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Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
“During the summer of 1838, Felix Mendelssohn wrote to his longtime friend and collaborator Ferdinand David: “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace.”” (https://houstonsymphony.org/mendelssohn-violin-concerto/)
Hello, and welcome to the World Before Pancakes.
Joseph Joachim told friends at his 75th birthday party:
“The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven's. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart's jewel, is Mendelssohn's.”
On today’s program: Where does this Concerto come from?
The BBC profiles Mendelssohn:
“Felix Mendelssohn – grandson of an eminent Jewish philosopher and son of a wealthy banker who converted to Christianity – came from a happy and privileged background. The family home in Berlin was a lively intellectual centre and Felix’s education covered classics, science, languages, law and several other subjects besides music.
From the age of 11 he composed fluently and prolifically: a huge quantity of piano and chamber music, five concertos, a few little operas and a dozen symphonies for strings preceded his official Symphony No. 1 of 1824.” (https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/0e85eb79-1c05-44ba-827c-7b259a3d941a)
One of his earlier works was the “Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra”, written when he was 12-14 years ( a preteen!)
“His parents encouraged an extensive musical education (more in the interests of producing a cultured son of a wealthy family than in fostering a career in the arts), and impromptu chamber concerts were common in the home. At 16, Mendelssohn was sufficiently advanced to write his unforgettable Octet, Op. 20, one of the finest works he ever produced.
That same year, he met the rising 15-year-old violinist Ferdinand David, who had already appeared as a soloist in the famous Leipzig Gewandhaus, a hall which was to figure prominently in the development of the concerto. The two quickly became close friends, and maintained contact via a steady stream of letters as their careers developed.” (Geoff Kuenning, https://lasr.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/geoff/prognotes/mendelssohn/violinCon.html)
Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO7iz9g7cIg
“During the summer of 1838, Felix Mendelssohn wrote to his longtime friend and collaborator Ferdinand David: “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace.” Indeed, it would not give him peace for another six years, when he at last found time and inspiration amidst his busy concert schedule to complete it. He consulted David regularly throughout the composition process regarding violin technique and, ever the perfectionist, continued to make minor adjustments to the concerto unto its premiere in Leipzig on March 13, 1845. Composed at the height of Mendelssohn’s brilliant career, the concerto became an instant classic and remains one of the cornerstones of the repertoire.” (https://houstonsymphony.org/mendelssohn-violin-concerto/)
A bit of excerpt exploration:
Recording of the third movement by Eugene Ysaye, in 1912:
Wikipedia says that “He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar”.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNTK_wu2M8
Recording by Fritz Kreisler, in 1926 (with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Ml85cVLF4
“His playing may seem anachronistic to listeners today, yet you can’t deny the utter charm of his humane phrasing, along with his delicate and nonintrusive vibrato. His constant portamento (sliding from one note to another) is more controversial, but is also part of his character and allows a glimpse to practices by some of the late 19th-century violin players… although the Berlin State Opera Orchestra is weak in volume, it is nonetheless impressively responsive to Kreisler’s superb control of rubato. As an example, listen to Kreisler’s handling of the second subject of the first movement – how he gently accelerate and then compensates by slowing down, with the orchestra right behind him.” (https://theclassicreview.com/best-of/mendelssohn-violin-concerto-the-best-recordings-part-1/)
Let’s hear it, for real:
“Reportedly, Mendelssohn disdained audiences who clap in between multiple-movement pieces, and here he wrote a concerto of 30 minutes that have no breaks in between movements.” (https://theclassicreview.com/best-of/mendelssohn-violin-concerto-the-best-recordings-part-1/)
Of Yehudi Menuhin’s:
He began violin lessons at age 4.
“There steps a fat little blond boy on the podium, and wins at once all hearts as in an irresistibly ludicrous way, like a penguin, he alternately places one foot down, then the other. But wait: you will stop laughing when he puts his bow to the violin to play Bach's violin concerto in E major no.2."[5]
(An unnamed critic quoted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudi_Menuhin)
“His performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto has an added spirituality and a truly unique quality of sound, along with a terrific orchestral accompaniment and good stereo recording. All of which makes this not only one of the best recordings of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, but one of the greatest recordings of any piece, on any instrument.” (https://theclassicreview.com/best-of/mendelssohn-violin-concerto-the-best-recordings-part-1/)
Yehudi Menuhin, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conduct by Wilhelm Furtwängler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=344w5UFq2dE
Discography:
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto Number 1, as performed by Krystian Zimerman and Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Zimerman, Ozawa) - YouTube
Rachmaninoff: Aleka Evgeny Svetlanov conducts Rachmaninoff Aleko - video 1989 - YouTube
Joint Improvisations:Arensky, Rachmaninov, Glazunov & Taneyev - Four improvisations for piano - YouTube
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Alexander Brailowsky with the San Francisco Symphony.
A Chronology
1873 - Rachmaninoff is born to a military family. His father is a retired officer; his mother’s father was a general.
1878 - Rachmaninoff, already displaying precocious talents, begins piano lessons at the age of 5. His parents, however, have plans to make young Sergey into an army officer also. (BritannicaSergey Rachmaninoff | Russian musician | Britannica.com)
1883 - Rachmaninoff enrolls at the St. Petersburg conservatory, aged ten. He receives poor marks.(Sergei Rachmaninoff - Tchaikovsky Research)
1885 - Rachmaninoff’s father loses the family fortune through a series of poor investments. He abandons the family. Young Sergey, at the urging of a relative, is sent to Moscow to study (and live) with the famous and famously strict piano teacher Nikolay Zverev. (BritannicaSergey Rachmaninoff | Russian musician | Britannica.com)
1888 - In addition to lessons with Zverev, Rachmaninoff enrolls in the Moscow Conservatory. He impresses his examiner, Tchaikovsky, who reportedly remarks “for him, I predict a great future,” and puts him in the classes of study with Anton Arensky and Taneyev; Taneyev especially encourages the young artist in his composition.
1889 - Rachmaninoff has a burgeoning interest in composition, and because the one piano in his teacher’s house is always occupied by practicing students, asks Nikolay Zverev to buy a second piano to support his composition.
The Houston Symphony writes: “Evidently, he didn’t ask nicely enough because Zverev was furious (he was generally against his students composing too much anyway, since time composing was time not spent practicing piano).” (https://www.houstonsymphony.org/rachmaninoff-love/)
This incident (combined, I’d sure guess) with others, led to Rachmaninoff’s ejection from Zverev’s house. He stayed with his relatives, the Satins, while finishing his studies at the Moscow conservatory.
1892 - Tchaikovsky continues to encourage and praise young Sergey, who writes in a letter to a friend:
”Tchaikovsky said… that he would have to stop composing eventually and make way for younger people. When the reporter asked him if there really were any such young talents, Tchaikovsky answered in the affirmative and mentioned Glazunov for Saint Petersburg and me and Arensky for Moscow . That made me so glad! My hearty thanks to the old man for not having forgotten about me!” Sergei Rachmaninoff - Tchaikovsky Research
Rachmaninoff begins work on a number of operas, some in collaboration with Tchaikovsky’s brother, Modest Tchaikovsky (though these are never finished). His premiere of Aleko is a real success and Tchaikovsky is thrilled by it. The Tchaikovsky Research foundation writes:
“Like the rest of the audience that evening, Tchaikovsky applauded enthusiastically at the end of the performance, and, as Rachmaninoff later recalled, he had suggested to the younger composer that Aleko should be performed together with Iolanta as a double-bill at the Bolshoi Theatre” Sergei Rachmaninoff - Tchaikovsky Research
Evgeny Svetlanov conducts Rachmaninoff Aleko - video 1989 - YouTube
1894 - Tchaikovsky dies, and Rachmaninoff’s family notices his first symptoms of his depression. Depression And The Composer: Rachmaninoff’s Story | Northwest Public Broadcasting
He recalls, posthumously:
“Of all the people and artists whom I have had occasion to meet, Tchaikovsky was the most enchanting. His delicacy of spirit was unique. He was modest like all truly great men and simple as only very few are.” Sergei Rachmaninoff - Tchaikovsky Research
Sometime around here: Rachmaninoff falls in love with his cousin, Natalie Satina.
1896 - Rachmaninoff, Arensky, Glazunov, and Taneyev indulge in that memorable parlor game: joint improvisations.
Arensky, Rachmaninov, Glazunov & Taneyev - Four improvisations for piano - YouTube
1897 - A (possibly inebriated) Glazunov conducts the disastrous premiere of Rachmaninoff’s first symphony. This was undoubtedly part of the problem, but the music was also called into question. The famed critic Cesar Cui wrote of it.
“If there were a conservatory in Hell, and if one of its talented students were to compose a programme symphony based on the story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and if he were to compose a symphony like Mr. Rachmaninov’s, then he would have fulfilled his task brilliantly and would delight Hell’s inhabitants. Out from the Depths of Hell: The Reception of Rachmaninoff | Music 242 – Spring 2014
Rachmaninnof’s depression worsens. He enters a three year barren period in which he cannot bear to hear his own music.
1900 - Rachmaninoff’s aunt suggests he try the psychoanalytic methods of Sigmund Freud. He begins seeing a hypnotherapist called Nicolai Dahl, who, over the course of several sessions, hypnotizes Rachmaninoff and repeats “You will write a piano concerto. It will be of the highest quality.”
It works. Rachmaninoff begins composing his Second Piano Concerto.
“Their desire to wed, however, posed some obstacles: it was against the law of the Orthodox Church, and to make matters worse, Rachmaninoff was not a regular churchgoer. Through family connections, they made arrangements to be wed at a military barracks, because barracks priests reported not to the Holy Synod, but to generals (such was the relationship between church and state in Imperial Russia). There was one last hurdle to clear, however; they had to receive permission from the Tsar during the ceremony in order for their marriage to be legal. Fortunately, the telegram came through and everything went off according to plan.” Rachmaninoff in Love: The Troubled Genesis of a Masterpiece, Part II - Houston Symphony
Joint Improvisations: Taneyev, Arensky, Glazunov, Rachmaninoff
Discography:
Joint Improvisations 4 Improvisations on Themes of Arensky, Glazunov, Rachmaninoff, and Taneyev: IV. Largo - YouTube
Taneyev: Piano Quintet in G Minor Taneyev - Piano Quintet - Pletnev / Repin / Gringolts / Imai / Harrell (Verbier, 2003) - YouTube
Glazunov: Symphony 1 Glazunov “Symphony No 5” Gennadi Rozhdestvensky - YouTube
Rachmaninoff: Symphony 1 Rachmaninoff: Sinfonia No 1 em Ré menor, Op. 13/ Minczuk . Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira - YouTube
“One autumn day in 1896, anton arensky invited
Rachmaninoff and Glazunov to dinner at his St.
Petersburg home to celebrate a visit from Sergey
Taneyev. A network of personal and professional ties linked these notable musicians. Rachmaninoff, for example, had studied with Arensky and Taneyev; Arensky and Glazunov had in turn studied with Rimsky-Korsakov. After dinner the four composers played a musicalparlor game. Each of them took a sheet of paper and wrote out the initial phrase of a small character piece for piano. When all were ready, each passed his sheet to a colleague who extended the composition, and this round robin continued until the sheets returned to their starting positions.” (Gebrauch-Formulas, Robert Gjerdinger)
Gjerdinger is actually ‘professionalizing’ a post by Amphissa on the Rachmaninoff.org forum.
Taneyev
He joined the Moscow conservatory when only nine years old, studying piano and composition. At 14 he joined Tchaikovsky’s composition class, and struck up a lasting friendship with his tutor. In later years, he would premiere Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, and was one of the few permitted to give musical criticism to that great composer.
Tchaikovsky once wrote
“I know you are absolutely sincere and I think a great deal of your judgment. But I also fear it” - (From the letters of Tchaikovsky, qtd in Sergei Taneyev - Wikipedia)
But he was a composer in his own right, the author of a monumental treatise on Counterpoint that led to his nickname - the “Russian Brahms.”
Rimsy-Korsakov described Taneyev’s technique as follows:
“Before setting out for the real expounding of a composition, Taneyev used to precede it with a multitude of sketches and studies: he used to write fugues, canons, and various contrapuntal interlacings on the individual themes, phrases, and motives of the coming composition; and only after gaining thorough experience in its component parts did he take up the general plan of the composition and the carrying out of this plan, knowing by that time, as he did, and perfectly, the nature of the material he had at his disposal and the possibilities of building with that material” (qtd from Sergei Taneyev - Wikipedia)
“The Quintet in particular demonstrates how Taneyev’s twin obsessions, counterpoint and musical form, can meaningfully combine. Its first movement is a clearly articulated sonata structure, the success of each passage closely linked to its formal function: the introduction slow, the exposition declamatory, the development a web of polyphonic intrigue and the recapitulation emboldened through its stern sense of inevitability. Repeated octave Ds in the piano left hand drive home this sense of return, introducing first the recapitulation and then the coda.” (Gavin Dixon, Sergei Taneyev: Tchaikovsky’s Heir or the Russian Bach?)
Taneyev: Piano Quintet in G Minor Taneyev - Piano Quintet - Pletnev / Repin / Gringolts / Imai / Harrell (Verbier, 2003) - YouTube
Arensky
Another precocious Romantic, and teacher of Rachmaninoff. He, however, was often called imitative.
Anton Arensky | Russian composer | Britannica.com
His teacher, Rimsy-Korsakov, wrote the following
“In his youth Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten.” (qtd in. Anton Arensky - Wikipedia)
In the Wikipedia Talk section, under the title “Gambling and Alcohol Abuse,” appears the following
“I’ve added a source here (Rimsky-Korsakov’s memoirs) since that seems to be the only source about this side of Arensky’s life - very little is known about his private life. It’s something that gets perpetuated endlessly and Rimsky as an only source is slightly suspect since he appears to have had some gripes about Arensky.” “ (User:Ilja.nieuwland - Wikipedia)
Arensky: Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky Arensky Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky played by EWCO under Rostislav Krimer - YouTube
Glazunov
“Would musical history have turned out differently if Alexander Glazunov hadn’t been smashed out of his wits when he conducted the first performance of Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 in D minor? The best of Glazunov’s own neatly carpentered symphonies hover on the verge of greatness. Perhaps if he hadn’t been such a toper — swigging from bottles of spirits during lectures at the St Petersburg Conservatory, where he was director — they would do more than hover. Unfortunately, his drinking didn’t just screw up his own career.“
The 23-year-old Sergei Rachmaninov had spent two years working on his first symphony, whose climaxes erupt from melodic cells borrowed from Orthodox chant. Not that Glazunov would have noticed. He barely glanced at the score before the premiere. On that fateful evening in 1897 he conducted ‘like a zombie’, according to one account. The orchestra was all over the place. Poor Rachmaninov hid on a spiral staircase while it was going on and then ran into the street to escape the catcalls.
Composer, conductor and drunk Alexander Glazunov. Photo: Getty
Posterity doesn’t lay all the blame at Glazunov’s door. The conventional wisdom is that, even in a fine performance such as Ashkenazy’s with the Concertgebouw, the work is a sprawling mess, exciting in places but basically one of music’s shipwrecks.
Nonsense.” (Damain Thompson, the UK Spectator)
Next Week: Rachmaninoff
Discography:
Bach, J.S.: Cello Suite No. 6. Performed by Christopher Bunting Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: I. Prelude - YouTube
Finzi, Bernard: Farewell to Arms (0p.9) Performed by the City of London Sinfonietta and Martin Hill (tenor)Gerald Finzi, ‘Farewell to arms’ - YouTube
Finzi, Bernard: Cello Concerto. Performed by Tim Hugh (cello) with the Northern Sinfonia conducted by Howard Griffiths. Finzi Cello concerto - YouTube
Part 1: The Eccentric Cellist - Christopher Bunting
An odd bit of advice:
“One of the most stultifying and ubiquitous aspects of ‘stuckness’ at an early infantile state is perfectionism. Consider a simple machine that controls its own behaviour by sensing the relevant portion of reality and by feeding back the resultant information to the controlling function. Consider, for instance, the household thermostat controlling a central-heating system.
Mr. Smith, Mr. N. Riche and Mr. I.D.K=L. Plato would all like to maintain a termperature of 65 degrees in their houses. Mr. Smith buys a thermostat that switches the system on at 60 degrees and off at 70 degrees and is very happy with it. His house stays at more-or-less 65 degrees. Mr. N. Riche would like something a little more sophisticated, a little more ‘accurate,’ a little more demonstrably expensive! He buys one that switches the system on at 64.99 degrees F and off at 65.01 degrees F. Unfortunately on stormy nights it emulates James Thurber’s nervous card-table that switched capriciously into and out of its alternative mode as an ironing board — a case of mechanical identity crisis! Well, we are still, just, within the confines of sanity, but along comes Mr. I.D.L. Plato who will hear nothing of ‘limits’ or tolerances’ and is thus forced by inexorable logic to construct for himself a system that switches itself on at 65 degrees F and also off at the same temperature! On means off, do means don’t, yes means no, play means don’t play.
Bertrand Russell said: “All science is dominated by the notion of approximation” - as well he might!
When last seen Mr. I.D.L. Plato was being carted off to a sanatorium in the shape of a perfect dodecahedron. Alas it has no lavatory.” - Cristopher Bunting, An Essay on the Craft of ‘Cello Playing.
Bach, J.S.: Cello Suite No. 6. Performed by Christopher Bunting Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: I. Prelude - YouTube
The War Torn Composer - Gerald Finzi
“In 1951, however, Finzi learned that he was suffering from Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of leukaemia, and was told he had between five and ten years to live. The discovery in no way lessened his activities, particularly those undertaken for other composers.
He had championed Ivor Gurney in the 1930s and those efforts continued. He also worked on the music of Hubert Parry and edited the overtures of William Boyce for Musica Britannica. An all-Finzi concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 1954 acknowledged his standing in Britain’s musical life.
A commission from Sir John Barbirolli for the 1955 Cheltenham Festival brought forth the Cello Concerto (1951-52,54-55), Finzi’s most ambitious, purely instrumental work.“ (Biography « Gerald Finzi Official Site)
How did Bunting become involved? Both he and FInzi were prominent British musicians, and the composer contracted Bunting to advise him on what the London Times calls “technical matters,” which also records that “in the event, he impressed the composer and conductor enough to be chosen as the work’s first soloist.”
(https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chrisptopher-bunting-w9zjhkqt8jg)
“Finzi finally lost the fight against his illness and he died on September 27, 1956. His Cello Concerto was first broadcast the night before he died.
Today, his music continues to be much admired and celebrated. It embraces a rich variety of moods, from elegiac lyricism, through spiritual reflection, to radiant joy. In particular the deaths of his father, three brothers and his teacher introduced the theme of fragility and transient existence, which was explored in many later works.”
(Biography « Gerald Finzi Official Site)
“After being bowled over by Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto I knew I had to listen to this. I try not to read other reviewer’s comments before I listen, but in this case I happened to. The writer compared this concerto with Elgar’s! Now, I am not a fervid fan of that piece, but I do like it a lot, so this is big stuff. Sure enough, the opening does call forth the same work by Elgar. Finzi adds an element of anger about the whole situation and for that reason I really prefer it. It is more ‘emotional.’” - Robert Stumpf II
For comparison, the Elgar Cello Concerto: Jacqueline du Pre & Daniel Barenboim - Elgar Cello Concerto - YouTube
A Closing Thought
“The artist is like the coral insect, building his reef out of the transitory world around him and making a solid structure to last long after his fragile and uncertain life…”— Gerald Finzi (qtd. in Boosey and Hawkes’ biography)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony 3 (Eroica). Performed by the Orchestre national de France and conducted by Josef Krips (1958).
————————
The Heiligenstadt Testament:
“O you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me, you do not know the secret causes of my seeming, from childhood my heart and mind were disposed to the gentle feelings of good will, I was even ever eager to accomplish great deeds, but reflect now that for six years I have been a hopeless case…
but what a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard the shepherd singing and again I heard nothing, such incidents brought me to the verge of despair, but little more and I would have put an end to my life - only art it was that withheld me, ah it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence
It is said that I must now choose patience for my guide, I have done so, I hope my determination will remain firm to endure until it please the inexorable parcae to break the thread, perhaps I shall get better, perhaps not, I am prepared. Forced already in my 28th year to become a philosopher”
From “The Riddle Of Beethoven’s Eroica:”
“Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony has disturbed not only people who write about music. It bothers musicians too. And I must confess I am no exception. Perhaps this points up to a lesson, for whenever I hear it I find the work beautiful. Only when thinking about it am I teased and tantalized.”(Holden)
Who is the funeral march for?
“Hector Berlioz compared the funeral march to the rites for the slain Pallas from Virgil’s Aeneid. In the 1840s, Richard Wagner believed that Beethoven was depicting the philosophical idea of heroism in all of its forms, including sorrow, and implied that Beethoven himself was the hero.14 Arnold Schering argued in 1933 that Homer’s Iliad had served as the inspiration for the Eroica, with Hector being the hero. Thus, the Funeral March portrays the Trojans mourning the slain Hector…
Others have regarded the Eroica Symphony not in mythological– literary–historical terms, but as an autobiographical work. Thus, according to Romain Rolland, Beethoven was struggling with the onset of his deafness, and in the Funeral March, he depicted his own death. This type of psychological approach was also followed by Maynard Solomon, who stated that “the symphony, with its Funeral March, is centrally concerned with the death of the hero as well as with his birth and resurrection.”18 Sipe disagrees with this theory as well, stating that “The symphony is not about the death and resurrection of a hero, as Solomon suggests. Instead, it is about the hero’s character in all its manifestations, including grief and resignation over loss.”19 This idea was in fact first presented by Wagner, and in my opinion, makes the most sense…
According to another anecdote, told by Alois Fuchs, Beethoven had remarked upon hearing that Napoleon had won a decisive victory over the Prussians at the Battle of Jena in 1806 that “It’s a pity that I do not understand the art of war as well as I do the art of music, [otherwise] I would conquer him!”21 I believe that this statement helps us understand Beethoven’s original meaning. Wagner had intimated that the hero of the Eroica Symphony was not Napoleon, but Beethoven himself: Beethoven as the revolutionary liberator—the Napoleon—of music. Writing this symphony—setting out on a new path, as he described his aim—was itself a heroic act of great courage. If this theory is correct, then it is Beethoven himself who is grieving over the death of someone in the Funeral March...
My new hypothesis is that Beethoven, because his plan to dedicate the First Symphony to Max Franz was thwarted, decided to honor his deceased ruler with a symphonic Funeral March.” (Steblin)
————————
Holden, David. “The Riddle of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica.’” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 3, no. 4, 1962, pp. 635– 53. JSTOR.
Steblin, Rita. “Who Died? The Funeral March in Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony: The Musical Quarterly; The Funeral March in Eroica Symphony.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 89, no. 1, June 2007, pp. 62–79, doi: 10.1093/musqtl/gdk010 .
Wikisource contributors. “Heiligenstadt Testament.” / Wikisource/. Wikisource , 23 Apr. 2018. Web. 2 Mar. 2019.
The Show Image features a painting by Joseph Willabrord Mahler of beethoven playing a lyre guitar.
"Ah! Shall I tell you, Mother,
What causes my torment?
Father wants me to reason
As an adult, but
I say that sweets are
Better than reason."
This melody first appeared in an anonymous publication, in the 1740s. It was joined with the above verse several decades afterwards, when it began to cause excitement in Paris which was only furthered when the 25 (or 26) year old Mozart heard the meloody and, with his pen, vaunted it to new levels of popularity.
(Source: Aaron Green. https://www.thoughtco.com/mozart-origin-twinkle-twinkle-little-star-723916)Mozart, Wolfgang: Twelve Variations on "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman," K. 265/300e. Performed by Andre Bondarenko."Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732 - 1795) was a son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach. He lived and worked mainly at the court of Bückeburg. Therefore he is called the Bückeburger Bach. The variations on the same song by Mozart are well known. These variations by Bach are not, unfortunately. Yet, this music is very nice to listen to and to play. In the German speaking countries it is known by the title "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann" and in the English countries: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star". In Holland we know it as "Altijd is Kortjakje ziek". I play it on my cabinet organ, built by Cor Duijn (Lelystad, The Netherlands, 1995). It has 5 stops: flute 8', flute 4', quint 2 2/3', octave 2' and tremulant. This organ has only wooden pipes."
"Wanting to avoid being known primarily as the composer of The Carnival of the Animals, Saint-Saëns decided to make sure the piece was not published during his lifetime. Performances were limited to a few private events (Franz Liszt, who once called Saint-Saëns the greatest organist in the world was at one of these rare performances). It wasn’t until his friends begged him to make at least some of it public that he allowed one movement to be used as a solo piece: “The Swan” (he also finally agreed the entire work could be published after his death)."
(Source: Katherine J. Allwine Bacasmont. http://saskatoonsymphony.org/saint-saens-carnival-of-the-animals/)
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals, Movements 11-12. Performed by Zagreb Music Academy Chamber Orchestra."For the enjoyment of humorous people and for the annoyance of others." - Dohnanyi's dedication.
Dohnanyi, Ernst von: Variations on a Nursery Rhyme. Performed by the composer with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Sir Adrian Bolt.(Painting of the Mozart Family by della Croce)
"Highly honored sir, you call Joachim only the leading German violinist? I find him to be the leading performing musician altogether — an ideal of perfection. With his incomparable mastery he has terrified me and laid me low — but the feeling of artistic elevation that I owe to him won out in the end."
Hans von Bülow to Franz Wüllner, 1 December, 1866 (qtd. in josephjoachim.com)
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Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 2. Performed by Joseph Joachim (1903)
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From a translation from the German language Jewish Chronicle and Hebrew Observer, excerpted from Beth-El by Ignaz Reich:
"His sisters receiving instruction in music, the sounds seemed to have had a magical effect upon the boy, and he listened to them with intense and unwearied attention. Soon he begged his father to be permitted to take lessons in music like his sisters. The violin was the instrument chosen for him. The progress which he made in the first month disclosed at once his extraordinary talent. More and more skilful masters had to be engaged for him, and a ray of intellectual satisfaction was often seen to light up his countenance, when, after conquering some extraordinary difficulty, a smile or an applauding nod of his teachers, to whom he clung with filial attachment, rewarded his perseverance, and encouraged him to further efforts. At the age of six, after a study of about one year, he executed in public, before the gentry and nobility of Pest, the variations of Pechatsek; the applause was immense. At the age of eight he was sent to Vienna, where he for three years continued his studies under the greatest musicians. During this period he but rarely played in public; but when he did he excelled all other competitors. The leading papers of the day, in speaking of his performance on January 31, 1842, said, “The palm of the evening is due to a boy of ten years old, Joachim, a pupil of Professor Böhm, who played the variations of Ernst with astonishing excellence. On hearing the playing of this boy, the marvellous skill, the depth of feeling, the plaintive notes, as it were the sorrow of the instrument, and the musically expressed grief, one is led to believe that the whole is a delusion — some charming dream. In this boy we see the ripest fruit of bloom; in him we perceive the accomplished deep-feeling artist"
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Ernst: Variations on the Last Rose of Summer. Performed by Moné Hattori (2016).
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From the same biographical sketch:
"Towards the end of 1842, at the age of eleven, he went to Leipsic, in order to enter the musical academy. There he played at a private concert, in the house of Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The greatest masters of the art listened in deep emotion to the boy; for a long time the enrapturing sounds of his instrument alone were heard. When he had finished, Mendelssohn solemnly walked up to the violinist, and impressing a kiss on his forehead, enthusiastically called out, “I, myself, was once such a child.” More was not requisite. Joachim’s artistic position was now marked out. Henceforth Mendelssohn proved his most faithful patron, his warmest friend. House and heart of the great master were now alike open to the child. It was Mendelssohn who opposed his entering the musical academy, declaring that he had outgrown this institution, and that he would find there no equal. Mendelssohn himself, as well as David and Hauptmann, gave him private instruction."
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Mendelssohn, Felix: Violin Concerto in E Minor. Performed by Hilary Hahn with Hugh Wolf and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2002).
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From the same source, quoting a letter of introduction written by Mendelssohn.
"Dear Friend — By these lines I present to you a boy who, during the nine months that I have known him, has become truly dear to me, has entwined himself round my heart, and of whom I have conceived such a high opinion /(hochachtung)/, as I entertain but for few with whom I have latterly been in contact. It is Joachim, of Pest, in Hungary, a boy 13 years old, who intends to pay a visit to his uncle residing in London. I cannot sufficiently describe to you his extraordinary marvellous talent in handling the violin. You must hear him yourself to be able to judge of the manner in which he plays all existing solos, and of the ease with which he deciphers everything in notes, how he discerns and knows music..."
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Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 1. Performed by Joseph Joachim (1903).
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From the same sketch, now quoting young Joseph who wrote from London to his parents with these words:
"I hope in the course of this winter to make considerable progress in music and other branches of study. I rise every day at six o’clock in the morning, when I study Latin, classics, or some other useful work, until breakfast. The whole forenoon afterwards I devote exclusively to music, the violin in particular, composition, and the necessary practice in thorough bass. At half-past two in the afternoon I recommence working, writing till four o’clock: from then till eight I play pianoforte; then, having taken a walk and supped, I again study music until nine o’clock. Sometimes I commit to memory passages from our splendid Schiller, whilst also composing a concert and diligently practicing music.”
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Bach, J.S.: Adagio in G Minor. Performed by Joachim (1904).
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From the same source, in Leipzig in 1847, after the death of Mendelssohn, quoting a letter to his parents.
"Dearest and Good Parents — Prepare yourself to hear from me something unspeakingly sad and terrible. God Almighty yesterday visited me with a great calamity. All my joy, all my hopes, all, all was blighted — yesterday, at nine o’clock in the evening — Mendelssohn is dead! A world of grief lies in these three words. Alas, it is but too true — dead, dead, dead! It is impossible for me to think of anything else, or to listen to a sound of music. Mendelssohn had been unwell for some time; yesterday a week he got worse, and a fit of apoplexy supervened. There was, nevertheless, hope until the day before yesterday, when at two o’clock he had a renewed severe fit, and he became worse. Last evening a rattling in the throat commenced, gradually his strength failed him, and at a few minutes after nine o’clock he passed over into a better world, calm like an angel."
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Joachim, Joseph: Notturno for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 12. Performed by Daniel Hope with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (2011).
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Our biographer notes:
"This melancholy occurrence had indeed produced a deep and lasting impression upon Joachim’s mind. The sounds which he henceforth elicited from his instrument became more solemn, more august; a profound melancholy pervaded them. It is as though we heard in them the whispers of blissful departed spirits. Henceforth his youthfulness quickly matured into manly earnest, and composing now became his favourite occupation."
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Joachim, Joseph: Romanze in C. Performed by the composer (1903?).
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Additional Intrigues:
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A eulogy given by Joachim on the deathbed of Schuman (found on josephjoachim.com):
"But here we wish especially to remember the noble man, the “lofty” man, as his favorite poet, Jean Paul, called those rare mortals who steadfastly lead a spiritual life, fostering the divine spark in themselves; whose thoughts remain apart from the daily cares of the world, which lies far behind them in insubstantial illusion. And yet, how kindly, how lovingly, this lofty man walked among his fellows; how his supportive nature strove to kindle every spark of genuine, true striving into pure flame. How pure and without envy he was in his admiration of other masters — how he loved Mendelssohn, Brahms — how willingly he acknowledged others, even lesser talents!
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Schumann and Clara visited Hanover, and I hoped to give them pleasure with a musical performance. We played quartets for the master, and it was natural that I should choose, among others, a favorite of mine: the F minor quartet by Beethoven. When I thereafter put one of his own magnificent quartets on the stand, seeing this, he gave me his hand in his true-hearted way, and with a typically beautiful expression in his marvelously mild eyes, he said: “No, not this, after what we have just heard!” I shall never forget his cordial tone, and the truth that it conveyed."
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Great gratitude is given to josephjoachim.com, the open and ongoing research project of Professor Robert W. Eschbach of the University of New Hampshire, from which most all of the material here quoted was found. The show image is by Philip de László - http://www.delaszloarchivetrust.com/index.php?cid=galery&id=138, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3872937.
Mozart - Requim in D Minor, Lacrimosa (London Symphony Orchestra)
“Who does not know the varied riches of Mozart's life ? All that agitated the minds of men in that day — nay, all that now moves, and ever will move, the heart of man — vibrated with fresh pulsation, and under the most manifold forms, in his sensitive soul”
-Ludwig Nohl (1864), in the introduction to “The letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1769-1791)”.
Writes critic James Manheim (allmusic.com)
"The music here was composed in the 1750s and 1760s: mostly or entirely after the birth of Wolfgang. An indicator of its high quality is that several of them have in the past been attributed to the younger Mozart. Given that Wolfgang was indeed alive and working when these works were composed, some of the similarities may have resulted from an unusual situation in which the father was influenced by his child son."
Leopold Mozart - Toy Symphony
“The daughter at a very early age displayed a most remarkable talent for music, and when her father becran to oive her instructions in it, an inborn and passionate love of this art was soon evident in her little brother of three years old, who at once gave tokens of a degree of genius far surpassing all experience, and really bordering on the marvellous. In his fourth year he could play all sorts of little pieces on the piano. He only required half an hour to learn a minuet, and one hour for a longer movement ; and in his fifth year he actually composed some pretty short pieces, several of which are still extant”
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. “The letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1769-1791)”. Libros.
“We have the honor to associate with a certain Dominican who is considered a very pious ascetic. I somehow don't quite think so, for he constantly takes a cup of chocolate for breakfast, and immediately afterwards a large glass of strong Spanish wine; and I have myself had the privilege of dining with this holy man, when he drank a lot of wine at dinner and a full glass of very strong wine afterwards, two large slices of melons, some peaches and pears for dessert, five cups of coffee, a whole plateful of nuts, and two dishes of milk and lemons. This he may perhaps do out of bravado, but I don't think so — at all events, it is far too much; and he eats a great deal also at his afternoon collation.”
Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. “The letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1769-1791)”. Libros.
“I GRIEVE from my heart to hear that Jungfrau Martlie is still so ill, and I pray every day that she may recover. Tell her from me that she must beware of much fatigue and eat only what is strongly salted [she was consumptive]. Ap)ropo8^ did you give my letter to Robinsiegerl ? [Sigismund Robinig, a friend of his]. You did not mention it when you wrote. I beg that when you see him you will tell him he is not quite to forget me. I can't possibly write better, for my pen is only fit to write music and not a letter. My violin has been newly strung, and I play every day. I only mention this because mamma wished to know whether I still played the violin. I have had the honor to go at least six times by myself into the churches to attend their splendid ceremonies. In the mean time I have composed four Italian sym”
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. “The letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1769-1791)”. Libros.
Mendelssohn - Italian Symphony (London Symphony Orchestra)
Mozart - Musical Joke (Dresden Staatskappele)
"With Leopold’s death in May 1787, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart not only lost his father, but also his best friend."
-Mozart.com
Mozart's Verse for his Parrot, translated by Robert Spaethling
Here rests a bird called Starling,
A foolish little Darling.
He was still in his prime
When he ran out of time,
And my sweet little friend
Came to a bitter end,
Creating a terrible smart
Deep in my heart.
Gentle Reader! Shed a tear,
For he was dear,
Sometimes a bit too jolly
And, at times, quite folly,
But nevermore
A bore.
I bet he is now up on high
Praising my friendship to the sky,
Which I render
Without tender;
For when he took his sudden leave,
Which brought to me such grief,
He was not thinking of the man
Who writes and rhymes as no one can.Who writes and rhymes as no one can.
Mozart - Requim in D Minor, Lacrimosa (London Symphony Orchestra)
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