Posted on by tjphilbrick

Triple Concerto

Hello all,

Our music for this week is the Triple Concerto by Beethoven.

You will notice that the recording is from 1970. I am sure that there are many other excellent recordings out there, but this one is head-and-shoulders above the rest because of the musicians involved. David Oistrakh (violin), Mitslav Rostropovich (cello), and Satislav Richter (piano) are three of the best musicians to ever live, and the ability to hear them in their prime is much better than a more recent recording with lesser musicians. This performance was in the Great Tchaikovsky Hall at the Moscow Conservatory, where all three of them studied.

This concerto is rarely played or heard. Part of the reason for that might be relatively unimpressive piano part. Beethoven intentionally made the piano part much simpler because he was writing it for his patron the Archduke Rudolf, who was not a particularly excellent pianist. Beethoven clearly wanted to avoid the embarrassing possibility of writing something that his patron could not play. The violin and cello parts, however, are quite challenging.

Another reason that this concerto is not often played is the clearly inferior thematic material it contains, particularly when compared to his famous 9th Symphony or his magnificent violin concerto. The themes are hard to decipher, and when they can be identified, they tend to wander. The first movement is often criticized because the listener tends to leave the movement wondering what exactly the main melody of the movement was.

However, despite these weaknesses, the Triple Concerto has several things to offer us. First of all, the instrumentation is unique – it is a solo concerto, but the solo part is played by three instruments, rather than one. There are also a number of delightful conversations between each of the soloists and the orchestra. In addition, it is quite impressive that Beethoven was able to maintain his masterful interplay between soloist and orchestra even when dealing with three separate solo parts. I believe that the second movement is the true strength of the work. Listen for the poetic opening line in the cello, and notice how the violin and cello spend most of the movement in a conversation based on that theme. The piano, as expected, maintains a background role in the second movement, and some critics argue that the second movement is the best because it basically eliminates the piano part. The third movement is notable for one unique episode in the middle of it. Right around 27:56, there is a random Polonaise (a Polish dance form). Why Beethoven felt the need to insert this strange addition into the music, we’ll never know.

Enjoy!

 

Posted on by tjphilbrick

Brahms – Sextet in B-flat major

Hello all,

Our music for this week is the Sextet in B-flat major by Johannes Brahms.

There are very few string sextets in existence. Schubert and Bocherinni are two of the composers who have written sextets, but Brahms’ B-flat sextet is considered the leading work in this relatively niche field. Many musicians consider this to be rather ironic since, as a pianist, Brahms struggled tremendously when writing for stringed instruments. His genius at the keyboard somehow didn’t entirely translate over to his compositions for strings despite his close friendship with the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim. Nonetheless, he wanted to compose a string sextet in honor of his dear friend Robert Schumann and, in particular, he wanted to explore the strengths of the deeper stringed instruments – the viola and the cello. It is therefore no surprise that the opening melody of the piece is played by the cello and the opening melody of the second movement’s variations scheme is introduced by the viola.

The sextet has four movements: Allegro, Andante, Scherzo, and Rondo. Listen for themes that get repeated throughout the work. For instance, you’ll hear the main melody of the first movement being recycled in the fourth movement at different points. You might also listen for the portions of this theme that Brahms sprinkles throughout all four movements. You will never hear the theme in its entirety, but you may – if you listen closely – have a deja vu moment once in a while.

Enjoy!

 

Posted on by tjphilbrick

A Virtuoso

Our music for this week is “Nel cor pui non mi sento” form Giovanni Paisello’s opera “La Molinara,” or “The Miller-Woman.” However, instead of being performed in an operatic format, we’ll be hearing it playing in a transcription for solo violin by the Russian legend Leonid Kogan.

There isn’t much to say about the music. It simply takes the primary themes of the opera and piles them high with tricks for the violinist to utilize in his or her attempt to dazzle the audience. Sarasate, the great 19th-century Spaniard who supposedly mastered all of Paganini’s caprices by the age of 12, did this quite often. For instance, he took all of the famous themes from the most famous opera of his time (Carmen), transcribed them for violin, then stuffed it to the gills with nearly impossible tricks for the violinist to (hopefully) master.

Leonid Kogan, however, deserves significant mention. He was born into a poor Ukranian family who recognized his enormous musical potential and moved to Moscow in order for him to study with the famous pedagogy Abram Yampolsky. After playing for the French virtuoso Jacques Thibaud, Kogan broke onto the world scene when he won the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. However, Kogan’s success was sadly short-lived. The Soviet government had already found its favorite musician in the legendary violinist David Oistrakh, and it endlessly promoted and favored his (admittedly tremendous) talents. This led to an over-shadowing of Kogan’s entire career; his musical gifts were never recognized by his own country. For instance, he was never able to own a Stradavarious violin as he so desperately wanted to. Instead, he had no choice but to use the Guarneri violins that the Soviet government loaned him. Despite these difficulties, he was awarded some of the highest musical honors in the world throughout his lifetime and performed up until the day he died. (This is, believe it or not, not a joke – he performed the Beethoven concerto in Vienna at 7pm on December 17, 1982 and passed away in his sleep later that night).

Enjoy!