Posted on by tjphilbrick

Sublime Schubert

Hello all,

Our music for this week is the string quintet in C Major by Franz Schubert.

Schubert completed this quintet two weeks before his death in 1828. Rather than write a string quartet, however, he added a cello part and produced a quintet that sounds almost symphonic in its proportions. Listen for the interactions between the two cello parts; Schubert sometimes treats them as a pair of soloists, with violin and viola playing the part of “orchestra accompaniment.”

In writing for this unique mixture of instruments (almost every chamber music composition of his time was for a string quartet, with only one cello), Schubert broke open a new realm of possibilities for composers to experiment with. Before too long, Mendelssohn (https://thisweeksmusic.com/2021/04/30/octet-2-mendelssohn/) and Enescu (https://thisweeksmusic.com/2021/05/08/octet-3-enescu/) had written string octets, and later American composers (like Samuel Barber and Amy Beach) would combine strings, winds, brass, and vocals into even more unconventional ensembles. In short, Schubert’s cello quintet-his last composition before he died-was the start of an era.

Enjoy!

Posted on by tjphilbrick · 1 Comment

Four Hands

Hello all,

Our music for this week is the Fantasia in F Minor for four hands by Franz Schubert, performed by Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen.

The Jussen brothers provide a fantastic rendition of this well-known work. They achieved international stardom at a very young age and have since toured the world together, performing piano duos like this one to packed audiences. Legendary British conductor Sir Neville Marriner commented after conducting one of their performances: “It’s like driving a pair of BMW’s. This is not just two good pianists playing together. They sense each other’s most small, individual little bit of interpretation.”   

Fantasia in F Minor for four hands was written only a few months before Schubert died. It is one of his most complete and beautiful works. Unlike most other piano duos, which were originally composed for a larger ensemble and then adapted to the four-handed context, this duo was written specifically for two pianists.

You will hear four distinct movements. The first movement is all about lyricism. Delightfully light and airy Schubert-ian melodies grace the top line, and dense but rolling figures are featured in the bottom line. The second movement, which was inspired by Paganini’s second violin concerto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLOciQwraZg), contains an atmosphere of virtuosic turbulence. The third movement contrasts the agitation of the second movement with a brightness and liveliness that is more of what one might expect of Schubert. The fourth movement, which has been called “the most remarkable cadence in the whole of Schubert’s work,” harkens back to Bach and uses a fugue format to recapitulate all three of the previous themes.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Top 25 #9 – The Trout

Hello all,

This week’s music continues our series on the Top 25 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music. We will hear the Piano Quintet in A Major by Franz Schubert, popularly known as the “Trout” quintet. It is performed by the principal string members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (the first chair members of each string section – violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley, violist Mate Szucs, cellist Bruno Delepelaire, and double bassist Matthew McDonald) with Yannick Rafalimanana on piano.

The Trout Quintet is one of the most widely performed pieces of chamber music in all of classical music. Along with the Mendelssohn octet and a few other mainstays, it is featured at nearly every chamber music festival in the world.

Schubert wrote the Trout Quintet while on vacation in the Austrian alps. The fact that he was overwhelmed by the “inconceivable” beauty of the mountains is clearly evident in the joyous, even rapturous lyricism of the piece. Albert Einstein, himself an amateur violinist who loved chamber music, wrote that “we cannot help but love” the Trout Quintet. It is Schubert at his carefree best, with no hint of the somber colors that he began to explore after contracting syphilis in his later years.

It is important to note that this is chamber music. In other words, the Trout Quintet was not meant to be performed in a concert hall. It was meant to be performed in a living room or some other intimate setting for friends and family. This has significant implications not just for how the quintet is to be performed but also how it is to be heard.  

A few comments on each of the four movements:

  • The first movement is unforgettable. Listen for the main theme at 1:53.
  • The second movement has two parts – see if you can tell them apart.
  • The third movement, a Scherzo, turns the second movement’s two parts on their head, reverses their order, and doubles their speed.
  • The fourth movement is the most important. It is a set of variations on the tune of Die Forelle, or in German, “The Trout.” Die Forelle was a short song written by Schubert in 1817 for soprano and piano. He created this song by setting to music the text of a poem by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart about a trout being caught by a fisherman.
  • The Quintet finishes with an Allegro that revisits the Die Forelle theme a few times.

Enjoy!

T

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Schubert – Cello Quintet

Hello all,

Our music for this week is the String Quintet in C for two violins, viola, and two cellos. It is often referred to as simply “The Cello Quintet,” and it is one of Schubert’s most memorable and important compositions. Those of you who are musicians will know that the music of Schubert is all about texture. Schubert was the master of creating an endless variety of textures through harmonic interaction and instrument choice. In the Cello Quintet, the added cello (most string ensembles have two violins, one viola, and only one cello) adds a layer of density and richness to the sound of the ensemble.

At the time he wrote this piece, Schubert was nearing the end of his life and was very aware of the kind of legacy that he wanted to leave behind. Many have speculated that he viewed himself as the successor to Beethoven, who died before he could finish his C major quintet. It is easy to see how, given his conception of his relationship to Beethoven and his knowledge of his nearing death, Schubert wrote the Cello Quintet in an effort to cement his legacy in a way that Beethoven never had.

The most famous and wonderful theme in the quintet can be heard at minute 2:54. As you might imagine, it is played by the cellos. It is the pinnacle of musical purity, a trait that is made clearer by its juxtaposition with dissonant harmonies both before and after it. In my mind, this melody is the height of musical expression, encapsulating both the searching and restful elements of humanity in one glorious, transcendent exploration of harmony.

Enjoy!

T