APO Livestream - The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: The Greats - Listening Notes: Experienced Listener

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JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 – 1897) COMPOSER PROFILE • Considered to be the leading composer of the Romantic period of music • Composed a piano sonata at age 11 • Made his public debut as a conductor at age 14 • Introduced to Gypsy music by Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi • At the age of 30, he accepted the directorship of the Vienna Singakademie • Brahms died of cancer at age 64. On the day of his funeral, all the ships in Hamburg lowered their flags to half-mast VIOLIN CONCERTO Brahms’ Violin Concerto was composed in 1878 and first performed in Leipzig, Germany. Piano and violin were the most popular solo instruments for concertos throughout the Romantic period. This piece was composed for Brahms’ friend and virtuoso violinist, Joseph Joachim. It was considered too difficult to play as it included rapid broken chords, scales and doublestopping. However, Brahms believed in Joachim’s abilities, and the Concerto was intended for Joachim to show off his virtuosity. The concerto features a cadenza at the end of the first movement, and Brahms was one of the last composers to allow the soloist to improvise it. This is because soloists began to create very long cadenzas, and eventually, composers would notate their cadenzas so that they had more control over the material that was performed. The concerto has three movements: I. Allegro non troppo II. Adagio III. Allegro gigocoso ma non troppo vivace The first movement is in Sonata form. It starts with a long introduction and the first theme presented by the orchestra. Next, the theme develops and moves into a quiet section which leads to the second theme. After this second theme, the solo violin finally enters, taking us through the development and exposition before the solo violin plays the cadenza, leading us to the final coda section. The second movement has three sections. The first section begins with the melody in the solo oboe, accompanied by the orchestra. The solo violin then takes over the melody, and this moves us into the passionate second section. Finally, the orchestra returns with the first section melody and solo violin to round off this movement. The last movement is in rondo form, where the ‘A’ section of music keeps returning. The A section begins with a foot-stomping Hungarian-style theme, with the solo violin underneath. The B section starts with light solo violin and accompaniment. This turns into a series of legato scales, in which the solo violin brings in another rhythmic melody before returning to the A section. Section C begins with graceful arpeggios followed by the solo violin playing fragments from the B section before playing the main melody from section A. The coda starts with a faster tempo in a lively Turkish style in 6/8, ending with strong subito forte, staccato chords. DID YOU KNOW? Brahms began composing when he was only 11 – however, he was embarrassed by these early compositions and he destroyed all of those works as he grew older. 2
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828) COMPOSER PROFILE • An Austrian composer from the Romantic period • Won a place in the Vienna Imperial Court chapel choir at age 10 • After leaving school in 1815, Schubert followed his father into teaching. He did not enjoy this job, and he spent all of his free time composing. • The same year he started teaching, he wrote his famous ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’ (‘Gretchen at her spinning wheel’) • He composed 145 lieder (songs), his Second and Third Symphonies, two sonatas and a series of miniatures for solo piano, two mass settings and other shorter choral works, four stage works, and a string quartet • The only public concert Schubert gave was on 26 March, 1828. It was such an artistic and financial success that Schubert at last purchased a piano • He died in 1828 at age 31, of typhoid from drinking tainted water SYMPHONY NO.9 ‘THE GREAT’ The title ‘The Great’ was applied by a 19th-century publisher to distinguish between this symphony and Schubert’s earlier work of 1818. Today, ‘The Great’ has become an accepted part of the work’s title. Schubert’s Ninth Symphony has four movements: I. Andante II. Andante con moto III. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) IV. Allegro vivace The first movement, Andante (C major) starts with an unaccompanied theme from unison horns for eight bars. This is followed by the strings playing a rhythmic triple figure. The theme is then passed around the orchestra. The section continues to explore themes and assembled rhythmic material. Finally, as the Andante moves towards its close, you can hear a fragment of what is to become the Allegro first subject or theme. As the Andante is brought to a full orchestral close, the Allegro section follows immediately. Strings, trumpets, and timpani introduce the Allegro’s first theme. Then, as the theme continued, it is linked by triplets in the woodwind. After seventeen bars, Schubert introduces a second theme – dotted crotchet-quaver – rising and falling, with the woodwind and horns playing a triplet rhythm. Finally, the movement’s third theme is introduced by oboes and bassoons, accompanied by violin arpeggios, and it then develops. The final Coda of this section is marked ‘Piu Moto’ (more movement). It starts with the second theme in the strings, with an accompanying triplet figure. The movement ends with the introductory horn theme played by the full orchestra. The second movement, Andante con moto is slow, however the ‘con moto’ direction creates a march-like character. It is possible that Schubert was influenced by the Allegretto movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. This movement has four sections – A minor, F major, A minor and A major – and four main themes. Beethoven’s movement also opens in A minor. The oboes play the theme first, followed by the clarinets, violins and violas, moving to an orchestral climax. Next, the oboes and clarinets enter with the second theme. This theme is slightly slower, but within six bars, the strings break in with a third theme, with a military feel. The second and third themes are developed and enriched until four minims and a descending third in the lower strings introduce the fourth theme. Lyrical and more sonorous, this theme is played by the bassoons, second violins and basses, with a syncopated counterpoint in the cellos. The movement ends quietly, with harmony from the three trombones. 3
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APO Livestream - The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: The Greats - Listening Notes: Experienced Listener

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