Program Notes for May 11, 2024
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
Johannes Brahms
Composer: Born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany; Died April 3, 1897, in Vienna, Austria
Work composed: 1878
First performance: January 1, 1879, in Leipzig, Germany by Joseph Joachim, the composer conducting
Instrumentation: solo violin, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings
Estimated duration: 42 minutes
Most recent RSO performance: April 7, 2018, with Joshua Brown, Steven Larsen conducting
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Adagio
III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo
Painting of Joachim by John Singer Sargent (1904).
Johannes Brahms was known as one of the most important German composers of the later nineteenth century. His works in some ways continue on the path of his great predecessors, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schumann; in other ways, they look forward to the future. He wrote compositions in almost all genres including solo piano works, chamber music, art songs, choral works, symphonic works, and concertos for piano, violin, and violin and cello.
The great violin soloist Joseph Joachim (1831 – 1907), collaborated with Brahms in a number of projects from their first meeting in 1853 until Brahms's death in 1897, the most notable being the Violin Concerto of 1878. Brahms relied heavily on Joachim's advice on the solo part as Joachim was the most famous of all violinists in Europe and a personal friend. The work is dedicated to Joachim.
The late 1870s was one of the most fertile times for Brahms as many of his famous works were written around this time: the First Symphony (1876), the Second Symphony (1877), the Violin Concerto, and finally, the pair of overtures from 1880 — the Academic Festival Overture and the Tragic Overture.
The Violin Concerto is in the standard three movement form of fast, slow, fast, typical of concerti since the time of Mozart and there have been many comparisons to Beethoven's Violin Concerto from 1806. Both works are more symphonic studies with substantial violin solos, their weight as compositions rest in their complete balance of soloist and orchestra. Both have lengthy orchestral introductions before the soloist enters; both have beautiful Romances sharing the melodic content with the woodwinds; and both end with brilliant dance-like movements.
The Brahms concerto ends with references to Hungarian dance music that inspired Brahms throughout his career. Brahms and Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi frequently performed Hungarian folk tunes in recital in the early 1850s and later written out as Brahms's Hungarian Dances in 1869 and 1880. Obviously, these Hungarian-inspired melodies found their way into the finale of the concerto.
The concerto, even though note as flashy as others from the nineteenth century, is still a wonderful showcase for the violinist. It is no less virtuosic than the other great violin concertos of the nineteenth century (Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn, etc.), Brahms just integrates the violin soloist into the orchestral texture and the melodies are more developed by both entities. There are still cadenzas of musical and virtuosic intensity that only Brahms (with Joachim's help) could write, and the work is a benchmark that all soloists measure themselves against.
It should be mentioned that it was not universally accepted or liked by the audience or the critics after its premiere; one critic thought it was void of any melodic content and the only "real" melody in the work was given to the oboe in the opening of the second movement!
It should be mentioned that as Brahms's popularity increased at this time, he became the target of many pro-Wagner musicians, composers, and critics. Vienna was deeply divided at this time between those favoring the appearance of "progressive" works by the Wagner school versus the "conservative" school of Brahms. Brahms always reacted to these barbs in a very dismissive and derogatory way. What is sad is that Brahms personally admired the works of Wagner, it was Wagner that had the problem with the upstart Brahms!
Nowadays, Brahms is considered by music historians as more experimental and progressive in his music than previously thought. Many of the most experimental composers of the early twentieth century (Mahler, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, and others) considered Brahms's genius as hiding his modern approach in the guise of older forms or as the great pianist/composer Daniel Barenboim is quoted as saying, "Brahms poured new wine into old bottles." In any account, the Violin Concerto was and still is a welcome addition to the violin concerto repertoire and to symphonic literature.
Cantus Arcticus, Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Op. 61 Einojuhani Rautavaara
Composer: Born October 9, 1928 in Helsinki, Finland; Died July 27, 2016 in Helsinki, Finland
Work composed: 1972
First performance: October 18, 1972 at the Arctic University of Oulu, Finland, Stephen Portman conducting
Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, one trombone, percussion, harp, celesta, strings, and taped bird sounds
Estimated duration: 17 minutes
Most recent RSO performance: January 10, 2009, Steven Larsen conducting
I. Suo (The Marsh)
II. Melankolia (Melancholy)
III. Joutsenet muuttavit (Swans Migrating)
The Finnish composer Rautavaara is one of the more well-known composers from Finland after Jean Sibelius. Like Sibelius, he writes music about his homeland and its natural beauty. However, his musical style is different in that it embraces 12-tone technique as well as Neo-Romanticism and Impressionism. He has written in every genre of music including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and song.
Rautavaara's most well-known work is the three movement Cantus Arcticus. It was written for the first doctoral degree ceremony at the Arctic University of Oulu in northern Finland. When the work was commissioned, it was expected that a choral work would be heard, instead, this rather intriguing work was premiered. It is in three movements with descriptive titles of the landscape of northern Finland. Each movement is an unusual mix of taped bird sounds, dissonant orchestral sounds, mystical chant-like melodies, and lush, tonal writing. Much of Rautavaara's music can be summed up as a series of contrasting ideas as in this work.
The end of the work portrays the slow climax of migrating swans as they fly overhead and slowly fade off into the distant horizon. Sibelius himself portrayed swans flying near his home north of Helsinki as great symbols of his music, especially in his Fifth Symphony and as a symbol of his own mortality.
There are intentional musical references in each movement of the Rautavaara, especially in the second movement, to one of Sibelius' works: The Swan of Tuonela, as if he is paying homage to the great Finnish composer. All of the contrasts of Rautavaara's music work beautifully in this piece!
La Mer
Claude Achille Debussy
Composer: Born August 22, 1862 in Saint Germaine, France; Died March 25, 1918 in Paris, France
Work composed: 1903 – 1905
First performance: October 15, 1905 in Paris by the Orchestre Lamoureux, Camille Chevillard conducting
Instrumentation: two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, three bassoons (one doubling on contrabassoon), four horns, three trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, and strings
Estimated duration: 24 minutes
Most recent RSO performance: January 26, 2002, Steven Larsen conducting
I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to noon on the sea)
II. Jeux de vagues (Play of the Waves)
III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the wind and the sea)
Cover art for the original score from the Japanese artist Hokusai
The three-movement work La Mer is one of three works that Debussy composed in the early years of the twentieth century. First was Nocturnes in 1901, then La Mer and last, Images from 1912. Each of these works were not well received by the public but were greatly admired by musicians, even some of Debussy's harshest critical friends. The French wit and composer Erik Satie (composer of Trois Gymnopedies), said he liked the work very much, especially the part that is 15 minutes before noon, in reference to Debussy's title for the first movement. It was perhaps the old guard at the Paris Conservatory that had an issue with the modernism of Debussy's music or perhaps the public's unfamiliarity with musical Impressionism.
Debussy subtitles the work as "Three Musical Sketches." It is not meant as a three-movement symphony nor a three-movement tone poem (a piece meant to tell a story through sound). So, this is truly a work of Impressionism where sound is meant to give us the idea, emotion, or images of the sea in three different sketches.
Partly inspired by personal experiences, by Japanese block prints (as seen above) and certainly by his love and admiration for his fellow Symbolists (including the poets Mallarme and Baudelaire who blurred the senses through the printed word), Debussy took his musical experiments to create a kaleidoscopic view of the ocean. Debussy's use of brilliant yet subtle orchestration in which woodwinds, brass, and percussion have more of the show is another strong characteristic of this piece.
Debussy and Stravinsky in Debussy's apartment, 1910. Notice a copy of the Hokusai print used in the front cover of the score to La Mer.
The work is divided into three sections, the first and third are the larger, more serious movements with a shorter second movement that is scherzo-like, for contrast. Each movement has its episodic sections and contrasting material. The first movement does give us a feel as if we are on the water at dawn and then goes through a series of events leading up to the climax at noon. This build up at the end is one of the greatest moments that Debussy makes in all of his music.
The second movement, “The Play of the Waves,” is one of constant shifts of orchestration from one group of instruments to another in rapid succession. You never feel like anything is settled, either melodically or in compositional direction. That is the intention of Debussy, as he is trying to capture the essence of the waves and sunlight that are constantly changing. Listen for the English horn which occasionally will play a brief motive. Same with the trumpet or percussion. About halfway through the movement, the strings will piece together a very fast-moving arabesque that continues to propel the movement along to the next quick episode.
Debussy is intentionally avoiding melody, form, and harmonic resting points to portray the constantly changing nature of the sea. In the final movement, Debussy gives us a stormy beginning and continues to give the listener episodic sections to portray the title of the movement, "The Dialogue Between the Wind and the Waves.” Like other composers of the early twentieth century, Debussy writes for a large orchestra but many times, only uses a few instruments to create a sense of contrast and color. He saves the full orchestra for dramatic effects, particularly for the wild and dramatic conclusion.
Debussy's orchestral works from this time were greatly influential to many composers of the early twentieth century. His use of interesting orchestration, new harmonic experiments, less reliance on traditional form, and melody were only some of the reasons he is looked upon as one of the first great modern innovators of music. His relationship with the great painters, writers, dancers, international musical styles and how he combined all of these influences together to create something daring and new makes him one of the most important composers of his time and beyond.