DOCSLIB.ORG

Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni's Orchestral Elegies

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni's Orchestral Elegies POLYPHONIC HARMONY IN THREE OF FERRUCCIO BUSONI’S ORCHESTRAL ELEGIES Colin Davis, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2015 APPROVED: Timothy L. Jackson, Major Professor Hendrik Schulze, Committee Member Stephen Slottow, Committee Member Frank Heidlberger, Committee Member and Chair of the Department of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology Benjamin Brand, Directory of Graduate Studies for the College of Music James Scott, Dean of the College of Music Costas Tsatsoulis, Interim Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Davis, Colin. Polyphonic Harmony in Three of Ferruccio Busoni’s Orchestral Elegies. Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology - Music Theory), May 2015, 225 pp., 82 musical examples, bibliography, 91 titles. This dissertation focuses on three of Busoni’s late orchestral works known as “orchestral elegies”: Berceuse élégiaque (Elegie no. 1, 1909), Gesang vom Reigen der Geister (Elegie no. 4, 1915), and Sarabande (Elegie no. 5, 1918-19). The study seeks to provide a better understanding of Busoni’s late style as a crucial bridge from late nineteenth-century chromaticism in the works of Liszt, Wagner, and others to the post-tonal languages of the twentieth century. At the heart of this study lies a particular concept that forms the basis of many characteristic features of Busoni’s late style, namely the concept of polyphonic harmony, or harmony as a cumulative result of independent melodic lines. This concept is also related to a technique of orchestration in which the collective harmony is sounded in such a way that the individual voices are distinct. In the highly personal tonal language of Busoni’s late works, passages often consist of a web of motives weaved throughout the voices at the surface level of the music. Linear analysis provides a means of unravelling the dense fabric of voices and illustrating the underlying harmonic progressions, which most often consist of parallel, primarily semitonal, progressions of tertian sonorities. Chapter 1 provides a backdrop for this study, including a brief summary of Busoni’s ideas on the aesthetics of music and a summary of his influence and development as a composer. Chapter 2 addresses the concept of polyphonic harmony in more detail, some theoretical ideas related to it, and characteristics of Busoni’s late style that reflect this concept. Chapter 3 is dedicated to analytical methodology, addressing concepts which emerge from various linear approaches to the analysis of some twentieth-century music. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are each dedicated to a specific work, the purpose being to illuminate through linear analysis compositional characteristics and techniques related to the concept of polyphonic harmony, including the flexibility between the melodic and harmonic realms, chord misalignment, overlap, and superposition. Copyright 2015 by Colin Davis ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Timothy Jackson for his instruction, guidance, and support throughout my graduate studies. His work has been a major source of inspiration for my own. I would also like to express my deep appreciation for Professor Stephen Slottow. His teaching and research have been a great example for my own development as a teacher and scholar and his advice has taught me much over the years. I would also like to thank Professor Frank Heidlberger and Professor Hendrik Schulze for their insightful comments and criticism. I would like to thank my wife, Jenny, without whom I could not have succeeded in my studies. She has been a wonderful source of love and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and support during this process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEGMENTS ................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF EXAMPLES .................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 1.1 Busoni as Composer ................................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................4 1.3 Busoni’s Aesthetic Viewpoint .................................................................................6 1.4 Busoni’s Concept of Young Classicism ................................................................12 1.5 Busoni and the Essence of Music ..........................................................................15 1.6 Influence and Development as a Composer...........................................................17 CHAPTER 2 THE CONCEPT OF POLYPHONIC HARMONY IN BUSONI’S LATE STYLE ................................................................................................................................23 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................23 2.2 J.S. Bach’s Polyphonic Style as a Model for Harmonic Exploration ....................27 2.3 Bernhard Ziehn’s Influence on Busoni’s Harmonic Thinking ..............................31 2.4 Polyphonic Harmony in Busoni’s Late Style.........................................................41 CHAPTER 3 ANALYTICAL APPROACH .................................................................................48 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................48 3.2 Prolongation in Post-Tonal Analysis .....................................................................49 3.3 A More Recent Approach to Prolongation in Tonal Music through Pervasive Fluency ...................................................................................................................56 3.4 An Associational Approach to Post-Tonal, Tertian Music ....................................58 3.5 Analytical Approach to the Orchestral Elegies ......................................................60 CHAPTER 4 BERCEUSE ÉLÉGIAQUE.......................................................................................64 iv 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................64 4.2 Stylistic, Formal, and Structural Overview............................................................68 4.3 Chromatic Fluctuation of the Referential Sonority through Neighbor Tones .......75 4.4 Motive or Melody-Driven Harmony, Interlocking Harmonic Intervals, and the Interaction of Melody and Harmony ................................................................78 4.5 Chord Superposition at the Surface Level .............................................................82 4.6 Migration of Chromatic Linear Progressions through Stretto ...............................85 4.7 The Linearization of Compound Chords ...............................................................86 4.8 Simultaneous Chord Progressions at the Surface Level as a Result of Harmonic Superposition ........................................................................................89 4.9 Further Examples of Chord Superposition, Quartal Chords, Misalignment, Stretto, and the Interaction of Melody and Harmony ............................................91 4.10 Concluding Remarks ..............................................................................................97 CHAPTER 5 GESANG VOM REIGEN DER GEISTER................................................................99 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................99 5.2 Formal and Structural Overview ..........................................................................100 5.3 Progressions Arising from Apparent Voices .......................................................104 5.4 Parallel Progressions with Implied Tones Emphasizing Minor Third-Related Harmonies ............................................................................................................106 5.5 The “Song of the Spirit-Dance” Theme as Absolute Melody..............................108 5.6 Some Instances of Chord Superposition in Gesang .............................................110 CHAPTER 6 SARABANDE .........................................................................................................115 6.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................115 6.2 Formal and Structural Overview ..........................................................................119 6.3 Polyphonic Harmony and Surface-level Conflicts Between Melody and Harmony ..............................................................................................................127 v 6.4 Aspects of Melody and Harmony in Wedge Progressions ..................................131 6.5 Harmonic Overlap Projected through Independent Voices .................................135 6.6 Chromatic Saturation within Migrating Voices ...................................................137 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................139 7.1 Characteristics of Busoni’s Late Style and their Relation to the Concept of Polyphonic Harmony ...........................................................................................139
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Weill and Schoenberg
    Weill and Schoenberg by David Drew The following essay is reprinted from Sundry Sorts ofM usic Books: Essays on The British Library Collections, presented to 0. W Neighbour on his 70th birthday, edited by Chris Banks, Arthur Searle, and Malcolm Turner (London: British Library, 1993). From 1974 until his retirement in 1981, Neighbour was superintendent of the Music Library of the British Library (having begun his notable career in the British Museum in 1946) . Introduction: An open letter to 0. W Neighbour The letter below is dated 30 July 1992, and was in fact the preface to the Schoenberg-Weill essays which I drafted that August. I realized at the time that many other contributors to the Festschrift would be sending similar letters, and that there might not be room for them (I was right); but I hoped that there might be another opportunity for publishing it (and so there is). Dear Tim In your advocacy and analysis of Schoenberg during the decisive years following his death, your many early admirers could already recognize the qualities that distinguish your critical and scholarly work in every field. Your dedication to musical realities -- to the audible sense -- was present and passionate from the start. With it went your principled inclusiveness and your freedom from critical prejudice of any sort: while the partisans of Schoenberg and Stravinsky were still squabbling about territorial rights or historical necessity, you quietly occupied yourself with the music of both masters, as of every other. From those far-offdays you will certainly recall the magazine poll ofAmerican concert-goers which placed Schoenberg a long way behind Vaughan Williams.
    [Show full text]
  • Elegies for Cello and Piano by Bridge, Britten and Delius: a Study of Traditions and Influences
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Music Music 2012 Elegies for Cello and Piano by Bridge, Britten and Delius: A Study of Traditions and Influences Sara Gardner Birnbaum University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Birnbaum, Sara Gardner, "Elegies for Cello and Piano by Bridge, Britten and Delius: A Study of Traditions and Influences" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Music. 7. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/7 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Music at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Music by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies.
    [Show full text]
  • PROGRAM NOTES Franz Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in a Major
    PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Franz Liszt Born October 22, 1811, Raiding, Hungary. Died July 31, 1886, Bayreuth, Germany. Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major Liszt composed this concerto in 1839 and revised it often, beginning in 1849. It was first performed on January 7, 1857, in Weimar, by Hans von Bronsart, with the composer conducting. The first American performance was given in Boston on October 5, 1870, by Anna Mehlig, with Theodore Thomas, who later founded the Chicago Symphony, conducting his own orchestra. The orchestra consists of three flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, cymbals, and strings. Performance time is approximately twenty-two minutes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto were given at the Auditorium Theatre on March 1 and 2, 1901, with Leopold Godowsky as soloist and Theodore Thomas conducting. Our most recent subscription concert performances were given at Orchestra Hall on March 19, 20, and 21, 2009, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist and Jaap van Zweden conducting. The Orchestra first performed this concerto at the Ravinia Festival on August 4, 1945, with Leon Fleisher as soloist and Leonard Bernstein conducting, and most recently on July 3, 1996, with Misha Dichter as soloist and Hermann Michael conducting. Liszt is music’s misunderstood genius. The greatest pianist of his time, he often has been caricatured as a mad, intemperate virtuoso and as a shameless and
    [Show full text]
  • TURANDOT Cast Biographies
    TURANDOT Cast Biographies Soprano Martina Serafin (Turandot) made her San Francisco Opera debut as the Marshallin in Der Rosenkavalier in 2007. Born in Vienna, she studied at the Vienna Conservatory and between 1995 and 2000 she was a member of the ensemble at Graz Opera. Guest appearances soon led her to the world´s premier opera stages, including at the Vienna State Opera where she has been a regular performer since 2005. Serafin´s repertoire includes the role of Lisa in Pique Dame, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, the title role of Manon Lescaut, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Upcoming engagements include Elsa von Brabant in Lohengrin at the Opéra National de Paris and Abigaille in Nabucco at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. Dramatic soprano Nina Stemme (Turandot) made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2004 as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, and has since returned to the Company in acclaimed performances as Brünnhilde in 2010’s Die Walküre and in 2011’s Ring cycle. Since her 1989 professional debut as Cherubino in Cortona, Italy, Stemme’s repertoire has included Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Mimi in La Bohème, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, the title role of Manon Lescaut, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, the title role of Suor Angelica, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice, Katerina in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Marguerite in Faust, Agathe in Der Freischütz, Marie in Wozzeck, the title role of Jenůfa, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Elsa in Lohengrin, Amelia in Un Ballo in Machera, Leonora in La Forza del Destino, and the title role of Aida.
    [Show full text]
  • Ferruccio Busoni 1866–1924
    Ferruccio Busoni 1866–1924 150. Geburtstag 2016 150th Birthday 2016 150. Geburtstag Busoni-Jahr 2016 Zwischen Klassizität und Experiment – die Orchesterwerke Ferruccio Busonis „Unsicherheit ist charakteristisch für diese Zeit“ be- Neben seiner pianistischen Laufbahn betätigte fand Nietzsche 1886 und kommentierte damit die sich Busoni als Pädagoge (Lehrtätigkeiten in Hel- sich in Europa verstärkenden außerstaatlichen und sinki, Moskau und Boston), Dirigent, Herausgeber, innergesellschaftlichen Spannungen. Industri a - Bearbeiter von Musik, Verfasser von Libretti sowie lisierung, Verstädterung und Säkula risie rungs - zahlreicher Abhandlungen zur Musikästhetik und prozesse vereinigten sich zu einem verbreiteten anderen Themen. Mittelpunkt seines Wirkens bildete Kulturpessimismus, dem ein unerschütterlicher Fort- für Busoni jedoch das Komponieren. Hierbei wollte schrittsglaube gegen über stand. er „noch einen Zipfel der neuen Tonkunst erwischen Die Kunstschaffenden reagierten auf diesen und womöglich selbst einen Saum daran nähen“. Zwiespalt mit der Suche nach neuen, adäquaten Mehr als die Hälfte der etwa 300 Kompositionen Ausdrucksmitteln, in deren Folge sich auch die Busonis entstanden bis 1900 und gelten heute als Sprache der Musik ändern sollte: schon kurz nach Frühwerke. Trotz kompositorischer Eigenart orien- der Jahrhundertwende begannen Schönberg und tierte sich Busoni noch an klassischen Vorbildern wie Webern mit Tönen in freier Atonalität zu experi- Bach, Beethoven und Brahms. Danach wollte Busoni mentieren. Abbild für diese Zeit des Umbruchs sich hiervon lösen und wandte sich dem Experimen- und des Suchens sind Werk und Persönlichkeit von tellen zu. Äußerlich tritt dies an den von ihm ab und empfinde, dass jeder Gedanke, jedes Motiv, Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) – eine epochale, 1902 geleiteten Berliner Orchesterabenden hervor, jedes Individuum eine eigene im Verhältnis zum europäische Künstlerfigur, dessen 150.
    [Show full text]
  • The Speech Choir in Central European Theatres and Literary-Musical Works in the First Third of the 20Th Century
    Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus The Speech Choir in Central European Theatres... DOI: 10.2298/MUZ1518159M UDK: 792.78(4-191.2)”19” 316.75:784.087.68(4-191.2)”19” The Speech Choir in Central European Theatres and Literary-Musical Works in the First Third of the 20th Century Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus1 University of Potsdam Abstract Speech choirs emerged as an offshoot of the choral gatherings of a wider youth musical and singing movement in the first half of the 20th century. The occasionally expressed opinion that choral speaking was cultivated primarily by the Hitler Youth and pressed into service on behalf of Nazi nationalist and racist propaganda is, historically, only partially accurate. The primary forces of choral speaking in Germany were, from 1919, the Social Democratic workers’ and cultural movement and the Catholic youth groups, in addition to elementary and secondary schools. The popularity of speech choirs around 1930 was also echoed in the music of the time. Compositions for musical speech choirs were produced by composers like Heinz Thiessen, Arnold Schönberg, Ernst Toch, Carl Orff, Vladimir Vogel, Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann and Wolfgang Rihm. Moving forward from the Schönberg School, the post-1945 new music thereby opens up the spectrum of vocal expressions of sound beyond that of the singing voice. It does so not only for solo voices but for the choir as well. Keywords Speech Choir, spoken-word-movement, contemporary music, Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann. I The Speech Choir after the First World War If one disregards the choirs of ancient Greek theatre and the Catholic liturgy, as well as individual reminiscences in the dramas of German Classicism (for example Schiller’s Die Braut von Messina2 and Goethe’s Faust), the speech choir emerged only in the first half of the 20th century as an offshoot of the choral gatherings of a wider youth musical and singing movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Puccini's Version of the Duet and Final Scene of "Turandot" Author(S): Janet Maguire Source: the Musical Quarterly, Vol
    Puccini's Version of the Duet and Final Scene of "Turandot" Author(s): Janet Maguire Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 3 (1990), pp. 319-359 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/741936 Accessed: 23-06-2017 16:45 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Musical Quarterly This content downloaded from 198.199.32.254 on Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:45:10 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Puccini's Version of the Duet and Final Scene of Turandot JANET MAGUIRE ALTHOUGH it has been said that Puccini did not finish Turandot because he could not, I have always been convinced that he had the music for the duet and final scene clearly in mind and that he would have had his Turandot Finale ready for the publisher by the end of the year, 1924, had he survived his throat operation. The key to the completion of the opera lies in a relatively few pages of musical ideas sketched out in brief, schematic form.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crucifixion: Stainer's Invention of the Anglican Passion
    The Crucifixion: Stainer’s Invention of the Anglican Passion and Its Subsequent Influence on Descendent Works by Maunder, Somervell, Wood, and Thiman Matthew Hoch Abstract The Anglican Passion is a largely forgotten genre that flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Modeled distinctly after the Lutheran Passion— particularly in its use of congregational hymns that punctuate and comment upon the drama—Anglican Passions also owe much to the rise of hymnody and small parish music-making in England during the latter part of the nineteenth century. John Stainer’s The Crucifixion (1887) is a quintessential example of the genre and the Anglican Passion that is most often performed and recorded. This article traces the origins of the genre and explores lesser-known early twentieth-century Anglican Passions that are direct descendants of Stainer’s work. Four works in particular will be reviewed within this historical context: John Henry Maunder’s Olivet to Calvary (1904), Arthur Somervell’s The Passion of Christ (1914), Charles Wood’s The Passion of Our Lord according to St Mark (1920), and Eric Thiman’s The Last Supper (1930). Examining these works in a sequential order reveals a distinct evolution and decline of the genre over the course of these decades, with Wood’s masterpiece standing as the towering achievement of the Anglican Passion genre in the immediate aftermath of World War I. The article concludes with a call for reappraisal of these underperformed works and their potential use in modern liturgical worship. A Brief History of the Passion Genre from the sung in plainchant, and this practice continued Medieval Era to the Eighteenth Century through the late medieval and early Renaissance eras.
    [Show full text]
  • A/L CHOPIN's MAZURKA
    17, ~A/l CHOPIN'S MAZURKA: A LECTURE RECITAL, TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF SELECTED WORKS OF J. S. BACH--F. BUSONI, D. SCARLATTI, W. A. MOZART, L. V. BEETHOVEN, F. SCHUBERT, F. CHOPIN, M. RAVEL AND K. SZYMANOWSKI DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial. Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS By Jan Bogdan Drath Denton, Texas August, 1969 (Z Jan Bogdan Drath 1970 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION . I PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS First Recital . , , . ., * * 4 Second Recital. 8 Solo and Chamber Music Recital. 11 Lecture-Recital: "Chopin's Mazurka" . 14 List of Illustrations Text of the Lecture Bibliography TAPED RECORDINGS OF PERFORMANCES . Enclosed iii INTRODUCTION This dissertation consists of four programs: one lec- ture-recital, two recitals for piano solo, and one (the Schubert program) in combination with other instruments. The repertoire of the complete series of concerts was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the ability of the per- former to project music of various types and composed in different periods. The first program featured two complete sets of Concert Etudes, showing how a nineteenth-century composer (Chopin) and a twentieth-century composer (Szymanowski) solved the problem of assimilating typical pianistic patterns of their respective eras in short musical forms, These selections are preceded on the program by a group of compositions, consis- ting of a. a Chaconne for violin solo by J. S. Bach, an eighteenth-century composer, as. transcribed for piano by a twentieth-century composer, who recreated this piece, using all the possibilities of modern piano technique, b.
    [Show full text]
  • View List (.Pdf)
    Symphony Society of New York Stadium Concert United States Premieres New York Philharmonic Commission as of November 30, 2020 NY PHIL Biennial Members of / musicians from the New York Philharmonic Click to jump to decade 1842-49 | 1850-59 | 1860-69 | 1870-79 | 1880-89 | 1890-99 | 1900-09 | 1910-19 | 1920-29 | 1930-39 1940-49 | 1950-59 | 1960-69 | 1970-79 | 1980-89 | 1990-99 | 2000-09 | 2010-19 | 2020 Composer Work Date Conductor 1842 – 1849 Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia Eroica 18-Feb 1843 Hill Beethoven Symphony No. 7 18-Nov 1843 Hill Vieuxtemps Fantasia pour le Violon sur la quatrième corde 18-May 1844 Alpers Lindpaintner War Jubilee Overture 16-Nov 1844 Loder Mendelssohn The Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) 16-Nov 1844 Loder Beethoven Symphony No. 8 16-Nov 1844 Loder Bennett Die Najaden (The Naiades) 1-Mar 1845 Wiegers Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, Scottish 22-Nov 1845 Loder Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 17-Jan 1846 Hill Kalliwoda Symphony No. 1 7-Mar 1846 Boucher Furstenau Flute Concerto No. 5 7-Mar 1846 Boucher Donizetti "Tutto or Morte" from Faliero 20-May 1846 Hill Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Choral 20-May 1846 Loder Gade Grand Symphony 2-Dec 1848 Loder Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor 24-Nov 1849 Eisfeld Beethoven Symphony No. 4 24-Nov 1849 Eisfeld 1850 – 1859 Schubert Symphony in C major, Great 11-Jan 1851 Eisfeld R. Schumann Introduction and Allegro appassionato for Piano and 25-Apr 1857 Eisfeld Orchestra Litolff Chant des belges 25-Apr 1857 Eisfeld R. Schumann Overture to the Incidental Music to Byron's Dramatic 21-Nov 1857 Eisfeld Poem, Manfred 1860 - 1869 Brahms Serenade No.
    [Show full text]
  • PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher
    PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Wolfgang Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 464 Born January 27, 1756, Salzburg, Austria. Died December 5, 1791, Vienna, Austria. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 464 Mozart entered this concerto in his catalog on February 10, 1785, and performed the solo in the premiere the next day in Vienna. The orchestra consists of one flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. At these concerts, Shai Wosner plays Beethoven’s cadenza in the first movement and his own cadenza in the finale. Performance time is approximately thirty-four minutes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20 were given at Orchestra Hall on January 14 and 15, 1916, with Ossip Gabrilowitsch as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting. Our most recent subscription concert performances were given on March 15, 16, and 17, 2007, with Mitsuko Uchida conducting from the keyboard. The Orchestra first performed this concerto at the Ravinia Festival on July 6, 1961, with John Browning as soloist and Josef Krips conducting, and most recently on July 8, 2007, with Jonathan Biss as soloist and James Conlon conducting. This is the Mozart piano concerto that Beethoven admired above all others. It’s the only one he played in public (and the only one for which he wrote cadenzas). Throughout the nineteenth century, it was the sole concerto by Mozart that was regularly performed—its demonic power and dark beauty spoke to musicians who had been raised on Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt.
    [Show full text]
  • Bach Academy Bruges
    ENGLISH Wed 24 Jan — Sun 28 Jan 2018 BACH BEWERKT BACH ACADEMY BRUGES Bach rearranged — 01 — Dear music lover Festival summary Welcome to this eighth Bach than composing for religious services: WED 24 JAN 2018 15.00 Concert hall 17.00 Chamber music hall seeking the essence of music, distilling out BELGIAN PREMIERE Oxalys & Bojan Cicic Academy, with a programme that its language as far as he was able. 19.15 Stadsschouwburg Dietrich Henschel All roads lead to Bach focuses on the parody. The last ten years of his life saw the Introduction by Gloria Schemelli’s Gesangbuch p. 20 composition of the second part of the Carlier (in Dutch) p. 10 Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg 19.15 Chamber music hall As you undoubtedly know, Bach frequently Variations, the Von Himmel Hoch choral 20.00 Stadsschouwburg 17.00 Chamber music hall Introduction by Ignace drew on music by other composers or his variations, The Musical Offering, the Mass Mass B Christine Busch & Bossuyt (in Dutch) own earlier work to mould into new works of in B minor and The Art of the Fugue. None Béatrice Massin & Jörg Halubek his own. The Mass in B minor, for example, of these compositions was written on Compagnie Fêtes galantes Bach. Violin sonatas 20.00 Concert hall is a brilliant interweaving of largely commission. For these works, Bach was i.c.w. Cultuurcentrum Brugge p. 11 Collegium Vocale Gent refashioned parts of earlier cantatas with driven only by artistic inspiration. They So singen wir recht das earned him nothing, and only thirty copies 19.15 Chamber music hall Gratias newly-composed passages.
    [Show full text]