Spring Love and Butterflies - April 30, 2022
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, “Haffner”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No.35 did not start life as a symphony. Its history gives us an insight into the practice of musical recycling. Some of the most illustrious composers were well known self-borrowers, with Bach and Handel, weighed down with musical and extra-musical obligations, among the most frequent practitioners of the art. Mozart, with his facility for generating and developing original ideas, seldom indulged in this kind of shortcut, so that the back stories for each recycled piece are noteworthy.
Since his childhood, Mozart had been a cultural ambassador throughout Europe of his native Salzburg, but by his early teens, he and his father Leopold were openly job hunting in search of a more prestigious court. In 1771, however, after his triumphant return from his various travels, Mozart was hired by the new Archbishop, Hieronymus, Count Colloredo, beginning a running war between the two that lasted nearly a decade. Colloredo valued the exceptional talents of the Mozarts - both father and son - but was domineering and controlling. Wolfgang bridled under Colloredo's rigid rule, escaping Salzburg whenever he could to tour Europe, openly - but unsuccessfully - seeking a better job.
In 1776 Mozart received a commission from the family of Salzburg's former mayor, Sigmund Haffner, for a large serenade to be played at his daughter's wedding (known today as the Haffner Serenade, K. 250). The family was pleased, and in the summer of 1782, a year after Mozart finally moved to Vienna to seek his fortune as a free-lance musician, commissioned a similar work to celebrate Haffner's elevation to the aristocracy. Busy with his own wedding and the staging of his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart dragged his feet but finally - after his father's constant nagging - sent the Haffners a new work.
Half a year later, while planning for a series of subscription concerts (Akademien) in Vienna, Mozart asked his father to return the manuscript. He then proceeded to remove the opening and closing marches and the repeat of the first movement's exposition, rewrote the minuet, and added flutes and clarinets to the outer movements, to end up with his Symphony No. 35. Destined to become a perennial favorite, the Symphony was likewise a great success at the sold-out concert of its premiere; even the Emperor applauded heartily, giving the young composer a gift of 25 ducats - although ever in a financial pinch, Mozart had hoped for more.
One of the attractions of this symphony is its sheer beauty of melody and lucidity of construction. The opening movement dispenses with the customary slow introduction,
launching right into a "statement-response" theme, at first part brash and angular, the second part subdued.
The famous "Haffner"
theme
reappears in ingenious
transformations, sometimes as a melodic variation (here in inversion),
at others as a one fragment in the melody with another as an accompaniment figure.
It dominates the entire movement despite the brief appearance of the contrasting second
theme
and a closing
theme
for the exposition (and, therefore, the movement).
The Andante is in the typical ternary (ABA) form that reigned for slow movements - although with variations - from the Baroque concerto through the nineteenth century. Mozart
creates a particularly long, multi-sectioned theme, including a modulation that provides dynamism and variety to the movement.
Even though Mozart provides an only mildly contrasting middle section, returning to the repeat with no variation, the melodic grace and complexity of the theme does not call for an ornamented repeat.
One of the distinctions between Mozart and Haydn has been that the former nearly always wrote elegant, courtly minuets, while the latter made his sound like a country dance. In the
Symphony No. 35, however, Mozart musters the full orchestra for a heavy Minuet.
The juxtaposition of ponderous orchestration with a contrasting lighter one recalls his use
of the same device in treating the theme in the first movement. The Trio, for strings alone, is more graceful.
In the brief Finale, a hybrid rondo-sonata form complete with two contrasting themes,
Mozart pulls a few surprises with some asymmetrical phrasing, unusual key
modulations and a coda that takes off sounding as if it might be a new development. With the exception of the Andante, the Symphony capitalizes on contrasting dynamics, which, with
its Haydnesque Minuet suggests the influence of the older composer, whom Mozart greatly admired.
Gang Chen & Zhanhao He
The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
There are few collaborative works in the Western classical repertory. But then, given the date of composition of The Butterfly Lovers, during the first idealistic decade of the Cultural Revolution, such an effort is hardly surprising. While a student at the Conservatory, Zhanhao He joined with several classmates to form a violin experimental group, attempting to adapt western classical principles and techniques to Chinese folk melodies. The Butterfly Lovers, written together with his fellow student Gang Chen in 1959, emerged as a product of the group's musical experiments.
Born in Shanghai and a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Gang Chen is currently a professor at his alma mater. He has composed in most Western musical genres, but has made extensive use of pentatonic scales. He has also composed a number of film scores.
A native of Zhuji in Zhejiang province, Zhanhao He played in a traditional opera troupe, where he learned to imitate the erhu technique on the violin. (The erhu, or nanhu, sometimes known in the West as the "Chinese violin" or "Chinese two-string fiddle," has two strings that are bowed. Used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras, it is the most popular instrument in the huqin family of Chinese bowed string instruments.) Zhanhao graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory in 1964 and continued to teach in its composition department. His music covers a wide range of historical and traditional styles from both Chinese and Western sources, and has continued to combine Western and Chinese instruments.
The single-movement programmatic work is based on a popular Chinese legend first recorded in the ninth century and often called the Chinese Romeo and Juliet story:
A young woman named Zhu Yingtai disguises herself as a man traveling to Hangzhou to study. During her journey, she meets Liang Shanbo, a schoolmate from the same province. They study together for three years, during which their relationship strengthens. When the two part, Zhu offers to arrange for Liang to marry her “fictitious” 16-year-old sister. When Liang travels to Zhu's home, he discovers her true gender. Although they are devoted and passionate about each other, Zhu's parents have already arranged for her to marry someone else. Depressed, Liang dies in office as a county magistrate. On Zhu's wedding day, whirlwinds prevent the wedding procession from escorting Zhu beyond Liang's tomb. When Zhu leaves the procession to pay her respects at Liang's tomb, it splits apart, and Zhu jumps into it to join him. A pair of butterflies emerges from the tomb and fly away.Over the years, the story has given rise to a number of operas, films, animated films and a musical.
A brief introduction on the flute and oboe introduces the "butterfly"
theme
The solo violin enters with the “love” theme that pervades the entire Concerto.
Although written in one continuous movement, the Concerto has large three sections (corresponding to the typical Western structure), which correspond to the most important
episodes of the story. The composers then break them up into smaller subsections to portray each incident: the love between Zhu and Liang, a dancing
Allegro
portraying the
"friends" carefree school days.
A slow section signals the revelation of Zhu's real identity, a variation of the love theme;
the betrothal; Liang's despair
the wedding procession;
Zhu's grief; the Whirlwind,
and the lovers' metamorphosis, which repeats the "butterfly" theme and continues with a greatly
expanded presentation of the "love theme". The themes derive from Chinese opera and traditional folk melodies. The violin frequently recalls erhu techniques.
John Williams
"The Chairman's Waltz"
From Memories of a Geisha Suite
In the 1930s and 40s the major Hollywood studios hired established classical composers - many of them refugees from Nazi Germany - who went on to develop a language of cinematic music that was as important a factor in controlling viewers' emotional responses as the acting and cinematography itself. Some of the best-known names are Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Kurt Weill, Miklós Rózsa and Marvin Hamlisch.
John Williams is heir to this tradition; since the 1960s he has expanded and deepened that language to become the most important film composer of all time. The industry's premier directors, especially George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg, have sought him as a partner, and their combined efforts have garnered armloads of awards, with Williams himself receiving as of this date five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and 21 Grammys. He holds the record for the Oscar nominations.
Williams wrote the music for the 2005 film Memories of a Geisha, the story of a young girl sold by her impoverished parents to a geisha house to help support the family. It garnered a Golden Globe award. Williams recruited Yo-Yo Ma to perform the cello solos, and in 2008 arranged a six-movement suite for cello and orchestra of themes from the film. The suite was premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony in August of that year. The third movement is "The Chairman's Waltz"
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
motive
During his long career, Aaron Copland composed in many diverse styles. Among his output were scores for films (The Red Pony, Our Town, The Heiress), works incorporating jazz (Piano Concerto, Music for the Theater) and the 12-tone technique (Piano Quartet, Piano Fantasy). But in the mid-1930s he began to feel "an increasing dissatisfaction with the relation of the music-loving public and the living composer." In order to reach a wider audience he started simplifying his style and making it more accessible, but without sacrificing sound artistic values. The first work in this more popular vein was El Salón Mexico, finished in 1936. This was followed by the works for which he is best known today: his three American ballets Billy the Kid, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring.
Copland composed the original ballet Appalachian Spring in 1944 for the great pioneer of modern dance, Martha Graham, to be performed at an evening of modern ballet at the Library of Congress (Other ballets on the program were by Paul Hindemith and Darius Milhaud.) Copland originally called it "Ballet for Martha", but Graham gave it its final title after a poem by Hart Crane - although the ballet bears no relation to the text of the poem. The size limitations of the stage at the Library dictated a small ensemble; consequently, the original version was scored for thirteen instruments only (flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano and strings). Soon after the successful premiere, however, Copland extracted a somewhat shortened suite for full orchestra from the ballet, which is the version most frequently heard today.
In the preface to the score of the Suite, Copland summarized the story of the ballet using the words of the New York Herald Tribune review by Eric Denby, written after the New York premiere: "...A pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania hills in the early part of the last century. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their new domestic partnership invites... A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house."
The sections of the Suite merge into each other without pause, but reflect distinctly different moods. The haunting but peaceful opening
gives way suddenly to an outburst of excitement comprising several different musical motives, demonstrating the open octaves and fifths that became the trademark of Copland's style:
The dance of the bride and groom, based on the opening clarinet theme;
the preacher's dance;
and a dance for the bride alone.
After building up to a frenzied climax, a solo clarinet interrupts plaintively with the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts."
Copland uses the song as the
theme
for the set of variations, which themselves increase in intensity as more and more instruments are added to each new variation.
And then, with another sudden shift in mood, we are transported back to the quiet introduction, and the Suite ends as it began.
"Simple Gifts" was composed by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr., in 1848 for dancing during Shaker worship. Copland's five variations never veer far from the original melody which he found in a 1940 collection of Shaker songs compiled by Edward D. Andrews. While the tune was certainly perfect for Graham's choreography, it didn't exactly fit the story line, as the Shakers themselves were dedicated to a life of celibacy.
Johann Strauss II
An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube)
The Austro-Hungarian Empire never really recovered from the devastation of the Napoleonic wars. All through the nineteenth century it fought a rearguard action to maintain its integrity against nationalist movements from within and encroachment by its neighbors from without. Then, in 1866, the Austro-Prussian war settled who was the dominant power in the German-speaking countries. Austria lost resoundingly and never again would have a major say in German affairs.
But in Vienna, the capital, one would have seen little of that instability and disintegration. For those at the Habsburg court, the well to do and the upper class of civil service, it was a time of glitter and joie de vivre, ostensibly the most brilliant and prosperous period of the monarchy. Opulent parties, balls and dancing were all the rage while the empire disintegrated.
Johann Strauss II, by far the best known of nineteenth century Vienna's composers of dance music, was adored by high society who fondly named him the Waltz King. He was by nature shy, self-effacing and insecure, far removed in nature from the light-heartedness and exuberance expressed in his music. He was a close friend of Brahms, who always tried to convince him that posterity would remember his music, but to no avail. Brahms, however, got it right.
An der schönen, blauen Donau, known here as the “The Blue Danube Waltz,” was composed in 1867, and became Vienna's consolation prize for the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the hands of Prussia the year before. Strauss originally composed it for a celebration of the Viennese Men's Choral Society, but when it premiered in Vienna the response was only lukewarm. It was the orchestral version that became a best seller, selling millions of copies in Johann Strauss´s lifetime. Later generations have also been fascinated by the melancholy grace of this unintentional “requiem” for the Austrian monarchy. When a music lover once asked Brahms for an autograph, the composer wrote down the first two bars of the waltz and signed "Leider nicht von Brahms" (Regrettably not by Brahms).
The Viennese waltz was basically an
ABA
form with the A section consisting of a single
theme
and the B section including an arbitrary number of sections of new music. each
one repeated. The effect was of constantly changing music and a resulting forward momentum. To give further shape to the work, any of the subsidiary sections could be repeated.
The Blue Danube opens with a slow introduction, typical for Strauss' major waltz number, in this case, revealing the principal theme.
After the main theme, there follow eight sections of new music, one of them
repeated at the end of the series and leading back to the famous theme and a coda.
