PROGRAM NOTES SEPTEMBER 22, 2012 Johannes Brahms (1833 1897) Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 Brahms was born in Hamburg in northern Germany. He was given the Latin name Johannes to distinguish him from his father, Johann, who played double bass in the city orchestra. Although the young Brahms formal education never went beyond primary school, he was well trained in music. He progressed rapidly at the piano, and when only a teenager, began a career as a concert pianist and composer. Brahms earliest piano pieces reveal a mature compositional style, but symphonic writing did not come easily to him. Fearful of writing under the banner of Beethoven, Brahms once confided to a friend: You can have no conception how it feels to someone like myself always to hear the tread of a giant [Beethoven] like this at one s back. Intensely self critical, Brahms composed with great caution, periodically making numerous revisions for almost twenty years before finally summoning the courage to publish his first symphony. Once that was accomplished, however, he had no trouble composing three additional symphonies, as well as two orchestral overtures. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Brahms was a reserved man who spoke little about himself or his music. He was never a member of the adventurous New German School, preferring instead to infuse traditional structures with warm Romantic expression. He worked diligently, and his stature as a composer steadily grew. Twice the University of Cambridge tried to honor him with a doctorate, but he refused, afraid of crossing the Channel. In 1879, though, when the University of Breslau offered a Ph.D., Brahms accepted. It was suggested that the composer reciprocate the honor by writing a piece to commemorate the occasion. Brahms, who had just successfully completed his second symphony, felt comfortable in that medium, and he complied by writing Academic Festival Overture. (In this case, overture is an independent piece and not a prelude to a larger composition or dramatic production.) Brahms never attended college, but he had resided briefly in the university town of Göttingen, where he drank in the ambience (and probably much of the local brew, too!). No doubt he remembered many of the college songs and decided to incorporate them into his new composition. But the work is much more than a potpourri of popular melodies. Most of the writing is original, and the overall format is sonata form. Academic Festival Overture begins with new material by the composer a lively rhythmic figure soon followed by a smoother, more solemn theme in minor. Brahms incorporates several traditional melodies, one after another, and weaves them deftly into the fabric of the Overture. According to Craig Wright, as each melody is presented, the mood becomes increasingly exuberant, even irreverent. The first tune, the magnificent We Have Built a Stately House, is introduced by the brass and forms the second half of Theme one. Also legato is the second melody that Brahms quotes, The Father of the Land, while bassoons and oboes play the light hearted Page 1
closing song, What Comes From On High (an affectionate burlesque of less sophisticated students from the provinces). Fragments from the second and third songs are quasi developed; then both melodies return, although somewhat abbreviated, near the end. The opening rhythmic figure unifies the Overture by appearing periodically to provide transitional material between the songs and to assist in their development. In the coda (summary) the full orchestra introduces the well known Latin hymn, Gaudeamus igitur (Let s Rejoice, For We Are Young), thus bringing the work to a stirring conclusion. Brahms requires a larger orchestra than usual for the Overture three trumpets, three timpani, bass drum, cymbals, contrabassoon, and tuba are added and the richer variety of scoring contributes to the sense of collegiality and fellowship of this composition. In Wright s words, Much to the composer s delight, when the overture was first performed under his baton in Breslau on January 4, 1881, the students sang along, substituting their own unprintable texts for the official academic verse. Obviously the students enjoyed themselves. Academic Festival Overture continues to have the same good natured effect on today s audiences, even if they don t know the words of the songs. Max Karl August Bruch (1838 1920) Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 Bruch received his earliest music instruction from his mother, a well respected singer and music teacher in Cologne. Considered a child prodigy, Bruch began composing chamber and orchestral works at age eleven, and three years later his string quartet won the Frankfurt Mozart Foundation Prize. The young composer used scholarship money from this award to pay for piano and composition lessons with prominent musicians, such as Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Reinecke. After traveling throughout Europe and holding teaching/conducting positions in various places, e.g., Liverpool, Berlin, Koblenz, and Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), Bruch finally achieved the recognition he deserved. In 1891 he was named Professor at the Berlin Academy, and two years later the University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary doctorate. For many years Bruch served as Chairman of the Royal Academy in Berlin, and he was eventually named an honorary member. Bruch composed more than 200 vocal and instrumental works, among them three operas, numerous keyboard pieces, as well as choral and chamber music. Although his secular cantatas were highly esteemed and often performed by German choral societies throughout the nineteenth century, only the violin concertos remain in today s concert repertoire. Of these, Concerto No. 1, in G Minor is the best known. According to Richard Wigmore, Bruch was not completely satisfied with his Concerto. In April of 1866 he revised it and then sent the work to his friend, the violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, for advice and criticism. Joachim improved the solo parts. But more importantly, he allayed Bruch s fears that the piece was too unsymphonic and too unorthodox in form for a concerto, and dissuaded him from calling it a Fantasy. At first glance, the G Minor Concerto seems typical; it comprises three movements in a fast slow fast overall scheme. However, the composer undoubtedly conceived the opening movement as an extended introduction. He labels it Vorspiel (Prelude) and imparts an improvisatory flair to the solo violin. Page 2
Bruch believed the origin of true melody lies in music of the people. He studied folk songs from different ethnic groups and countries, and his affinity for this type of music accounts for the warm, tuneful style that permeates Concerto No. 1. The first movement begins with soft, sustained chords in the orchestra interspersed with recitative like passages for the soloist. The violin soon dominates with a wide ranging marcato melody, while the orchestra accompanies in gentle, drum like pulsations. Sometimes, however, the orchestra assumes an important theme, and the violin produces a counter melody. Toward the end, the tutti and violin join forces and become dramatic in fortissimo passages. The movement then closes quietly and leads directly, with no pause, into the second movement. Numerous beautiful melodic ideas abound in the violin part, making the Adagio one of the finest examples of lyric expression in concert repertoire. Although the orchestra mostly accompanies, there is a significant horn motive that recurs several times. The high spirited third movement consists of rapid exchanges between the tutti and soloist. Especially virtuosic is the violin part, with its double and triple stops, trills, and fast passages. Dramatic crescendos and an accelerating tempo lead to an energetic, exciting finale. Concerto No. 1 was premiered by Joachim in 1866, with Bruch as the conductor. It s not surprising that the work was well received and remains a favorite among concertgoers today. The rich melodic vein makes this music easy to remember and easy to love. Antonin Dvořák (1841 1904) Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 Early nineteenth century Germany dominated European music so completely that its traditions were accepted as international musical principles. Toward the middle of the century, however, a new spirit, Nationalism, swept across the continent as various countries and ethnic groups began to exert their unique identities. Nowhere was this more evident than in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), which was included in the Austro Hungarian Empire until the First World War. Dvořák, the most famous Bohemian composer, represents a blend of the Germanic musical culture that dominated his homeland and his own Czech peasant background. He came from common stock; his parents managed an inn, and his father was a butcher. As a young man, the Bohemian earned a meager income as violist in local orchestras, while carefully honing his compositional craft. From these modest beginnings, the largely self taught Dvořák eventually gained international acclaim through the creation of masterpieces in many different genres. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge, in Vienna the Emperor awarded him a decoration, and for a short while he served as Director of the newly established National Conservatory of Music in New York City. Dvořák was also elected a member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, and more importantly, was appointed a senior professor by the School of Composition at the Prague Conservatory, where he taught from 1891 until 1901. Dvořák could not help but be influenced by German musicians. While still a struggling, obscure composer, he competed for the Austrian State Stipendium, which had been established to assist young, poor and talented artists. Brahms, one of the judges, not only encouraged Dvořák but also secured publication of his music, which Page 3
led to favorable reviews and commissions, as well as a life long friendship between the two men. Prague had long adored Mozart, a frequent visitor to the city, and in his early years Dvořák referred to this composer as sunshine. He also expressed an affinity for the eloquent lyricism of Schubert and the architectural structures of Beethoven. The story goes that when someone was once playing a Beethoven sonata in class, Dvořák shouted to his pupils, Why don t you kneel? In return, the Germans were deeply appreciative of Dvořák, and the Bohemian composer was often invited to conduct his own works at performances in Germany and whenever German orchestras visited Prague. Dvořák wrote in all the existing genres of his day. His Cello Concerto is considered one of the finest ever, and his Stabat Mater and String Quartet, Op. 96 ( The American ) are frequently performed. Among his best known compositions are two collections of dance pieces, Slavonic Dances, Opp. 46 and 76, which were originally written for piano four hands and later orchestrated by the composer. Thanks to a strong symphonic tradition in Prague, Dvořák felt comfortable writing in large scale orchestral forms, and today he is remembered primarily for his symphonies. His Ninth ( New World ) is the most famous, but Symphony No. 8 is also a truly outstanding work, a synthesis of Germanic traditions imbued with nationalistic qualities. There are four separate movements, with the outer two loosely following sonata allegro form and the finale also incorporating variation form. The second movement is a deeply felt Adagio, and the waltz like quality of the third resembles a Brahms intermezzo rather than a genuine scherzo. While Dvořák does not actually quote a pre existing Czech melody, he employs triadic or stepwise material that often sounds like a folksong. In each movement primary themes appear in parallel major and minor keys, and this mixture of modes further evokes a folk like quality. Such thematic material is not suitable to contrapuntal development or working out, as in Beethoven s sonatas. Dvořák relies instead on repetition, sequence, and variation to sustain lengthy movements. Although there are breaks between movements, each movement is not thematically independent. Both the first and fourth movements use the same triadic figure in the same key, G major, and this melody also occurs near the end of the second movement. In addition, the first two themes in the second movement are closely related to the main subject in movement three. Throughout the entire work there is an almost inexhaustible store of beautiful melodies expressed with great spontaneity. Symphony No. 8 was written in 1889 and performed the following year in Prague and London to tremendous applause. Since the work does not strictly follow the Classic symphonic structure, it has been described as the most unfettered, in a formal sense, among the symphonies of Dvořák s mature period. Despite his accomplishments, Dvořák remained keenly aware of his humble background. When a lover of music sent him a note of admiration, one that the composer regarded as altogether too effusive, Dvořák simply replied with the following comment: I remain what I have been, a simple Czech musician. Page 4
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