~~Tunes For The Troops~~ |
| Thank you Salsa King!:) |
| Want more information about the artists we play? Perhaps you'd like to buy concert tickets or their CDs? Click the links provided at the top of the thread for more information! |
Permission granted & presence requested Conor! *Hugs*
In September 1862, Brahms journeyed to Vienna to play it with members of the Hellmesberger Quartet. Josef Hellmesberger was a hard-bitten old pro of a violinist and nobody’s fool. In a city full of musical intrigue, Hellmesberger was a master intriguer, a man too “shafty” to be co-opted by anybody. Over the years Hellmesberger was to blow hot and cold over Brahms’ music, which was why Clara Schumann despised him. But the two men became heavily involved in each other’s musical lives, which was why Jo was always on his best behavior.
At the rehearsal, Hellmesberger had actually embraced Brahms and told him that he was the heir of Beethoven. The concert at the old Music Guild Hall was well attended by those who wanted to hear to the latest from Robert Schumann’s purported messiah, but the reaction to the piece was cool until the end. Brahms designed the finale to bring the house down, and that’s exactly what it did – and has done ever since. One thing that came from this was the thought that perhaps he ought to move from Hamburg to Vienna.
Schubert had introduced the idea of having three subjects in a sonata exposition, rather than the traditional two. Brahms ups the ante by using four distinct subjects, and because of its length, Brahms opts not to repeat his exposition. The initial theme in G minor starts quietly but goes off on a tear. At 1:59 he introduces his second subject in D minor with a magnificent cello passage. At 2:59 the third subject appears in D Major with the violin and viola playing the same line. (This is my favorite part.) What a theme! Still in D Major, he introduces the fourth subject at 3:43. After wrapping it up quietly, at 5:53 he makes it sound as though he is going to repeat the exposition, but he changes key, and you find yourself in the development section. At 9:10 Brahms executes a wrong-key recapitulation, which confused Clara mightily. The climactic cadence in E-flat at 9:48 will blow you away, and he skips to the third subject, now in B-flat. When he reaches the fourth subject at 10:36, Brahms states it in the minor, rather than the major, and he does it pianissimo with an air of mystery. He begins his long coda at 11:41 using the first subject and building to a climax at 12:29 before winding it down to a sullen and powerful end.
I normally shy away from amateur performances from summer music camps, preferring videos from professionals. But these four teenagers handled it as well any professional I’ve ever heard. The sound quality could be better, but it’s still a very strong performance. You may hear from these kids in a few years.
Brahms: Quartet for Piano and String in G minor, Op. 25, first movement
With such a heavy opening, Brahms doesn’t put his slow movement in second position, but opts for an intermezzo instead of a scherzo. He marks the strings con sordino, which means “with mutes”. This gives the strings a softer, silkier quality. He uses a 9/8 signature and places it in C minor. The theme has a swinging quality to it At 0:53 the violin gets a juicy theme, which sounds great with mutes. At 1:46 he adds a wonderful propulsiveness to the line. The “trio” section begins at 2:50 in A-flat. At 4:19 he returns to the opening theme. At 6:59 there is a short, sweet coda based on the middle section that ends the movement in C Major.
Brahms puts his slow movement in E-flat Major in third position, and it’s in 3/4, but broken up as “one-and-two-and-three-and.” At 3:45 he introduces his middle section in C Major, and it’s a march in 3/4 for toy soldiers. (When Arnold Schoenberg orchestrated this quartet in the Thirties, he turned this episode into a march of the local gauleiter and his storm troopers through the center of town; it’s crass and in bad taste.) At 4:35 there is a surprising excursion into A-flat before returning to C. At 6:01 he collapses the middle section and wends his way back to the opening theme, and when it arrives in the proper key at 7:00, it’s like the sun shining through the clouds. The coda at 8:52 sends the violin into the stratosphere with one of Brahms’ great heartbreaking melodies, which is picked up by the viola and then played by both instruments. All is peace at the end.
This video features four of the greatest virtuosi in the game, a true cast of all stars. Isaac Stern is no longer with us, unfortunately. Watch the idyllic expression on Yo-Yo Ma’s face. The cello lines in this movement are spectacular.
During the days of the Jo and Eddie Show, Brahms had been immersed in gypsy music, and now it paid off in spades. He labels his finale “Gypsy Rondo”, and it’s more fun than any musician should be allowed to have.
The opening theme is laid out in 2/4 and presto in G minor. At 1:02 a second theme in B-flat is introduced with running sixteenth notes on the piano. It’s hard not to smile. At 1:57 the first subject returns, to be succeeded at 2:28 by a czardas in G Major. At 3:13 a slower fourth subject in G Major is succeeded at 4:49 by the second subject, this time in G Major, which at 5:15 returns to the czardas. At 5:37 everything returns to presto and G minor, leading to the dreaded Bar #310, the piano cadenza at 6:08. Brahms does not use phrase lines, only directions as to which hand is to play which notes. Some pianists like to race through this at hyper-speed, but it’s important to understand that after hearing far too much gypsy violin, Brahms wanted to write for gypsy piano. As a result I’ve always believed it’s perfectly acceptable to schmaltz the opening of this cadenza, as long as it doesn’t cross the line into bad taste. Emmanuel Ax does a fine job of giving the cadenza a gypsy flavor. At the conclusion of the cadenza, a variation on the second subject picks up the pace, until at 7:36 the speed picks up to molto presto and the first subject for a mad dash to the finish. Audiences go nuts at the end.
~~Tunes For The Troops~~ |
| Thank you Salsa King!:) |
| Want more information about the artists we play? Perhaps you'd like to buy concert tickets or their CDs? Click the links provided at the top of the thread for more information! |
