Concert of Tuesday, April 2, 2014, at 8:00p Donald Runnicles, conductor Yo-Yo Ma, cello Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor, Opus 85 (1919) I. Adagio; Moderato II. Lento; Allegro molto III. Adagio IV. Allegro; Moderato; Allegro, ma non troppo Intermission Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Opus 98 (1885) I. Allegro non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Allegro giocoso IV. Allegro energico e passionato
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor, Opus 85 (1919) Edward Elgar was born in Broadheath, near Worcester, England, on June 2, 1857, and died in Worcester on February 23, 1934. The first performance of the Cello Concerto took place at the Queen s Hall in London, England, on October 27, 1919, with Felix Salmond as soloist, and the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition to the solo cello, the Concerto is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty minutes. In the spring of 1918, following a long and painful illness finally diagnosed as tonsillitis, Edward Elgar underwent surgery. The composer s daughter, Carice, recalled: He was in a great deal of pain for several days; (there) were not anything like the sedatives that we have now, but nevertheless he woke up one morning and asked for pencil and paper. Elgar then composed the first music he had written in nine months a beautiful melody in 9/8 time. That fall, Alice Elgar noted that her husband was at work orchestrating the melody. By the spring of the following year, Elgar devoted much time and attention to this music, which now took form as his Cello Concerto in E minor. On June 26, 1919, Elgar wrote to his friend, Sidney Colvin: I am frantically busy writing & have nearly completed a Concerto for Violoncello a real large work & I think good & alive. Elgar later dedicated the Concerto to Sidney Colvin and his wife, Frances. Cellist Felix Salmond assisted Elgar in the composition of the solo part. In August, Elgar offered Salmond the opportunity to be the soloist in the Concerto s world premiere, which took place at the Queen s Hall in London on October 27, 1919. It was the opening of the London Symphony Orchestra s first concert season following World War I. Albert Coates, the Orchestra s new conductor, was scheduled to lead music by Wagner, Scriabin and Borodin. Elgar would take the podium for the premiere of his Cello Concerto. Coates decided to devote virtually all of the allotted rehearsal time to the music he was conducting. As a result, the Concerto received a woefully inadequate performance. In a review of the premiere of the Elgar Cello Concerto, the eminent British music critic, Ernest Newman, wrote: never, in all probability, has so great an orchestra made so lamentable a public exhibition of itself. Still, Newman was able to discern the considerable qualities of Elgar s newest composition: The work itself is lovely stuff, very simple that pregnant simplicity that has come upon Elgar s music in the last couple of years but with a profound wisdom and beauty underlying its simplicity the realization in tone of a fine spirit s lifelong wistful brooding upon the loveliness of the earth. In time, the Elgar Concerto has become recognized as one of the 20 th century s finest works for cello and orchestra. Many commentators have recognized the Concerto s
profound wisdom, first cited by Ernest Newman. However, they often attribute that wisdom to far less genial circumstances than those suggested by Newman. Elgar composed the Cello Concerto after the devastation of the First World War. Elgar was all too aware of the effect the War to End All Wars had upon the world he knew and loved. As the composer wrote in 1917: Everything good & nice & clean & sweet is far away never to return. And perhaps Elgar sensed that his own life at least as a composer was reaching its final stages. In his catalogue of works, Elgar wrote the following next to the listing of his Cello Concerto: FINIS R.I.P. And after his beloved Alice s death in 1920, Elgar was never the same. Although Edward Elgar lived another fifteen years after the premiere of the Cello Concerto, it proved to be his last major work. Musical Analysis I. Adagio; Moderato The Concerto s slow introduction (Adagio) features a grand statement by the soloist, to which the winds and strings offer a subdued response. Another solo passage for the cello leads to the violas rapt introduction of the melody Elgar originally composed during his recuperative period (Moderato). The soloist repeats the predominant melody. Following a pastoral interlude in 12/8 time, the soloist quietly reprises the central melody (Come prima). After a grand, orchestral presentation of the melody, the soloist leads the opening movement to a hushed conclusion. The second movement follows without pause. II. Lento; Allegro molto The opening chords of the first movement s slow introduction return, but this time the soloist plays them in pizzicato fashion. After a brief orchestral flourish, the soloist offers a glimpse of the second-movement scherzo s principal theme. The theme finally emerges in its totality as a quicksilver perpetuum mobile figure. Brief dialogues between the soloist and orchestra periodically interrupt the theme s inexorable progress. The filigree orchestration and furtive energy of this delectable movement are worthy of the finest Mendelssohn scherzos. III. Adagio This slow movement features an elegiac, wide-ranging melody, played molto espressivo by the soloist. The hushed closing measures lead directly to the finale. IV. Allegro; Moderato; Allegro, ma non troppo The finale opens with a brief orchestral proclamation, followed by a recitative-like statement (nobilmente) for the soloist. This introduction both recalls the Concerto s opening measures and foreshadows the finale s central theme, which, after an upward flourish, is played in complete form by the soloist. It appears that high spirits will dominate the finale. But quite unexpectedly, the music s lively gait slows for a lengthy episode of extraordinary introspection and pathos. Echoes of the preceding Adagio add to the mood of resignation, as the music seems to fade to a silent conclusion. But suddenly, a reprise of the Concerto s formidable opening measures, followed by a brief restatement of the principal theme, leads to the terse resolution. Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Opus 98 (1885)
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833, and died in Vienna, Austria, on April 3, 1897. The first performance of the Symphony No. 4 took place in Meiningen, Germany, on October 25, 1885, with the composer conducting the Meiningen Orchestra. The Symphony No. 4 is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-nine minutes. Johannes Brahms composed his Fourth (and final) Symphony during the summers of 1884 and 1885, while vacationing in the Alpine village of Mürzzuschlag. On August 29, 1885, Brahms forwarded the manuscript of the Fourth Symphony s opening movement to his friend, Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, along with the following playful correspondence: Will you allow me to send you a piece of a piece of mine, and would you have time to glance at it and send me a word about it? Generally speaking, my pieces are, unfortunately, pleasanter than I am, and people find less in them that needs putting right! The cherries in this part of the world never grow sweet and are uneatable so that if the thing is not to your taste don t hesitate to say so. I am not at all eager to write a bad No. 4... In a letter of September 6, Mme. von Herzogenberg confessed, (t)he movement from the Symphony has already been heaving many sighs and groans under my unskilled hands...there are many passages where I still get quite lost. And, after hearing a piano duet performance of the Symphony, the prominent Viennese critic, Eduard Hanslick, commented: I feel as though I am being thrashed by two frightfully clever fellows. The eminent German pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow was thrilled by the score, and invited Brahms to conduct his Meiningen Orchestra in the October 25, 1885 premiere. The favorable response prompted that Orchestra to perform the Symphony during its autumn tour of Germany and Holland. Brahms and his Vienna had parted forever On March 7, 1897, in Vienna, the mortally-ill Brahms attended his final orchestral concert, in which Hans Richter conducted the E-minor Symphony. The audience became aware of Brahms s presence, and applauded after each movement. At the conclusion of the Symphony, the audience leapt to its feet and offered a massive ovation in tribute to Brahms. The frail composer summoned his remaining energy to rise and acknowledge the cheers. As biographer Florence May described: Tears ran down his cheeks as he stood there, shrunken in form with lined countenance, strained expression, white hair hanging lank, and through the audience there was a feeling as of a stifled sob, for each knew that he was saying farewell. Another outburst of applause and yet another; one more acknowledgment from the master, and Brahms and his Vienna had parted forever.
It is entirely appropriate that the Fourth Symphony served to mark the farewell of Brahms to his beloved Viennese public. The work represents the summit of the composer s extraordinary symphonic output. While each of the Four Symphonies is an undisputed masterpiece, the E-minor is the perfect synthesis of Classical (and even pre-classical) form with searing Romantic passion and lyricism. The Fourth Symphony s dramatic power couched in a miraculous economy of utterance continues to move and amaze audiences. Musical Analysis I. Allegro non troppo The opening movement begins with the violins immediate presentation of the principal theme, based upon alternating pairs of descending and ascending notes. A woodwind fanfare leads to a wide-ranging and plaintive string melody. Another fanfare by the winds and horns serves as the basis for the exposition s stormy conclusion. The development opens in the same fashion as the very start of the work, but soon features ingenious manipulations of the thematic material. A mystical expansion of the opening theme, played by the winds, serves as prelude to the recapitulation. The tempestuous coda begins with a massive statement of the opening theme, and rushes headlong to a thunderous close. II. Andante moderato The horns and woodwinds intone a rather foreboding statement of the Andante s central, modal theme. The variations of the theme, presented throughout the movement, offer a remarkably wide range of moods and orchestra colors. Although there are moments of great agitation, the Andante concludes with the utmost serenity. III. Allegro giocoso By contrast, the third-movement Scherzo opens in boisterous fashion, as the orchestra immediately proclaims the vigorous main theme. The triangle adds a sparkling and festive touch. There are moments of lyricism, notably in the flowing, grazioso violin theme, and a brief interlude, introduced by the bassoons and horns. But in general, an almost violent energy pervades this movement. During an orchestral rehearsal of the Fourth Symphony, conductor Fritz Steinbach asked Brahms to offer a description of the Scherzo. Brahms replied: That is Alexander the Great s march to India. IV. Allegro energico e passionato Several years before the composition of the Fourth Symphony, Brahms showed Hans von Bülow the final movement of Johann Sebastian Bach s Cantata No. 150 (Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich) and inquired: What would think of a symphonic movement written on this theme one day? But it is too heavy, too straightforward. It would have to be chromatically altered in some way. Brahms once referred to the magnificent Chaconne from Bach s Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004, as one of the most incredible pieces of music. Using a single system...the man writes a whole world of the deepest and most powerful expression. Much the same may be said of the finale of the Brahms Fourth, a stunning series of variations on a ground bass, derived from the composer s modification of the noted passage in Bach s Cantata No. 150.
The winds and brass proclaim the eight-measure ground bass figure that serves as the underlying structure for a series of thirty variations. The movement is also cast in a general A B A form, with two fiery outer sections and a central, lyrical episode. The concluding A section continues to build in intensity until the shattering final bars.