PROGRAM NOTES by Daniel Maki Variations on a Theme by Haydn By
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PROGRAM NOTES by Daniel Maki Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Johannes Brahms (1833 –1897) Duration: Approximately 17 minutes First Performance: November 2, 1873 in Vienna Last ESO Performance: October, 2010; Robert Hanson, conductor The theme and variation is an old and honorable form, tracing its pedigree at least as far back as the 16th century. As one of the most obvious and commonsensical of musical procedures, it has spawned a huge amount of music, ranging from the innocuous to the most sophisticated, challenging many of the most acute musical minds from Sebastian Bach and Beethoven to Dizzy Gillespie. (The form has always lent itself to improvisation, and much jazz is actually variations on a theme.) To this list of worthies may be added the name of Johannes Brahms, who left a number of distinguished examples of the genre. Applying the full panoply of his formidable technique, he became so adept at disguising his themes that it became a standing joke with his cronies that it was as difficult to find the theme amidst his variations as it was to find his face beneath his famous thick beard. The so-called Haydn Variations exist not only in the familiar orchestral version but also in a version for two pianos which was written roughly at the same time. The orchestral version was first performed in November of 1873 in Vienna and was one of the earliest examples of a freestanding set of variations for orchestra in history. (Previous orchestral variations had been part of larger works.) Like many another set of variations, the Haydn Variations are based on a simple, easily memorable theme whose very simplicity is a virtue, as the composer gradually reveals its full potential. Although this theme, known as St. Anthony’s Chorale, was originally attributed to Haydn, it is now commonly accepted that it was actually either a folk tune or was perhaps written by another composer, possibly one of Haydn’s students. (Haydn’s popularity in his own time was so great that, as one scholar has put it, faking his music came to be practically a cottage industry.) Whatever its origin, this engaging little tune beautifully serves as grist for Brahms’s mill as he takes it through a series of eight ingenious variations which employ a wide variety of rhythmic, harmonic, melodic, and orchestrational techniques. The eighth variation moves immediately into the Finale, which is itself another set of variations on a five bar phrase taken from the original tune and used here primarily in the bass voice. Music history students will recognize such variations on a theme in the bass voice as a passacaglia, a variation technique beloved by baroque composers but hopelessly old- fashioned in Brahms’s time. As one of the most historically minded of composers, Brahms was often cheerfully and defiantly old-fashioned, and thus he pays homage to the baroque traditions of Bach and Handel as well as to the classical era of “Papa” Haydn. * * * Concerto in E minor for Cello and Orchestra, Opus 85 by Edward Elgar (1857 –1934) Duration: Approximately 30 minutes First Performance: October 27, 1919 in London Last ESO Performance: April, 2007; Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Daniel Hege, conductor Elgar’s Cello Concerto was completed in August of 1919, a momentous time in the composer’s life. Then in his early sixties, he was a world figure who had come to symbolize English music and the imperial majesty of Edwardian England yet, at the same time, was haunted by the feeling that time had passed him by. He was appalled by the organized lunacy of the First World War, which he rightly saw as the end of an era in European civilization and the end of the Britain that he had known. The senseless slaughter of men and horses (he was a passionate lover of horses) devastated him and he tried in vain to change the mindlessly patriotic words that had been set to his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1. Musically, he feared that he was hopelessly out of touch with the new music of young radicals like Stravinsky and Schoenberg and feared that he had become an anachronism. Added to these burdens was the failing health of his beloved wife Alice who would die just a few months later, in April of 1920. The premiere of the concerto in October of 1919 was less than impressive. Elgar himself was to conduct the concerto with Felix Salmond as the cello soloist. Unfortunately, Albert Coates, the well known English conductor who was conducting the rest of the program, took most of the rehearsal time, leaving the new work under prepared and poorly performed. (Alice Elgar supposedly called Coates “that brutal, selfish, ill- mannered bounder.”) Despite such an inauspicious beginning, however, the concerto went on to take its place as a much loved staple of the cello repertoire. Its somber, autumnal, dark hued atmosphere has invited the interpretation that it is Elgar’s “War Requiem”, or alternatively, that it is Elgar’s own swan song- it would be the last major work that he would complete, although he lived nearly another fifteen years. The concerto opens with a darkly expressive recitative in the cello which quietly gives way to the primary theme of the movement, a melancholy melody in a lilting long- short long-short rhythm which is heard first in the violas and then in the solo cello. A contrasting middle section announced by the woodwinds changes the mood briefly.until the opening theme returns. A brief cadenza featuring some guitar-like pizzicato effects in the cello leads directly into the second movement, a scherzo in moto perpetuo style with dazzling virtuoso bow and fingerwork in the solo part. The third movement is a soulful Adagio, a kind of song without words which shows the full expressive possibilities of the cello.. The finale, which is the most fully developed movement of the work, is a freely constructed rondo with a brisk march-like refrain heard at the very beginning and then interrupted by a brief recitative in the cello. The refrain returns and the movement is under way, marked by considerable interplay between soloist and orchestra. Near the end we hear reminiscences of the Adagio and the opening recitative before the movement drives to a close. * * * Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra (Enigma) , Opus 36 by Edward Elgar (1857- 1934) Duration: Approximately 29 minutes First Performance: June 19, 1899 in London Last ESO Performance: September, 2012; Dorian Wilson, conductor Although it is universally acknowledged that the language of music is a powerful tool for communication , many listeners may not be aware of the extent to which the abstract nature of instrumental music has made it also adept at concealing meaning, conveying multiple meanings simultaneously, and developing hidden codes and puzzles of many kinds. Such efforts have ranged over the centuries from such innocent tricks as using the notes Bb A C B to spell the name Bach (in German nomenclature H means the note B natural), to coded secret love affairs and various other examples of erotica and ribaldry. Composers have managed through their music to make fun of their critics and thumbed their noses at kings and emperors, all under the guise of high art. As the American music critic James Huneker once put it, writing in 1898, “ The most profound truths, the most blasphemous things, the most terrible ideas, may be incorporated within the walls of a symphony, and the police be none the wiser. It is its freedom from the meddlesome hand of the censor that makes of music a playground for great, brave souls. “ One of the great iconic examples of hidden musical meanings is Elgar’s orchestral masterpiece, Variations for Orchestra, completed in 1899, when the composer was 42 years old. Although Elgar was already well known in England, the new work would become probably the most popular English work in the entire orchestral repertoire, and spread his fame well beyond his native country. Rather than simply calling his melody a theme, as was customary, Elgar, who was fascinated by cryptology and delighted in mystifying his friends with various kinds of puzzles and eccentric behavior, labeled it an “enigma.” He let it be known that this original melody was actually derived from some other larger, well-known tune which could be combined with it. Furthermore, to each of the fourteen variations which followed it, he attached the initials or nickname of the person close to him whose personality was supposedly revealed in the music. This quaint little ploy caused paroxysms of curiosity. As it turned out, the references to his friends were found out with relative ease and were eventually published after his death. Not so easily solved was the enigmatic origin of the theme, and a contest was sponsored by Saturday Review magazine to see if anyone could discover the mysterious source. Musical sleuths submitted any number of possibilities ranging from themes from Beethoven quartets to Auld Lang Syne. Supposedly only Elgar, one friend, and his wife knew the secret, and all went to their graves without divulging it. Undoubtedly, much too much was made of the whole affair, sometimes obscuring the fact that these Variations are quite simply a remarkable piece of symphonic writing. It would seem to be for the best that recent commentators have tended to downplay the extra-musical aspects of the work, instead calling attention to its power, beauty, and superb craftsmanship. As Elgar himself said, the work had begun “in a spirit of humour and continued in deep seriousness.” That said, the programmatic element remains, and although no attempt will be made to answer the Great Enigma, the following synopsis does reveal the identities of the people referred to in the composer’s dedication as “my friends pictured within.” The pregnant “Enigma” theme begins in G minor and then shifts to G major.