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Waltzes by Joseph Lanner

The actual origins of the waltz are a bit obscure, but we do know that it evolved from a

group of related German dances (or Deutscher) during the late 18th century. The Ländler from

northern Austria was chief among these. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) became the first major

talent to write both Ländler and waltzes (Erster Waltzer) at a time when dancing was growing to

be Vienna’s major pastime.

However, the main impetus to the waltz’s popularity came from lesser masters. Johann

Strauss the elder (1804-1849) and Joseph Lanner (1801-1843) expanded the waltz form and

increased its tempo. Lanner’s strength was melodic appeal, while Strauss relied on rhythmic

variety. Waltzes began to be named, and sometimes descriptive introductions were appended.

Strauss created an international craze for the waltz by taking his orchestra on tours that extended

from London to St. Petersburg.

Lanner also toured extensively, especially in Hungary, Austria, the (now) Czech

Republic. His reputation was widespread, and his music was played even in America. At the

height of his career, Lanner managed several ensembles during carnival season, involving about

200 musicians. At the same time, he composed and arranged music for these small orchestras.

Most importantly, Lanner expanded and developed the waltz, making it more

sophisticated than the Senior Strauss had done. According to historians Mosco Carner and

Herbert Krenn, “Broad, sweeping melodies, rich harmonies and daring rhythmic subtleties are

typical of his compositions. Above all, the frequent use of minor keys gives Lanner’s works a

touch of melancholy, although the composer himself was cheerful and outgoing.” Lanner also 2

expanded the classic form established by Strauss: Introduction, five double waltzes, and coda

(epilogue). Lanner made the introduction longer and more symphonic. In the coda, he reprised

the preceding waltzes, enhancing the whole musical experience with greater unity.

In recent years, Lanner’s music has enjoyed a resurgence of interest. Small ensembles especially have sought to recreate a semblance of the original sound, and several recordings have been made.

Rossini, Duetto in D Major for Cello and Contrabass

We are not accustomed to considering Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) as an

instrumental composer. With his many successful operas, both comic (e.g., The Barber of

Seville) and serious (e.g., William Tell), his reputation in the vocal sphere overshadows the few purely instrumental works scattered through his career. Yet Rossini’s overtures are little masterpieces of their kind. There is also considerable value in his chamber and small orchestra compositions. Several were written during his studies at the Liceo in Bologna. The present work, however, comes from 1824, after he had left Italy for France.

Before settling in Paris to become director of the Théâtre-Italien, Rossini spent a few months in London, where he was feted by the aristocracy. As biographer Richard Osborne writes, “Smart society and the daughters of smart society were all too eager to take a lesson from

Rossini, and his name in the family song album was much sought after.” The fee for Europe’s most popular composer ran 100 times that of the local music teachers. One of the results of such contacts was the Duetto in D Major commissioned by David Salamons, a wealthy banker. For this work, Rossini had in mind the great contrabass virtuoso, Domenico Dragonetti. 3

Rossini modestly titled this a Duet, but it is really a full sonata in three movements with

proportions as mature as any classic chamber work. From the scintillating, ear-catching opening,

the first movement proceeds through a variety of appealing musical ideas, developing some of

them along the way. The pizzicato near the end is a delightful digression from the bowed sound.

The Andante is really an aria for high cello and pizzicato bass with an introduction and witty

interjections at the end. The final Allegro is a three-part movement that alternately shows off the

two instruments. The whirlwind texture of the middle section is a foil for the returning main

theme, leading to an ending calculated to delight the ear.

Dvořák, String Quintet in G, Op. 77

The instrumentation of a string quintet is prone to be an extension of the string quartet.

Mozart (who played the viola during string quartet “parties”) added a second viola to extend the

ensemble. Boccherini, a famous cellist, added a second cello, and Schubert followed suit.

Augmenting the quartet with a contrabass was the innovative idea of Georges Onslow (1784-

1853), a French composer of English parentage, but Schubert made the instrumentation famous

through his “Trout” Quintet.

The 33-year-old Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) adopted Onslow’s idea for his first work of

1875, the String Quintet in G. Dvořák had just won the Austrian State Stipend for the first time,

and this gave him confidence to enter his new chamber work in the Artistic Circle competition.

He won easily for the quintet’s “distinction of theme, the technical skill in polyphonic

composition, the mastery of form and . . . the knowledge of the instruments.” Originally, the

quintet had five movements, including an Intermezzo (Nocturno) borrowed from one of his string

quartets. By Dvořák’s reckoning, the quintet was his Opus 18. However, it was not published for 4 thirteen years, by which time the composer’s opus numbers were much higher. Over Dvořák’s protest, the publisher Simrock brought out the quintet in 1888 as Op. 77.

In this youthful, lighthearted work, the bass adds fresh tone color and frees the cello for some higher melodic work. Peaks of musical interest come in the central movements, which are reversed from the usual order. The buoyant Scherzo and its Schumannesque trio section precede the lovely Poco andante, one of Dvořák’s flowing slow movements full of expression and beauty. The outer movements reflect the spirit of the comic opera, The Stubborn Lovers, which

Dvořák had completed just ahead of the quintet. Theatrical mood so imbues these movements that biographer-critic Gervase Hughes remarks:

The whole affair might almost have been contrived by the Sullivan of Trial by Jury (also dated March 1875), had that composer subsequently taken a spring holiday in Bohemia and developed an interest in the national idiom.