Program Notes for CENTRAL EUROPE
Front Range Chamber Players, March 21, 2017
Flute Quartet No. 3 in C Major (K285b) by W. A. Mozart
Allegro
Andantino: Tema con variazioni
At the age of twenty-one, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had already created masterpieces. He was brimming with creative ideas, yet had long been frustrated in his inability to escape from what he regarded as the musical prison of his native Salzburg. Finding permanent employment in one of Europe’s musical capitals, such as Munich or Paris or Vienna had become the goal of his life. In the autumn of 1777, he set out from Salzburg to pursue that goal, accompanied by his mother. On October 27, they reached the city of Mannheim, which then boasted one of the finest orchestras of the day and also a thriving chamber music establishment under the patronage of the Elector Karl Theodor. Wolfgang’s hopes were dashed, however, when the Prince Elector made it clear to the young composer that there were no appointments available for him. Since travel was expensive and winter was approaching, the Mozarts decided to remain in Mannheim for a few months. Wolfgang scraped together a living by teaching and playing, and thoroughly enjoyed an active life with the musicians of the city. Through his new friendship with the flautist J.B. Wendling, he met the wealthy Ferdinand De Jean, a surgeon with the Dutch East India Company and an amateur flautist. Mozart wrote to his father, “An Indian commissioned three short simple concertos and a couple of quartets for the flute,” for which he was to receive two hundred gulden.
But somehow the impetus was lost. After completing the Flute Quartet in D Major, K. 285, on December 25, Mozart procrastinated. Instead of fulfilling his patron’s command (and finally gaining some cash), the young composer’s interests were diverted, possibly by the presence of Aloysia Weber, the elder sister of his future wife, Constanze. He explained in a subsequent letter to his father Leopold that he became “quite powerless” when he was “obliged to write for an instrument which [he] cannot bear.’’ (This statement does not stand up, since it belies the clear idiomatic understanding he had for the flute – witness the two great flute concerti, the chamber and orchestral music, and the central role of the instrument in his last opera). In any event, he finally produced two smaller flute quartets, in G major and C major, dating from around February 14, 1788, but too late to collect his full payment.
Long-standing doubts about the authenticity of the first movement of the C major quartet, which is presented tonight, have been largely dispelled by the recent discovery of a sketch of part of it in Mozart’s own handwriting. The second movement, a set of six variations, is virtually identical in its ideas and form to the sixth movement of Mozart’s brilliant “Gran’ Partita” Wind Serenade, K. 361.
While the cheerful first movement is quite conventional in its clear binary (two-part) formal structures, its melodies show Mozart’s true affinity for this instrument. The lyric opening tune has a soaring octave leap into the upper range. It has a “freeing” effect that enhances its simple chordal design. The answering phrase is more rhythmically active and in step-wise motion. After a repeat, there is a modulation to the dominant key of G. The flute sings another soaring high note, extending over the bar line, and relieved this time by staccato chordal descent, and then repeated sequentially. The closing phrases of this section contrast increasingly ornamented and rhythmic motives with high, floated answers.
The movement proceeds with a repeat of the entire first section, then a contrasting and balancing middle section offering lively counterpoint, modulations to more distant keys, some “surprise” chords, and more equality in the use of all instruments. The opening section is repeated again, with some harmonic adjustments and new connective ideas.
The graceful theme for the second movement’s set of variations is based once again on chordal motives. The delicate opening phrase has a prominent octave leap for the solo flute, followed by a high contrasting phrase of descending eighth-notes, and leading to a close in the dominant key of G. The “answering” B section begins in step-wise motion for solo flute, then a duet, then phrases featuring a soaring chordal pattern and an extremely graceful dotted figure for the solo flute, all ideally suited to variation treatment.
In Variation I the flute moves in staccato triplets throughout the first section, then in the B section shares the triplet motion with the violin, filling in the longer notes with persistent activity. The cello also prominently appears, closing the variation in nimble imitation of the flute.
The flute assumes less prominence in Variations II and III. In Variation II the violin and cello take the lead in that order in the first part, and the viola in the second, and the motion is increasingly contrapuntal. In Variation III the cello is dominant throughout, with a “walking” chordal treatment that extends through the instrument’s entire range. The viola contributes new and interesting melodic ideas, and the cello also makes inventive melodic departures.
In Variation IV a “sighing” motif is maintained by the flute, which, along with the change to minor mode, lends a very effective pleading atmosphere to the music. This expression is particularly poignant in the last half of this movement, while the violin and viola continue to outline chords in running sixteenth-note passages.
Variation V is an Adagio, in which the violin and viola create a murmuring sixteenth-note background, moving in thirds, as the flute spins out longer obbligato notes with expressive dissonances. In the B section, an arresting throbbing dominant note in the strings creates mystery and expectation, enhanced by sudden sforzandos. Soft murmuring again supports the sweetness of longer flute notes and a particularly beautiful extended variant, filled with heartfelt dissonances. The final passages of this variation create the emotional climax of the entire work.
Variation VI switches to 3/4 time and, with a sprightly tempo, becomes something close to a jovial Laendler dance. In the first half, the flute’s staccato eighth notes follow the familiar melodic patterns, accompanied by the cello in sharp pizzicato chords. The second (B) portion extends this pizzicato lightness and the flute romps to a joyful close.
by Robert Molison
Trio for Flute, Violin, and Viola by Endre Szervánsky
Allegro Moderato
Allegro, alla Marcia
Adagio, molto rubato
Vivace
Szervánsky was an influential figure in post-war Hungary. As a musician he studied clarinet and composition in Budapest, where he eventually became a professor of composition at the Budapest Academy. His works of his earlier years were influenced by the far-reaching ethno-musicological studies of Bártók and Kodály, opening a collection of previously unknown Hungarian folk music. Szervánsky’s first well-known work was his String Quartet No. 1 of 1938, followed by many vocal, orchestral and chamber works (the ensemble works primarily involved strings and/or woodwinds).
The Trio performed here was written in 1951, near the time of his Clarinet Serenade and Flute Concerto. Subsequently he became increasingly interested in serial techniques. Something of a rebel, he produced the first 12-tone work by a Hungarian composer. This was contrary to the wishes of the Soviet leadership in his country (culminating in the repression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising) and his “modern” works were banned by the authorities. (By this time the Stalinist policies applied throughout the entire Soviet East-bloc.) He had been very vocal against the “foreign intruders,” and that also may have contributed to the ban. In any case, he withdrew from active composition until 1963 (with a few exceptions) but remained a notably active political figure. Earlier, during World War II, he had been involved with saving the lives of Jewish people, though not Jewish himself. His work for that cause resulted in the posthumous award “Righteous Among Nations” in 1998, added to the Righteous Honor Wall in the state of Israel. When he had resumed composing in 1963, he produced an oratorio “Requiem – Dark Heaven” using the concentration camp of Auschwitz as its theme.
The Trio of this program falls during his intermediate years. The Hungarian folk melodies are there, accompanied by considerable wit and good cheer, no traces of the Schoenberg influence to follow. The four movements are fairly brief and display well the demands of each of the three instruments. by Roberta Mielke
String Quartet No. 1 in B♭Major by Johannes Brahms
Allegro ma non troppo
Andante, ma moderato
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
The composer and pianist Johannes Brahms was 27 years old when he completed the first of his two sextets for two violins, two violas, and two cellos. At the time, this was an unusual combination of instruments and an interesting choice for a young composer whose career was far from established. Yet it was a successful choice, as the First Sextet was one of the few works of Brahms that was widely accepted and appreciated by audiences at its premiere.
In the mid-19th century, new compositions by German and Austrian composers were inevitably and often unfavorably compared to those of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Brahms had received a glowing public endorsement from composer, critic, and pianist Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Even so, Beethoven’s string quartets and symphonies had set very high standards, and Brahms knew that before publishing any of his own he needed to hone his craft in other genres. Beethoven wrote no string sextets, so that was a greener field for Brahms.
Brahms also recognized that the instrumentation of the First Sextet could provide deeper sonorities and fuller chords than would be possible with a string quartet. This is evident from the beginning of the work, where the sound of violas and cellos together is lusciously thick. He creates a very different sound in the last movement by grouping the instruments as two trios that bat melodic fragments back and forth. Brahms makes good use of the abundant opportunities for imitation and counterpoint among the six instruments.
The First Sextet illustrates Brahms’s masterful combination of Classical forms and Romantic style. The four movements are in sonata, variations, scherzo, and rondo forms respectively, all as established by Beethoven and earlier composers. Into these molds, Brahms pours his own expressive melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic musical language.
The opening movement, the longest of the four, has a waltz-like meter and flowing melodies reminiscent of the style of Franz Schubert (1797-1828). The style is much more dramatic than a waltz, of course. Brahms heightens the drama by using phrases of irregular length and agitated accompaniment figures. Five separate musical themes, each with a distinctive character, are set forth in the exposition. Note the pizzicato (plucking) at the end of the exposition and again at the end of the movement, thinning out the texture and granting a bit of respite from the turbulence.
The second movement consists of a single theme and six variations. Brahms, like Beethoven, was a great master of the variation form. Here the first viola intones a somber, rather Hungarian-sounding theme, whose accentuations are enhanced by the homophonic accompaniment in the other low instruments. The variations interpret the theme in very different ways: (1) a cello embellishment of the theme in arpeggios; (2) rugged triplets and sweet melody led by the violins; (3) cello scales swelling like ocean waves in a storm; (4) dignified anthem for all six instruments; (5) music-box variation with melody in the first viola; and (6) a darker retelling of the opening theme, ending in an ambiguous D minor resolving to D major.
The succinct third movement recalls the humor of scherzos by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Pizzicatos in the accompaniment add to the spirited folk-music mood. At the same time, Brahms interweaves the six instrumental lines in a sophisticated and ever-changing manner. The Trio (middle section) surprises the ear with its increased vigor and modulations to the remote key of D flat major.
The final movement’s graceful themes are repeated several times with contrasting sections in between. The contrasting sections are more substantial than in a typical rondo, resembling short variations or development sections. Passages in the higher registers of the first violin and first viola add brilliance and a lovely contrast to the lower tones that dominated the first two movements. by Charles Tucker
Program notes draw on open-access web resources.
Allegro
Andantino: Tema con variazioni
At the age of twenty-one, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had already created masterpieces. He was brimming with creative ideas, yet had long been frustrated in his inability to escape from what he regarded as the musical prison of his native Salzburg. Finding permanent employment in one of Europe’s musical capitals, such as Munich or Paris or Vienna had become the goal of his life. In the autumn of 1777, he set out from Salzburg to pursue that goal, accompanied by his mother. On October 27, they reached the city of Mannheim, which then boasted one of the finest orchestras of the day and also a thriving chamber music establishment under the patronage of the Elector Karl Theodor. Wolfgang’s hopes were dashed, however, when the Prince Elector made it clear to the young composer that there were no appointments available for him. Since travel was expensive and winter was approaching, the Mozarts decided to remain in Mannheim for a few months. Wolfgang scraped together a living by teaching and playing, and thoroughly enjoyed an active life with the musicians of the city. Through his new friendship with the flautist J.B. Wendling, he met the wealthy Ferdinand De Jean, a surgeon with the Dutch East India Company and an amateur flautist. Mozart wrote to his father, “An Indian commissioned three short simple concertos and a couple of quartets for the flute,” for which he was to receive two hundred gulden.
But somehow the impetus was lost. After completing the Flute Quartet in D Major, K. 285, on December 25, Mozart procrastinated. Instead of fulfilling his patron’s command (and finally gaining some cash), the young composer’s interests were diverted, possibly by the presence of Aloysia Weber, the elder sister of his future wife, Constanze. He explained in a subsequent letter to his father Leopold that he became “quite powerless” when he was “obliged to write for an instrument which [he] cannot bear.’’ (This statement does not stand up, since it belies the clear idiomatic understanding he had for the flute – witness the two great flute concerti, the chamber and orchestral music, and the central role of the instrument in his last opera). In any event, he finally produced two smaller flute quartets, in G major and C major, dating from around February 14, 1788, but too late to collect his full payment.
Long-standing doubts about the authenticity of the first movement of the C major quartet, which is presented tonight, have been largely dispelled by the recent discovery of a sketch of part of it in Mozart’s own handwriting. The second movement, a set of six variations, is virtually identical in its ideas and form to the sixth movement of Mozart’s brilliant “Gran’ Partita” Wind Serenade, K. 361.
While the cheerful first movement is quite conventional in its clear binary (two-part) formal structures, its melodies show Mozart’s true affinity for this instrument. The lyric opening tune has a soaring octave leap into the upper range. It has a “freeing” effect that enhances its simple chordal design. The answering phrase is more rhythmically active and in step-wise motion. After a repeat, there is a modulation to the dominant key of G. The flute sings another soaring high note, extending over the bar line, and relieved this time by staccato chordal descent, and then repeated sequentially. The closing phrases of this section contrast increasingly ornamented and rhythmic motives with high, floated answers.
The movement proceeds with a repeat of the entire first section, then a contrasting and balancing middle section offering lively counterpoint, modulations to more distant keys, some “surprise” chords, and more equality in the use of all instruments. The opening section is repeated again, with some harmonic adjustments and new connective ideas.
The graceful theme for the second movement’s set of variations is based once again on chordal motives. The delicate opening phrase has a prominent octave leap for the solo flute, followed by a high contrasting phrase of descending eighth-notes, and leading to a close in the dominant key of G. The “answering” B section begins in step-wise motion for solo flute, then a duet, then phrases featuring a soaring chordal pattern and an extremely graceful dotted figure for the solo flute, all ideally suited to variation treatment.
In Variation I the flute moves in staccato triplets throughout the first section, then in the B section shares the triplet motion with the violin, filling in the longer notes with persistent activity. The cello also prominently appears, closing the variation in nimble imitation of the flute.
The flute assumes less prominence in Variations II and III. In Variation II the violin and cello take the lead in that order in the first part, and the viola in the second, and the motion is increasingly contrapuntal. In Variation III the cello is dominant throughout, with a “walking” chordal treatment that extends through the instrument’s entire range. The viola contributes new and interesting melodic ideas, and the cello also makes inventive melodic departures.
In Variation IV a “sighing” motif is maintained by the flute, which, along with the change to minor mode, lends a very effective pleading atmosphere to the music. This expression is particularly poignant in the last half of this movement, while the violin and viola continue to outline chords in running sixteenth-note passages.
Variation V is an Adagio, in which the violin and viola create a murmuring sixteenth-note background, moving in thirds, as the flute spins out longer obbligato notes with expressive dissonances. In the B section, an arresting throbbing dominant note in the strings creates mystery and expectation, enhanced by sudden sforzandos. Soft murmuring again supports the sweetness of longer flute notes and a particularly beautiful extended variant, filled with heartfelt dissonances. The final passages of this variation create the emotional climax of the entire work.
Variation VI switches to 3/4 time and, with a sprightly tempo, becomes something close to a jovial Laendler dance. In the first half, the flute’s staccato eighth notes follow the familiar melodic patterns, accompanied by the cello in sharp pizzicato chords. The second (B) portion extends this pizzicato lightness and the flute romps to a joyful close.
by Robert Molison
Trio for Flute, Violin, and Viola by Endre Szervánsky
Allegro Moderato
Allegro, alla Marcia
Adagio, molto rubato
Vivace
Szervánsky was an influential figure in post-war Hungary. As a musician he studied clarinet and composition in Budapest, where he eventually became a professor of composition at the Budapest Academy. His works of his earlier years were influenced by the far-reaching ethno-musicological studies of Bártók and Kodály, opening a collection of previously unknown Hungarian folk music. Szervánsky’s first well-known work was his String Quartet No. 1 of 1938, followed by many vocal, orchestral and chamber works (the ensemble works primarily involved strings and/or woodwinds).
The Trio performed here was written in 1951, near the time of his Clarinet Serenade and Flute Concerto. Subsequently he became increasingly interested in serial techniques. Something of a rebel, he produced the first 12-tone work by a Hungarian composer. This was contrary to the wishes of the Soviet leadership in his country (culminating in the repression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising) and his “modern” works were banned by the authorities. (By this time the Stalinist policies applied throughout the entire Soviet East-bloc.) He had been very vocal against the “foreign intruders,” and that also may have contributed to the ban. In any case, he withdrew from active composition until 1963 (with a few exceptions) but remained a notably active political figure. Earlier, during World War II, he had been involved with saving the lives of Jewish people, though not Jewish himself. His work for that cause resulted in the posthumous award “Righteous Among Nations” in 1998, added to the Righteous Honor Wall in the state of Israel. When he had resumed composing in 1963, he produced an oratorio “Requiem – Dark Heaven” using the concentration camp of Auschwitz as its theme.
The Trio of this program falls during his intermediate years. The Hungarian folk melodies are there, accompanied by considerable wit and good cheer, no traces of the Schoenberg influence to follow. The four movements are fairly brief and display well the demands of each of the three instruments. by Roberta Mielke
String Quartet No. 1 in B♭Major by Johannes Brahms
Allegro ma non troppo
Andante, ma moderato
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
The composer and pianist Johannes Brahms was 27 years old when he completed the first of his two sextets for two violins, two violas, and two cellos. At the time, this was an unusual combination of instruments and an interesting choice for a young composer whose career was far from established. Yet it was a successful choice, as the First Sextet was one of the few works of Brahms that was widely accepted and appreciated by audiences at its premiere.
In the mid-19th century, new compositions by German and Austrian composers were inevitably and often unfavorably compared to those of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Brahms had received a glowing public endorsement from composer, critic, and pianist Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Even so, Beethoven’s string quartets and symphonies had set very high standards, and Brahms knew that before publishing any of his own he needed to hone his craft in other genres. Beethoven wrote no string sextets, so that was a greener field for Brahms.
Brahms also recognized that the instrumentation of the First Sextet could provide deeper sonorities and fuller chords than would be possible with a string quartet. This is evident from the beginning of the work, where the sound of violas and cellos together is lusciously thick. He creates a very different sound in the last movement by grouping the instruments as two trios that bat melodic fragments back and forth. Brahms makes good use of the abundant opportunities for imitation and counterpoint among the six instruments.
The First Sextet illustrates Brahms’s masterful combination of Classical forms and Romantic style. The four movements are in sonata, variations, scherzo, and rondo forms respectively, all as established by Beethoven and earlier composers. Into these molds, Brahms pours his own expressive melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic musical language.
The opening movement, the longest of the four, has a waltz-like meter and flowing melodies reminiscent of the style of Franz Schubert (1797-1828). The style is much more dramatic than a waltz, of course. Brahms heightens the drama by using phrases of irregular length and agitated accompaniment figures. Five separate musical themes, each with a distinctive character, are set forth in the exposition. Note the pizzicato (plucking) at the end of the exposition and again at the end of the movement, thinning out the texture and granting a bit of respite from the turbulence.
The second movement consists of a single theme and six variations. Brahms, like Beethoven, was a great master of the variation form. Here the first viola intones a somber, rather Hungarian-sounding theme, whose accentuations are enhanced by the homophonic accompaniment in the other low instruments. The variations interpret the theme in very different ways: (1) a cello embellishment of the theme in arpeggios; (2) rugged triplets and sweet melody led by the violins; (3) cello scales swelling like ocean waves in a storm; (4) dignified anthem for all six instruments; (5) music-box variation with melody in the first viola; and (6) a darker retelling of the opening theme, ending in an ambiguous D minor resolving to D major.
The succinct third movement recalls the humor of scherzos by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Pizzicatos in the accompaniment add to the spirited folk-music mood. At the same time, Brahms interweaves the six instrumental lines in a sophisticated and ever-changing manner. The Trio (middle section) surprises the ear with its increased vigor and modulations to the remote key of D flat major.
The final movement’s graceful themes are repeated several times with contrasting sections in between. The contrasting sections are more substantial than in a typical rondo, resembling short variations or development sections. Passages in the higher registers of the first violin and first viola add brilliance and a lovely contrast to the lower tones that dominated the first two movements. by Charles Tucker
Program notes draw on open-access web resources.
