Schubert - Piano Trio No. 1 In B-flat Major

Schubert wrote two piano trios in the last year of his life, neither of which were published or heard in public until after his death. It was the first compositions in the form since his last piano trio written when he was fifteen. Any of Schubert's music played during his lifetime was usually played at a 'Schubertaide', an informal impromptu party held in the home of a wealthy friend and admirer. The first trio was heard in a private house at the engagement party of one of his friends.

By the last year of his life, Schubert's daily routine usually consisted of composing in the morning, visiting and taking long walks in the afternoon, with evenings spent with his friends, sometimes at a Schubertaide, sometimes drinking wine and singing. Schubert was as a man possessed while he was composing. His moods could run from dark and depressing to wild and fun-loving. These wide fluctuations in mood are sometimes reflected in his music, especially in the last years of his short life when he suffered with the end stages of syphilis. The 1st piano Trio is somewhat of an exception, as the music is good-natured and cheerful, at least for the most part.

Schubert's 1st Piano Trio is in 4 movements:
I. Allegro moderato - The first movement consists of two themes, each of which unwind in the lengthy exposition, and are expounded upon in the also lengthy development section that is punctuated by changes in key and mood. This is the music of Schubert's last years that seemed to many to be overly long, but music the Robert Schumann labeled as 'of heavenly length'.  The themes have a final appearance in a coda.

II. Andante un poco mosso - The cello is center-stage at the start, with the violin and piano taking up the pleasant tune. The three instruments take turns repeating and commenting on the melody with Schubert keeping everything in balance in music of seamless beauty.

III.  Scherzo - Allegro -  The piano starts things off, with the violin and cello joining in a jaunty Ländler. The trio shifts gears and becomes a simple Waltz, after which the first dance repeats.

IV. Rondo- Allegro vivace -  A rondo that also has elements of the theme and variation form .

Lachner - Symphonic Suite No. 7 In D Minor

The last major composition by Lachner was the Symphonic Suite No. 7, written in 1881. He was 79 years  old when he wrote it, and had fallen out of step with the current trends of music exemplified by Liszt and Wagner. Lachner especially recognized the value of Wagner's music, as he had given performances of it during his career as a conductor, but his aesthetic was not the same as Wagner's.  Lachner's music was considered old-fashioned by many in the late 19th century, but that doesn't diminish the quality of his music. He was a prolific composer (his opus numbers ran to 190) and remained a popular composer in his time, at least with listeners that weren't hard-core combatants in the 'War Of The Romantics', but shortly after his death in 1890 his music fell by the wayside.

The Suite No. 7 is in 4 movements:
I. Overture - The work opens with an overture in name and spirit, as the movement's themes are of a decidedly operatic nature.  It is a serious and dramatic movement balanced by contrasting lighter themes, but it never really shakes its somewhat tragic feeling. For the observant listener, the dramatic ending is a conscious or unconscious tribute to Lachner's good friend of so many years previous, Franz Schubert, as the orchestra repeats the main theme of the movement with the final statement sounding eerily similar to the triplet accompaniment of one of Schubert's most famous songs, Der Erlkönig.

II. Scherzo - A fine scherzo with a bouncing theme and a contrasting middle section.

III. Intermezzo - Finely written lyrical music, an example of Lachner's craft that was much admired by Schumann.

IV. Chaconne e Fuga - Some of the movements within Lachner's orchestral suites are romantic-era versions of the dances that made up the collections of Baroque era suites. The chaconne of this movement is an example. The origins of the chaconne can be traced back to Spain, but by the Baroque era the dance had become a type of instrumental piece where variations are played over a repeating bass. Lachner follows the short chaconne with a fugue. One of Lachner's music teachers was Simon Sechter, a teacher who lived long and taught many composers besides Lachner. Schubert took a few lessons from him before Schubert died in 1828, and Anton Bruckner was also his student.  Sechter was a task-master with his students and also himself as Sechter wrote around 5,000 fugues in his lifetime. Lachner learned his lessons well, as his skills in counterpoint are heard in this fugue .

 

Méhul - Symphony No.1 In G Minor

Étienne Méhul was a French composer at the time of the French Revolution and Napoleon. He was well-known in his time as an opera composer, and some have called him the first romantic composer. Méhul offered up his first symphony around 1809 in France. Critics were divided as to its worth, even the composer himself offered up an explanation:

"I understood all the dangers of my enterprise; I foresaw the cautious welcome that the music-lovers would give my symphonies. I plan to write new ones for next winter and shall try to write them... to accustom the public gradually to think that a Frenchman may follow Haydn and Mozart at a distance."

While audiences and critics of his time were mixed towards his symphonies, the audience and critics were impressed with Méhul's 1st Symphony in G minor when it was played by  the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn in 1838.  Robert Schumann was in the audience and was quite taken with the symphony.

The 1st Symphony is in 4 movements :
I. Allegro - The movement begins in G minor with an agitated theme that is reminiscent of Mozart's initial theme in his 40th Symphony. There is a downward movement that occupies this first theme. The theme proceeds and leads to the second theme which is of a calmer nature. The second theme features something of a reversal in feeling as well as direction as the music move upward.   The development section expounds on fragments of the initial theme. The recapitulation begins, followed by a summing up by a coda of the main theme and the music returns to its downward movement as the music ends.

II. Andante -  A set of variations, music that strolls in contrast to the proceeding dramatics of the first movement. Méhul's theme is a French Chants de Noël (Christmas Carol).

III. Menuet : Allegro moderato -  Pizzicato strings play the theme quietly. The trio is louder and has the strings play with the bow. This movement impressed Schumann considerably. After praising the symphony in general, Schumann writes:

"A remarkable feature too, was the similarity of the scherzo (to the scherzo of Beethoven's 5th Symphony), and in such a striking way that there must have been a remembrance on one side or the other; I am not able to determine on which, since I do not know the year of birth of the Méhul."

As both Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Méhul's 1st Symphony were being composed in 1808, there is no possibility that either composer heard each other's work.

IV. Final : Allegro agitato -  A final movement that again reminds Schumann of Beethoven's 5th, this time the first movement. Méhul builds the movement from a short rhythmic motive with a personalized sense of sonata form. The composer goes far afield with key changes in the development section, the symphony continues in its restless and intense manner until the final chord.

Liszt - Csárdás Macabre

The csárdás is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name of which derives from the Hungarian word for tavern. The beginnings of the dance can be traced back to the 18th century in Hungary and was used as a recruiting device for the Hungarian army. The Romani people (formerly called gypsies) popularized the dance in Hungary and neighboring countries. It is a dance that is varied in tempo, from slow to fast. Liszt made wide use of the csárdás in his Hungarian Rhapsodies, as did other composers. But it is Liszt who used it most often in his compositions, no doubt because of his Hungarian heritage.

The Csárdás Macabre was composed towards the end of Liszt's life, a time in which he suffered health problems both physical and mental. The music he composed in his last years saw a change in style from his earlier music. Gone is the brilliant virtuosity, glitter and complexity. His music became leaner in texture, and tonally ambiguous.  

Csárdás Macabre begins with an introduction that is in ostensibly in D minor , but has no sharps or flats in the key signature (Dorian mode?) .This segues into the first theme that is in parallel fifths and that revolves around the fifth of F-sharp and C-sharp in chromatic fashion. The key signature changes to one flat  (D minor officially?), rambles on, and the key signature once again changes to no sharps or flats as the transition to the second theme begins. The key signature changes again to one flat (F major) as the second theme begins. The second theme runs into a section marked dolce amoroso (sweetly and tenderly) that  leads into a development section where both themes are varied. There is a recapitulation of the two themes after which there is another development section. The piece winds up with a coda that ends up in D major, again ostensibly. 

The tonal scheme of this piece can be bewildering. D minor, F, G-flat, D, E-flat, and add some ancient modes to the mix. No wonder it took so long for late pieces such as this to get performed. Wagner himself thought that Liszt's mind was deteriorating with age. 

Liszt's late music is brimming with things foreign to even the most forward-thinking composers of his time. Polytonality, atonality, the use of exotic scales, bitonality and other methods and techniques make Liszt one of the most innovative composers in the history of Western music.

Handel - Sonata For Recorder in F Major

In Handel's time, specific music for specific instruments was not always the case. Music that had been written  for an instrument or combination of instruments was being transcribed and used for other combinations. The style of writing music for a figured bass gave a certain amount of leeway to the performer as far as instruments to play the music and the accompaniment.. Ensemble playing could be just as heavily represented by wind instruments as stringed instruments, and the Baroque composer actually had a wide variety of instruments to choose from.

Take stringed instruments for example. The violin family (that consists of violin, viola and violincello) existed along with the viol family. Viols are distinct from violins as their fingerboards are flat instead of curved,  they have frets whereas violins do not, they have six strings to the violins four, and they are tuned in fourths versus the violin tuning in fifths. Composers such as Bach used these two families, sometimes in combinations of the two, to get the sound they wanted.  There was also differences within the flute family.

There was the flute as we know it, held sideways with the tone produced by playing across an opening on the top towards the front called the transverse flute, and a flute that was held straight from the player with the tone produced by the player blowing into a whistle mouthpiece called the recorder. The volume of the recorder is not as loud or pronounced as the transverse flute, and the tone is quite different. 

Handel composed sonatas for various solo instruments. In keeping with the flexibility of the times, some could be played by either violin, transverse flute, oboe, or recorder, but others were instrument-specific. These were indeed solo sonatas, as the melody remained in the solo instrument part while the accompanying instruments filled in the bass part and harmonies. Along with the solo instrument, a bass instrument such as the cello, viola da gamba, bassoon or theorbo would play the bass line while a keyboard instrument or stringed instrument capable of playing chords would fill in the harmonies as outlined in the figured bass.  

First two lines of Sonata in F showing figured bass

Handel's solo sonatas were written over a period of time, but the first collection of twelve sonatas was printed in 1732 in England. The Sonata In F of this collection does have the designation 'flauto solo' in the printed score, and the word 'flauto' in Handel's time meant recorder. 

The Sonata For Recorder In F follows the structure of the sonata of the time, as it consisted of four movements with the tempos being slow-fast-slow-fast. In Handel's time the two distinct forms of sonatas, sonata de chiesa (church sonata) and sonata de camera (chamber sonata) were combining. The sonata for recorder is one of these sonatas:

I. Larghetto - A stately beginning to the sonata in the home key of F major. The end of the movement prepares the way for a change of key to the dominant C major.

II. Allegro - The first section is in the key of C major, second section begins in C but moves towards the home key and ends in F major.   

III. Siciliana - A slow song with a gently moving rhythm, in the relative key of D minor. Makes a transition in the end of the movement to the dominant of D minor, the key of A major 

IV. Allegro - A rapid dance in 12/8 time. It resembles a jig, a type of dance used in the dance suites of the
Baroque era, usually as the last part.

Chausson - Symphony In B-flat

Chausson was a member of the group of disciples devoted to César Franck, whose musical aesthetics had a profound influence on his compositions. Another great influence on Chausson was the operas of Wagner. He died at an early age after he crashed his bicycle into a wall and fractured his skull. He was but forty-four, and was just beginning to find his true voice as a composer.

Chausson used Franck's Symphony In D Minor as a model for his Symphony in B-flat. Both works have 3 movements, and Chausson adapts Franck's cyclic style and chromaticism  to his own style.

I. Lent - Allegro Vivo- The first movement begins with a slow and dramatic introduction that shows the influence of Wagner. It builds to a climax full of anguish with quiet afterthoughts, when the clouds evaporate and the main theme of the movement begins. It is one of the most stunning and rapid transformations in the symphonic literature. The theme reaches its own refined climax, and the second theme (which shows the influence of Franck's music) begins. The working out of the themes in the exposition shows Chausson's own way with sonata form as themes weave in and out in different guises. The recapitulation expands the themes into a grand ending to the movement.

II. Très Lent - The music of this movement begins in a minor key and slowly builds into a stunning major key climax at the ending.

III. Animé - The movement begins dramatically with whirling rapid notes in the strings punctuated by scraps of melody played in the brass. There is another theme that spins out of the opening, also dramatic in nature. A chorale-like melody appears first in the brass and then woodwinds. The development section brings back some of the themes heard previously. The music returns to the initial theme of the movement in recapitulation. The initial theme of the first movement now returns and helps connect the work in the way only cyclic form can do. The trumpet plays a poignant tune and the music builds to the finale. The symphony that has begun with a dramatic, tragic introduction now ends in the gentle glow of  sunshine.

Cesar Franck

The beginnings of cyclic form are credited to Franz Liszt, and while the roots of the form go back much further than that, it is a convenient point to begin to make the following observation: From Liszt, to Franck, to Chausson, and to the composer that perhaps took the form to the extreme, Jean Sibelius, cyclic form has been a powerful form and technique for composers to create unity in their compositions. To the experienced classical music listener the form offers aural signposts that carry across individual movements or sections that add to understanding and enjoyment. For the more  casual listener, it can create a feeling of musical 'sense', even if nothing is known about structure or theme development.


 

Rachmaninoff - Prince Rostislav

Sergei Rachmaninoff graduated with high honors from the Moscow Conservatory after taking the piano exam in 1891, and remained at the conservatory to finish his studies. By this time he had already written some songs and piano pieces and began work on his first compositions for orchestra. The first was a one-movement Youth Symphony and the second piece was the tone poem Prince Rostislav, inspired by a poem by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, cousin to the more well - known Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy

Tolstoy's poem deals with a mythical warrior that is based on an historical Prince. Tolstoy's poem begins with the brave knight Prince Rostislav laying on the bottom of the Dnieper river wearing his chain mail and holding a broken sword in his hand.  The low strings play a theme that represents the prince. The other strings gently swell in tone to give the impression of the waters of the Dnieper.  The underwater beauties of the Dnieper caress the prince and comb his golden hair. The mood swiftly changes by the brass and the loud drum rolls of the timpani. The ensuing storm has awakened the prince and he cries out three times. He calls out to his wife, but he has been gone so long that she believes him dead and is now betrothed to another.  He then calls out to his brother, then to the priests, but they can no longer hear him.  The prince gives up, and resigns himself to his watery grave as the strings resume the gentle swell of the water that covers the prince.

Rachmaninoff was but 18 years old when he wrote this piece, and his skill with handling the orchestra is already apparent. He completed the piece in 1891, but it was never played in his lifetime. It was finally premiered two years after Rachmaninoff's death, in 1945