Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124 (1855)

Transcription

1 Concert of Friday, November 1, 2013, at 6:00p. Robert Spano, Conductor Stephen Hough, Piano Franz Liszt ( ) Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124 (1855) I. Allegro maestoso. Tempo giusto II. Quasi Adagio III. Allegretto vivace IV. Allegro marziale animato Stephen Hough, Piano Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67 (1808) I. Allegro con brio II. Andante con moto III. Allegro IV. Allegro This concert will be performed without intermission

2 Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124 (1855) Franz Liszt was born in Raiding, Hungary, on October 22, 1811, and died in Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 took place at the hall of the palace of the Grand Duke of Weimar, Germany, on February 17, 1855, with the composer as soloist, and Hector Berlioz conducting. In addition to the solo piano, the Concerto No. 1 is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, cymbals and strings. Approximate performance time is nineteen minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: November 30, 1947, Despy Karlas, Piano, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: February 17, 18 and 19, 2011, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano, Jaap van Zweden, Conductor. A giant The Hungarian-born Franz Liszt was one of the greatest and most charismatic virtuosos in music history. As a child, Liszt displayed a remarkable keyboard talent that he refined under the tutelage of the eminent Austrian teacher, pianist and composer, Carl Czerny. By the age of 12, Liszt had already become an acclaimed concert pianist. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Ludwig van Beethoven, who had been Czerny s teacher, attended a Liszt recital in 1823 and after the concert, kissed the young boy on the forehead. On March 9, 1831, Liszt was present at the Paris debut of the legendary Nicolò Paganini. The young Liszt was overwhelmed by the Italian violinist s extraordinary fusion of showmanship and technical prowess. Liszt vowed that he would replicate, and perhaps even exceed, Paganini s charismatic hold upon an audience. The following year, Liszt heard Frédéric Chopin for the first time, and realized that poetry could move the listener with a force that rivaled the most impressive displays of virtuoso pyrotechnics. Liszt exerted an almost otherworldly control over his audiences, due in great part to his technical and interpretive mastery. It was not uncommon for members of the audience to faint during a Liszt recital. Many of those who remained conscious would rush to the stage and try to retrieve such souvenirs as Liszt s cigar stubs, gloves and broken piano strings. These items took on an almost religious significance for his devoted followers. Franz Liszt, the legendary virtuoso pianist and showman, sometimes overshadows his considerable achievements as a composer. Liszt s phenomenal technique and keen ear allowed him to create works that explored new vistas in keyboard sonorities. Hallé once attended a concert in which Hector Berlioz conducted the March to the Scaffold from his orchestral work, the Fantastic Symphony. Liszt then played his own transcription for

3 solo piano of the same piece, with an effect even surpassing that of the full orchestra, and creating an indescribable furore. One of the great pioneers of the Romantic movement, Liszt advanced the concept of music as a form of programmatic expression and, in fact, invented the term sinfonische Dichtung ( symphonic poem ). He also demonstrated bold and revolutionary possibilities for traditional musical conventions and forms, as in the case of his Piano Concerto No. 1. The Piano Concerto No. 1 Liszt may have begun sketches for his First Piano Concerto in the early 1830s. He worked on both the First and Second Concertos during the years However, Liszt s prolific career as a concert performer delayed completion of both works until 1849, by which time he had been appointed Kapellmeister of the Weimar Court. Liszt revised the Concertos in 1853 and orchestrated them with the aid his pupil, the composer Joachim Raff. The premiere of the First Piano Concerto took place on February 17, 1855, at the hall of the palace of the Grand Duke of Weimar, with Liszt as soloist. The conductor was French composer Hector Berlioz, whose works Liszt championed in Weimar. The score of the First Piano Concerto was published two years later. Musical Analysis Liszt s first Piano Concerto is cast in a single continuous movement that divides into four sections, each played without pause. I. Allegro maestoso. Tempo giusto The Concerto opens with the strings emphatic, fortissimo statement of a motif, to which the winds and brass respond with a short fanfare. The soloist responds with a grand cadenza. The principal motif and fanfare return throughout the opening section, featuring numerous dazzling episodes for the soloist. The opening section concludes with the pianist s delicate, ascending flourish. II. Quasi Adagio Muted strings introduce an ascending and descending theme soon played by the soloist. The music becomes increasingly tempestuous and then calms. The solo flute, accompanied by the soloist s ethereal trills, introduces a serene melody that serves as a bridge to the following section. III. Allegretto vivace The scherzo portion of the Concerto (Allegretto vivace) is a gossamer dance in ¾ time, enhanced by the triangle s sparkling presence. The solo cadenza and ensuing Allegro animato feature a reprise of the opening section s principal motif, as well the flute melody from the Quasi Adagio portion. IV. Allegro marziale animato The theme that served to open the Quasi Adagio portion of the Concerto is now transformed into a sprightly march. The pianist, followed by the winds, restate the lyrical flute melody that preceded the scherzo portion of the Concerto. The music of the scherzo returns as well. The Concerto s initial motif makes a final appearance in the brilliant closing pages.

4 Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67 (1808) Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on December 17, 1770, and died in Vienna, Austria, on March 26, The first performance of the Fifth Symphony took place in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien on December 22, 1808, with the composer conducting. The Symphony No. 5 is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-four minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: December 17, 1949, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: November 15, 16 and 18, 2012, Robert Spano, Conductor. A bloody record of a tremendous inner battle Beethoven s immortal Fifth Symphony is a work that continues to astonish listeners with its elemental power, taut drama, and, above all else, a sense of absolute inevitability. And yet, there was nothing inevitable about the process of the Symphony s creation. Beethoven composed the Fifth over a span of approximately four years ( ). During that time, Beethoven wrote and rewrote passages, filling sketchbook upon sketchbook with ideas for the Symphony. As Leonard Bernstein commented in his superb 1956 lecture on Beethoven s Fifth: The man rejected, rewrote, scratched out, tore up, and sometimes altered a passage as many as twenty times. Beethoven s manuscript looks like a bloody record of a tremendous inner battle. Too much of a good thing Beethoven completed his Fifth Symphony in the spring of The premiere took place at a December 22, 1808 concert, sponsored by the composer, and held at the Theater an der Wien. In addition to the first performance of the Fifth Symphony, the Vienna concert featured the premieres of Beethoven s Sixth Symphony ( Pastorale ) and the Choral Fantasy, the first public performance of his Fourth Piano Concerto, four movements from the composer s Mass in C, and the soprano aria, Ah! Perfido. All told, the concert included four hours of music. Beethoven served as both conductor and piano soloist. Perhaps a music lover who had access to a time machine might choose this concert as his first destination. Imagine the opportunity to witness Beethoven performing several of his greatest masterworks! By all accounts, however, the event was far from a triumph. A lack of sufficient rehearsal time, coupled with Beethoven s failings as a conductor, led to performances that were haphazard at best, and disasters at worst (during the premiere of the Choral Fantasy, the orchestra was forced to stop in the middle of the piece and begin a section over again). The audience endured this marathon concert held in the dead of winter in an unheated theater. As German musician, Johann Reichardt, recalled: There we continued, in the bitterest cold, too, from half past six to half past ten, and experienced the truth that one can easily have too much of a good thing and still more of the loud.

5 Early Reactions to the Fifth Today, of course, the Beethoven Fifth maintains its status as one of the greatest and most popular Symphonies. However, the extraordinary power and revolutionary nature of the work at first inspired confusion, awe, and even fear on the part of some music lovers. Composer Ludwig Spohr, who heard Beethoven conduct the Fifth several times in Vienna, felt that with all its individual beauties (the C-minor Symphony) does not form a classical whole. Spohr described the triumphant finale of the Fifth Symphony as empty noise. In 1814, the London Philharmonic rehearsed the work for the first time, and the musicians burst into laughter at the famous opening measures. In 1830, Felix Mendelssohn visited Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at the great author s Weimar home. There, Mendelssohn played excerpts on the piano of the opening movement of the Beethoven Fifth. The composer described Goethe s reaction: At first he said, But it does not move one at all; it merely astounds; it is grandiose, and then went on growling to himself, until after a long time he began again: That is very great, quite mad, one is almost afraid the house will fall down; and only imagine when they are all playing together! In his Memoirs, Hector Berlioz recalled an 1828 performance of the Beethoven Fifth in Paris, attended by one of the young composer s teachers at the Conservatoire, Jean- François Lesueur. After the concert, Berlioz rushed to Lesueur, anxious to learn his professor s opinion: I went striding up and down the passage with flushed cheeks. Well, dear master?... Hush! I want air; I must go outside. It is incredible, wonderful! It stirred and affected and disturbed me to such a degree that when I came out of the box and tried to put on my hat I could not find my own head! Do not speak to me until tomorrow.... The next day I rushed off to his house, and we at once fell to talking about the masterpiece which had stirred us so deeply...it was easy to see that I was talking to a quite different being from the man of the day before, and that the subject was painful to him. But I persisted until Lesueur, after again admitting how deeply the symphony had affected him, shook his head with a curious smile, and said, All the same, such music ought not to be written. To which I replied, Don t be afraid, dear master, there will never be too much of it. Musical Analysis I. Allegro con brio The Symphony opens with the clarinets and strings proclaiming the famous short-short-short-long motif the seed from which the entire work will grow. (Anton Schindler quoted the composer as describing the opening of the Fifth Symphony in the following manner: Thus fate knocks at the door! However, the authenticity of this quote has long been a subject of dispute.) A terse sequence, based almost exclusively upon this motif, leads to the introduction of the flowing, second subject by

6 the first violins and winds (here, the central four-note motif serves as accompaniment, played by the lower strings). A repetition of the four-note motif by the horns and clarinets, in dialogue with the strings, inaugurates the development section. A mysterious exchange between the strings and winds leads to the recapitulation, which seems to move in conventional terms, until suddenly, the orchestra halts, and the oboe plays a brief, haunting solo. The momentum resumes, and a fierce coda brings the opening movement to a stunning conclusion. II. Andante con moto The slow movement is in the form of variations on two themes. The violas and cellos introduce the lyrical first theme, marked dolce. The second theme incorporates the central four-note motif. After an initial, piano statement by the clarinets and bassoons, the orchestra presents a bold, martial repetition of that theme. A series of three variations follows. The coda begins in subdued fashion, but finally draws to an empathetic close. III. Allegro The principal section of the third-movement scherzo is based upon two contrasting elements. The first is a whispered, ascending and descending figure that appears at the outset of the movement. Suddenly, the horns offer a fortissimo proclamation, once again based upon the Symphony s central four-note motif. These two themes alternate until the arrival of the trio section, featuring a lumbering contrapuntal passage, initiated by the lower strings. The principal scherzo material returns, but now all is couched in hushed mystery. In a breathtaking transitional passage, the timpanist softly repeats the four-note motif. The first violins intone echoes of the scherzo, as the orchestra moves inexorably to the glorious finale, which follows without pause. IV. Allegro The orchestra boldly announces the finale s initial principal theme (the scoring of this finale includes piccolo, contrabassoon and trombones all making their first appearance in a Beethoven Symphony). Subsidiary material (again featuring the four-note motif) finally leads to the second principal theme a broad, descending melody, introduced by the winds and violas. The stormy development section is suddenly interrupted by a quiet reprise of the scherzo. A crescendo serves as a bridge to the recapitulation. From this point to the Presto conclusion, everything glows in the brightest sunlight.