendelssohn the incomplete Schubert manuscript, eliciting this typically generous, thought thank-note:
…Through the very incompleteness of the work, the scattered, half-finished indications, I became at once personally acquainted with your brother more closely than I should have done through the complete piece..as if I saw him there, working in his room, and this joy I owe to your unexpectedly great kindness and generosity. –Craig Leman 2002
Schulhoff - Five Pieces for String Quartet:
Erwin Schulhoff was one of many artists who were inexorably pushed along by political events beyond their control. His musical career started promisingly at the early age of 10 when none other than Antonin Dvorak recommended he study at the Prague Conservator y in 1904. In 1906 Schulhoff went to Vienna where he studied with Max Reger, then to Leipzig in 1908, followed by study in Cologne with Fritz Steinbach, a well-known piano pedagogue. In the meantime Schulhoff had begun composing, and won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1918 for a piano sonata.
Up until World War I Schulhoff’s music followed models of Strauss, Debussy and Scriabin. After four years in the Austrian Army he began to adopt the precepts of Expressionism á la Schönberg and the Second Viennese School, often tinged by elements of jazz. As the 1920s moved into the 1930s, Schulhoff became increasingly disillusioned by Fascism with the rise of the National Socialists and turned to the Soviet Union as a better system, even becoming a citizen. When the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 Schulhoff was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to a concentration camp, where he died, probably of tuberculosis, in 1942.
The Five Pieces for String Quartet premiered with considerable success in 1924 at the International Society for New Music in Salzburg. Each brief piece embodies a dance form, but as if heard through the lens of Stravinsky and jazz. They are often witty in a rather dark way. –Angela Carlson 2019
Erwin Schulhoff was one of many artists who were inexorably pushed along by political events beyond their control. His musical career started promisingly at the early age of 10 when none other than Antonin Dvorak recommended he study at the Prague Conservator y in 1904. In 1906 Schulhoff went to Vienna where he studied with Max Reger, then to Leipzig in 1908, followed by study in Cologne with Fritz Steinbach, a well-known piano pedagogue. In the meantime Schulhoff had begun composing, and won the Mendelssohn Prize in 1918 for a piano sonata.
Up until World War I Schulhoff’s music followed models of Strauss, Debussy and Scriabin. After four years in the Austrian Army he began to adopt the precepts of Expressionism á la Schönberg and the Second Viennese School, often tinged by elements of jazz. As the 1920s moved into the 1930s, Schulhoff became increasingly disillusioned by Fascism with the rise of the National Socialists and turned to the Soviet Union as a better system, even becoming a citizen. When the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 Schulhoff was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to a concentration camp, where he died, probably of tuberculosis, in 1942.
The Five Pieces for String Quartet premiered with considerable success in 1924 at the International Society for New Music in Salzburg. Each brief piece embodies a dance form, but as if heard through the lens of Stravinsky and jazz. They are often witty in a rather dark way. –Angela Carlson 2019
Beethoven - Op 135:
Early in 1826, the aging, deaf, increasingly disorganized Beethoven moved into the last of a succession of Vienna apartments and set to work on what was to be the last of his sixteen string quartets. Preoccupied with financial, health and personal problems culminating in the nearly successful suicide attempt of his nephew, Beethoven managed to complete the quartet in September.
Musicologists have argued and speculated about this quartet perhaps even more than about its predecessors. Some discern a reversion to classic forms of Mozart and Haydn and to his own Opus 18- a classicist departure from the complex emotion and structure of the other late quartets. Others feel that its compressed form and whimsical changes in mood represent what would have been a new phase for Beethoven -a Stage 4- had he survived longer, and that Opus 135 is a transition to the Romanticism of the next musical generation.
Indeed, this quartet is short, simple and traditional by comparison with the others of the Opus 130s. The first movement begins with a succession of motifs – a quizzical sort of mood, a dialog among the instruments. The development and combination of these motifs is swift and powerful. The recapitulation brings them all together, and the movement ends with a repeat of the second subject. The fleeting, ephemeral scherzo is deftly and delicately wrought. We can only marvel that the totally deaf composer could realize and write down such a complex and ethereal creation. Beethoven marked the third movement Cantante –“singing”-instead of the conventional Cantabile-“song-like.” He called the theme “a sweet song of rest, a song of peace.”
He begins the finale with a theme enunciated slowly, leading into a mysterious passage with repeated dissonances. The theme, inverted, reappears to start the closing Allegro, which has moments of joy, as well as an overtone of sadness. When he finished copying the parts, he wrote on the manuscript, “It’s done. Amen.” He sent it to his publisher with the note: “You see what an unhappy man I am, not only that it was difficult to write, but because I had promised it to you and needed money, and that it came hard.” The only major work left in him during his last few months of life was the closing movement of Opus 130. –Craig Leman 1999
Early in 1826, the aging, deaf, increasingly disorganized Beethoven moved into the last of a succession of Vienna apartments and set to work on what was to be the last of his sixteen string quartets. Preoccupied with financial, health and personal problems culminating in the nearly successful suicide attempt of his nephew, Beethoven managed to complete the quartet in September.
Musicologists have argued and speculated about this quartet perhaps even more than about its predecessors. Some discern a reversion to classic forms of Mozart and Haydn and to his own Opus 18- a classicist departure from the complex emotion and structure of the other late quartets. Others feel that its compressed form and whimsical changes in mood represent what would have been a new phase for Beethoven -a Stage 4- had he survived longer, and that Opus 135 is a transition to the Romanticism of the next musical generation.
Indeed, this quartet is short, simple and traditional by comparison with the others of the Opus 130s. The first movement begins with a succession of motifs – a quizzical sort of mood, a dialog among the instruments. The development and combination of these motifs is swift and powerful. The recapitulation brings them all together, and the movement ends with a repeat of the second subject. The fleeting, ephemeral scherzo is deftly and delicately wrought. We can only marvel that the totally deaf composer could realize and write down such a complex and ethereal creation. Beethoven marked the third movement Cantante –“singing”-instead of the conventional Cantabile-“song-like.” He called the theme “a sweet song of rest, a song of peace.”
He begins the finale with a theme enunciated slowly, leading into a mysterious passage with repeated dissonances. The theme, inverted, reappears to start the closing Allegro, which has moments of joy, as well as an overtone of sadness. When he finished copying the parts, he wrote on the manuscript, “It’s done. Amen.” He sent it to his publisher with the note: “You see what an unhappy man I am, not only that it was difficult to write, but because I had promised it to you and needed money, and that it came hard.” The only major work left in him during his last few months of life was the closing movement of Opus 130. –Craig Leman 1999
Boreal Trio
Mozart - "Kegelstatt" Trio for clarinet, viola and piano:
Mozart’s so-called “Kegelstatt” Trio is undoubtedly the best-known work in this genre and probably the first. The nickname is not Mozart’s but more likely a mistaken connection to a slightly earlier duo for two French horns which Mozart did say was composed “while playing skittles.” The trio was first played at the home of the von Jacquin family, in which Mozart was lodging at the time. The daughter of the house, Franziska, was Mozart’s piano pupil, and she must have been a good one to have mastered this piano part. The clarinet part was played by Anton Stadler, who also inspired Mozart’s clarinet quintet and his concerto. Stadler also must have been an excellent player, and of course, Mozart wrote the viola part for himself!
Unusually, the trio only has three movements instead of the more standard four. All three movements are in rather leisurely tempi, and the mood throughout is quite intimate – what a German speaker would call ‘gemütlich’. The clarinet was quite new at the time and the Stadler/Mozart collaboration certainly promoted its use considerably. When the trio was published it was listed as a trio for violin, viola, and piano, with the violin part optionally played on the clarinet. Most likely this was a bid to promote sales, since the work obviously treats the clarinet very idiomatically and beautifully.
Mozart’s so-called “Kegelstatt” Trio is undoubtedly the best-known work in this genre and probably the first. The nickname is not Mozart’s but more likely a mistaken connection to a slightly earlier duo for two French horns which Mozart did say was composed “while playing skittles.” The trio was first played at the home of the von Jacquin family, in which Mozart was lodging at the time. The daughter of the house, Franziska, was Mozart’s piano pupil, and she must have been a good one to have mastered this piano part. The clarinet part was played by Anton Stadler, who also inspired Mozart’s clarinet quintet and his concerto. Stadler also must have been an excellent player, and of course, Mozart wrote the viola part for himself!
Unusually, the trio only has three movements instead of the more standard four. All three movements are in rather leisurely tempi, and the mood throughout is quite intimate – what a German speaker would call ‘gemütlich’. The clarinet was quite new at the time and the Stadler/Mozart collaboration certainly promoted its use considerably. When the trio was published it was listed as a trio for violin, viola, and piano, with the violin part optionally played on the clarinet. Most likely this was a bid to promote sales, since the work obviously treats the clarinet very idiomatically and beautifully.
Schumann - Märchenerzählungen:
Robert Schumann wrote his trio for clarinet, viola and piano in 1853, one of the last works he finished before attempting suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine River. By 1854 he had been committed to an institution for the remaining two years of a life plagued by increasing bouts of depression alternating with manic creative activity. The brief tranquil period during which Schumann wrote this trio was partly due to the fact that Johannes Brahms had presented himself at the Schumanns’ door in early 1853. The contact with the brilliant young Brahms prompted Schumann to complete the four pieces in just a few days.
Märchenerzählungen means literally ‘fairy tale stories’, but Schumann gave no direct indication of any particular scenarios. The four pieces are superficially somewhat light-hearted but have an undertone of agitation. Musically they are subtly connected with one short motive. The first performance was given privately with Clara Schumann playing the piano part. That long-suffering wife and mother of eight, a famous pianist (and sometime composer) in her own right, steadfastly championed her husband’s music for the forty years she survived him.
Robert Schumann wrote his trio for clarinet, viola and piano in 1853, one of the last works he finished before attempting suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine River. By 1854 he had been committed to an institution for the remaining two years of a life plagued by increasing bouts of depression alternating with manic creative activity. The brief tranquil period during which Schumann wrote this trio was partly due to the fact that Johannes Brahms had presented himself at the Schumanns’ door in early 1853. The contact with the brilliant young Brahms prompted Schumann to complete the four pieces in just a few days.
Märchenerzählungen means literally ‘fairy tale stories’, but Schumann gave no direct indication of any particular scenarios. The four pieces are superficially somewhat light-hearted but have an undertone of agitation. Musically they are subtly connected with one short motive. The first performance was given privately with Clara Schumann playing the piano part. That long-suffering wife and mother of eight, a famous pianist (and sometime composer) in her own right, steadfastly championed her husband’s music for the forty years she survived him.
Francaix - Trio for clarinet, viola and piano:
Jean Francaix was a child prodigy, starting to compose music at age six, and accepted to the Paris Conservatoire soon thereafter. He finished with a first prize at age eighteen, in the meantime studying on the side with Nadia Boulanger, the teacher/guru of generations of composers, including Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. During his career Francaix wrote over 150 works in all genres, and was a skillful orchestrator of others’ works. Most of his music is gentle but urbane, with allusions to jazz and the music hall, often full of jokes – all presented with impeccable French elegance and craftsmanship. His trio for clarinet, viola and piano displays all these qualities in spades. –Angela Carlson 2019
Jean Francaix was a child prodigy, starting to compose music at age six, and accepted to the Paris Conservatoire soon thereafter. He finished with a first prize at age eighteen, in the meantime studying on the side with Nadia Boulanger, the teacher/guru of generations of composers, including Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. During his career Francaix wrote over 150 works in all genres, and was a skillful orchestrator of others’ works. Most of his music is gentle but urbane, with allusions to jazz and the music hall, often full of jokes – all presented with impeccable French elegance and craftsmanship. His trio for clarinet, viola and piano displays all these qualities in spades. –Angela Carlson 2019
Bruch - Eight Pieces for clarinet, viola and piano:
Bruch was born in Cologne [Germany], where his father was a police official and his mother a singer. He began composing at age 9 and at 14 won a contest in Frankfurt that enabled him to have four years of study with Hiller and Reinecke. He worked at Cologne, Mannheim and Koblenz, where he wrote a violin concerto that remains a staple of the repertory. He moved on to conducting posts in Berlin, Liverpool, and Breslau before settling in Berlin. He visited the United States in 1883. He composed a variety of works, including three operas, many songs and choral compositions, three symphonies and nine concerted works for violin and orchestra.
Bruch labored in the shadow of his towering contemporary Brahms, whom he admired and emulated. He rejected the Wagner-Liszt school, he emulated Mendelssohn and Schumann all his life, and his compositional style never really changed while Strauss, Mahler, Schönberg, Berg and Stravinsky were charging onto the scene.
Bruch wrote the ten pieces of Opus 83 for his son [named Felix after Mendelssohn], a clarinetist, and published them in 1910. He stated that he did not intend for them all to be played together. He loved writing for violin or viola which “can sing a melody better than a piano, and melody is the soul of music.” In these pieces the clarinet and viola share the thematic material with the piano providing harmonic support. Bruch had a wonderful gift for creating melody, and he loved to incorporate folk tunes – Scottish, Hebrew, Russian, Celtic, Rumanian and Swedish – into his compositions.
Near the end of his life he acknowledged that Brahms had been the greater composer, and prophesied that Brahms’ compositions would be played a century hence, whereas most of his own would be forgotten. –Craig Leman 2001
Bruch was born in Cologne [Germany], where his father was a police official and his mother a singer. He began composing at age 9 and at 14 won a contest in Frankfurt that enabled him to have four years of study with Hiller and Reinecke. He worked at Cologne, Mannheim and Koblenz, where he wrote a violin concerto that remains a staple of the repertory. He moved on to conducting posts in Berlin, Liverpool, and Breslau before settling in Berlin. He visited the United States in 1883. He composed a variety of works, including three operas, many songs and choral compositions, three symphonies and nine concerted works for violin and orchestra.
Bruch labored in the shadow of his towering contemporary Brahms, whom he admired and emulated. He rejected the Wagner-Liszt school, he emulated Mendelssohn and Schumann all his life, and his compositional style never really changed while Strauss, Mahler, Schönberg, Berg and Stravinsky were charging onto the scene.
Bruch wrote the ten pieces of Opus 83 for his son [named Felix after Mendelssohn], a clarinetist, and published them in 1910. He stated that he did not intend for them all to be played together. He loved writing for violin or viola which “can sing a melody better than a piano, and melody is the soul of music.” In these pieces the clarinet and viola share the thematic material with the piano providing harmonic support. Bruch had a wonderful gift for creating melody, and he loved to incorporate folk tunes – Scottish, Hebrew, Russian, Celtic, Rumanian and Swedish – into his compositions.
Near the end of his life he acknowledged that Brahms had been the greater composer, and prophesied that Brahms’ compositions would be played a century hence, whereas most of his own would be forgotten. –Craig Leman 2001
Diderot String Quartet
Beethoven - Op. 18 No. 1:
The six quartets of Opus 18 which comprise Beethoven’s early quartets were written in the years 1798-1800 and were published one year later. This is the same period in which he composed his first symphony and the “Pathetique” Sonata. Although published as No. 1, this quartet was actually the second one written. The basis of the first movement is a one bar motif, rather than a melodic theme which is first stated in unison. The second theme is, in contrast, a gentle melody. But the opening motif is the principal focus of the movement: developed to its utmost, it appears in yet a new form when the opening section returns, so that the entire movement gives an appearance of continuous development. The second movement is basically an accompanied melody its lyricism best described by Beethoven’s marking: affettuoso ed appassionato. The mood and tonality are securely established by the accompanying instruments; the first violin then presents the theme. The third and fourth movements follow traditional form. Although called a scherzo, the third movement most closely resembles a Haydn minuet; the fourth is a rondo with some thematic development. –Craig Leman, 1979
The six quartets of Opus 18 which comprise Beethoven’s early quartets were written in the years 1798-1800 and were published one year later. This is the same period in which he composed his first symphony and the “Pathetique” Sonata. Although published as No. 1, this quartet was actually the second one written. The basis of the first movement is a one bar motif, rather than a melodic theme which is first stated in unison. The second theme is, in contrast, a gentle melody. But the opening motif is the principal focus of the movement: developed to its utmost, it appears in yet a new form when the opening section returns, so that the entire movement gives an appearance of continuous development. The second movement is basically an accompanied melody its lyricism best described by Beethoven’s marking: affettuoso ed appassionato. The mood and tonality are securely established by the accompanying instruments; the first violin then presents the theme. The third and fourth movements follow traditional form. Although called a scherzo, the third movement most closely resembles a Haydn minuet; the fourth is a rondo with some thematic development. –Craig Leman, 1979
Haydn Op. 20 No. 2:
What a pity that music lovers cannot all be string players and recreate-rather than merely listen to-the extraordinary chamber music legacy of Haydn. His 80-odd string quartets spanned the years of his maturity from 1755 when he originated the form. As he grew older, Haydn constantly expanded and refined the string quartet into the complex polished structure that he bequeathed to Mozart, Beethoven and all who followed them. This quartet is his thirty-second, written in 1771 when Beethoven was a year old and Mozart fifteen. Shortly after starting his career as a boy soprano ion a choir in Vienna, Haydn studied Fux’s classic “Gradus ad Parnassum”, working out Fux’s exercises [in counterpoint] over and over in a workbook he was to keep all his life. A bold innovator, Haydn was not afraid to commit contrapuntal heresies: “I wrote what seemed good to me and corrected it afterwards according to the rules of harmony. I never used other artifices. A few times I took the liberty of offending not the ear but the usual rules of the textbooks, and at those places wrote the words: ‘con licenza.’…..” By 1771 Haydn was ready to go beyond his original device of a melody for the first violin with obligato for the lower parts. The introduction in the first movement of the C Major quartet has the cello announce the theme, while the Primo violin has six measures of rest. Four of the six quartets of Opus 20 end with a fugue of a quality to elicit from the great scholar Donald Tovey this accolade: “The counterpoint is of the highest and smoothest order, a fact all the more remarkable as Haydn is elsewhere anything but an academic writer, far less scrupulous about grammatical purity than Beethoven, to say nothing of the immaculate Mozart.” In deed Mozart and Beethoven wrote some fugues for their chamber works. –Craig Leman, 1980
What a pity that music lovers cannot all be string players and recreate-rather than merely listen to-the extraordinary chamber music legacy of Haydn. His 80-odd string quartets spanned the years of his maturity from 1755 when he originated the form. As he grew older, Haydn constantly expanded and refined the string quartet into the complex polished structure that he bequeathed to Mozart, Beethoven and all who followed them. This quartet is his thirty-second, written in 1771 when Beethoven was a year old and Mozart fifteen. Shortly after starting his career as a boy soprano ion a choir in Vienna, Haydn studied Fux’s classic “Gradus ad Parnassum”, working out Fux’s exercises [in counterpoint] over and over in a workbook he was to keep all his life. A bold innovator, Haydn was not afraid to commit contrapuntal heresies: “I wrote what seemed good to me and corrected it afterwards according to the rules of harmony. I never used other artifices. A few times I took the liberty of offending not the ear but the usual rules of the textbooks, and at those places wrote the words: ‘con licenza.’…..” By 1771 Haydn was ready to go beyond his original device of a melody for the first violin with obligato for the lower parts. The introduction in the first movement of the C Major quartet has the cello announce the theme, while the Primo violin has six measures of rest. Four of the six quartets of Opus 20 end with a fugue of a quality to elicit from the great scholar Donald Tovey this accolade: “The counterpoint is of the highest and smoothest order, a fact all the more remarkable as Haydn is elsewhere anything but an academic writer, far less scrupulous about grammatical purity than Beethoven, to say nothing of the immaculate Mozart.” In deed Mozart and Beethoven wrote some fugues for their chamber works. –Craig Leman, 1980
Beethoven Op. 59 No. 1:
This quartet was the product of a 35-year-old Beethoven at the zenith of his creative powers. Count Andrei Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, who played second violin in his own quartet, commissioned three string quartets from Beethoven, who used several themes from Russian folk songs to honor his patron. The ebullient, swinging, expansive opening theme returns in many guises throughout Beethoven’s ingenious development. Contrary to usual practice, each movement is in sonata form; the first is the longest and the broadest in range. The end of the movement is classic Beethoven: a tender questioning phrase, a transition, then a crashing resolution. The cello’s rhythmic repetition of B-flat introduces a second movement unique among string quartets. Again, Beethoven builds a monument of sonata structure on a skeletal framework of monotone-in Tovey’s words, “a vision of dry bones.” If the first movement is a superb exercise of melody, the second movement is an apotheosis of rhythm. The adagio is an introspective lament that matches the pathos of the slow movements of the late quartets of two decades later. After a complex development, Beethoven uses a long violin trill to lead us into the lively finale. The “theme russe” –long, discursive, and reminiscent of the great theme that introduced the first movement-was a Russian tune in a book of folk songs that Beethoven owned and annotated in his own hand. Although many commentators have caviled that the finale is on a slightly less exalted plane the rest of the quartet, others find the complex, brilliant development of this theme a powerful, dramatic and wholly satisfying conclusion to the work. Beethoven’s innovations were too much for some of his contemporaries. The cellist in Razumovsky’s Quartet found his part so complicated that he gave up, threw it on the floor and declared it unplayable. We do not know just how Count Razumovsky resolved this little labor dispute. That was one hundred eighty years ago. The work was a landmark, even for Beethoven. –Craig Leman, 1987
This quartet was the product of a 35-year-old Beethoven at the zenith of his creative powers. Count Andrei Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, who played second violin in his own quartet, commissioned three string quartets from Beethoven, who used several themes from Russian folk songs to honor his patron. The ebullient, swinging, expansive opening theme returns in many guises throughout Beethoven’s ingenious development. Contrary to usual practice, each movement is in sonata form; the first is the longest and the broadest in range. The end of the movement is classic Beethoven: a tender questioning phrase, a transition, then a crashing resolution. The cello’s rhythmic repetition of B-flat introduces a second movement unique among string quartets. Again, Beethoven builds a monument of sonata structure on a skeletal framework of monotone-in Tovey’s words, “a vision of dry bones.” If the first movement is a superb exercise of melody, the second movement is an apotheosis of rhythm. The adagio is an introspective lament that matches the pathos of the slow movements of the late quartets of two decades later. After a complex development, Beethoven uses a long violin trill to lead us into the lively finale. The “theme russe” –long, discursive, and reminiscent of the great theme that introduced the first movement-was a Russian tune in a book of folk songs that Beethoven owned and annotated in his own hand. Although many commentators have caviled that the finale is on a slightly less exalted plane the rest of the quartet, others find the complex, brilliant development of this theme a powerful, dramatic and wholly satisfying conclusion to the work. Beethoven’s innovations were too much for some of his contemporaries. The cellist in Razumovsky’s Quartet found his part so complicated that he gave up, threw it on the floor and declared it unplayable. We do not know just how Count Razumovsky resolved this little labor dispute. That was one hundred eighty years ago. The work was a landmark, even for Beethoven. –Craig Leman, 1987