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In Joachim's Orbit CONCERT PROGRAM IV: In Joachim’s Orbit July 23 and 24 PROGRAM OVERVIEW The sheer brilliance of Mendelssohn’s musical achievements would inspire Sunday, July 23 an emerging generation of Romantics. Robert Schumann considered him 6:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton “the first musician of the day…He plays with everything…with such ease, deli- Monday, July 24 cacy, and art, with such mastery throughout.” An equal mastery would bless 7:30 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Menlo School Schumann’s disciple Johannes Brahms, whose catalogue of chamber music stands without peer in their generation. A catalyst to the artistic triumphs of SPECIAL THANKS these and other composers, the violinist Joseph Joachim equally towers as one Music@Menlo dedicates these performances to the following individuals with of German Romanticism’s most consequential figures. A protégé of Mendels- gratitude for their generous support: sohn’s, Joachim would come to personify the German school of violin playing July 23: Paul and Marcia Ginsburg and served as muse to Schumann and Brahms in the creation of their greatest July 24: Michael Jacobson and Trine Sorensen works for violin. Concert Program IV surrounds Joachim with signature works by these composers, culminating in Brahms’s poetic Horn Trio. FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847) JOSEPH JOACHIM (1831–1907) Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words) in D Major for Cello and Piano, Romance, op. 2, no. 1 (ca. 1850) op. 109 (1845) Yura Lee, violin; Juho Pohjonen, piano Keith Robinson, cello; Gloria Chien, piano JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897) PROGRAMS CONCERT ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856) Horn Trio in E-flat Major, op. 40 (1865) Adagio and Allegro in A-flat Major for Horn and Piano, op. 70 (1849) Andante Scherzo: Allegro Radovan Vlatković, horn; Gloria Chien, piano Adagio mesto Finale: Allegro con brio ROBERT SCHUMANN Radovan Vlatković, horn; Juho Pohjonen, piano; Paul Huang, violin Piano Trio no. 3 in g minor, op. 110 (1851) Bewegt, doch nicht zu rasch Ziemlich langsam Rasch Kräftig, mit Humor Gilbert Kalish, piano; Yura Lee, violin; Keith Robinson, cello INTERMISSION Johann Martin von Rohden (1778–1868). Capriccio View of the Ruins of Heidelberg Castle, oil on canvas. Private collection/Photo © Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images www.musicatmenlo.org 25 Program Notes: In Joachim’s Orbit Notes on the program by Patrick Castillo FELIX MENDELSSOHN ment of chamber works; the Phantasiestücke for Clarinet (Violin or Cello) and (Born February 3, 1809, Hamburg, Germany; died November 4, 1847, Leipzig) Piano, op. 73; Drei Romanzen for Oboe (Violin or Clarinet) and Piano, op. 94; Fünf Stücke im Volkston for Cello or Violin and Piano, op. 102; and the Adagio and Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words) in D Major for Cello and Piano, Allegro, op. 70 (scored optionally for horn, violin, or cello and piano). op. 109 Schumann originally titled his Opus 70 Romanze and Allegro; indeed, its Composed: ca. October 1845 Adagio movement conveys the most deeply felt Romantic sentiment. The Published: 1868 horn leads with a gently arching line, marked Langsam, mit innigem Ausdruck Dedication: Lisa Cristiani (slowly, with intimate expression), its initial ascent by semitone suggesting Other works from this period: Violin Concerto in e minor, op. 64 (1844); a come-hither glance. The piano responds in kind. An amorous dialogue Six Sonatas for Organ, op. 65 (1845); Piano Trio no. 2 in c minor, op. 66 ensues, the two partners issuing intertwining lines, increasingly ardent until (1845); String Quintet no. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 87 (1845); Oedipus at Colonus, the contented drowsiness of its coda. op. 93 (incidental music) (1845) The Adagio proceeds attacca to the muscular Allegro, marked Rasch Approximate duration: 5 minutes und feurig (quick and fiery). Schumann’s music is commonly understood as a dialogue between the composer’s alter egos, Florestan, the masculine (in eighteenth-century parlance) and extroverted, and Eusebius, the feminine Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words) provide an voice of tenderness and pathos. Following the unabashed poignancy of the essential snapshot of Romanticism. They are, first and foremost, a paean Adagio, the Allegro is unmistakably the purview of Florestan. to the sovereignty of melody. They also reference, in an abstract way, the Romantic generation’s preoccupation with poetry, as reflected in the lieder of Schubert, Schumann, and others: Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words suc- ceed in capturing the clarity and expressivity of sung texts, but they do so ROBERT SCHUMANN relying solely on musical character, without the aid of poetry. Mendelssohn Piano Trio no. 3 in g minor, op. 110 biographer R. Larry Todd writes that the Songs without Words “broached in Composed: 1851 a different way the ability of music to convey extramusical ideas.” Indeed, Published: 1852 Robert Schumann surmised that Mendelssohn originally composed them as songs with words and then withdrew the texts. Todd continues: “The new Other works from this period: Violin Sonatas nos. 1 and 2, opp. 105 and genre, which blurred the lines between the song and the character piece, later 121 (1851); Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, op. 112 (1851); Julius Caesar and Hermann und enjoyed great success and became synonymous with Mendelssohnism.” Dorothea Overtures, opp. 128 and 136 (1851); revision of Symphony no. 4 in d In addition to the eight volumes of Lieder ohne Worte for Solo Piano minor, op. 120 (1851, composed in 1841) he composed over his career (comprising six songs apiece), Mendelssohn Approximate duration: 26 minutes composed one for cello and piano, in D major, published posthumously as his Opus 109. It was Mendelssohn’s final work for cello and piano, joining a “Robert is working busily on a trio for piano, violin, and cello,” recorded Clara corpus comprising the Variations concertantes, op. 17, a single-movement Schumann in her diary on October 11, 1851, “but he won’t let me hear any of Assai tranquillo in b minor, and two cello sonatas, opp. 45 and 58. Among it at all until he is completely finished. I only know that it is in g minor.” Later both subsets of Mendelssohn’s oeuvre—his music for cello and piano and his that month, following the trio’s first rehearsal, Clara noted, “It is original and beloved Songs without Words—the Opus 109 Lied stands out for its melodic increasingly passionate, especially the scherzo, which carries one along with perfection. Set in ternary (A-B-A) form, the work begins with an eloquent it into the wildest depths.” strain by the cello, supported by an elegant accompaniment. The piano turns Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio no. 3 in g minor, op. 110—his final, and turbulent in the middle section, engulfing the cello’s agitato melody in a swirl actually his fourth, work in the genre, counting his Phantasiestücke, op. 88— CONCERT PROGRAMS CONCERT of sixteenth notes. The cello ascends to a high pianissimo A-natural (above manifests its composer’s Romantic soul in intense concentration. The work the treble staff); a subdued transition leads calmly to the A section’s return. comprises four movements. The first, marked Bewegt, doch nicht zu rasch (agitated, but not too fast), simmers with pent-up disquiet, its first theme a turbulent rising and falling in the strings atop a restless undertow in the piano. The second theme derives from the first, retaining its sweeping melodic con- ROBERT SCHUMANN tour but now reimagined as a benevolent, major-key gesture. (Born Zwickau, Saxony, Germany, June 8, 1810; died Endenich, near Bonn, July j ° œ > j j Vln. bb œ œ œ ‰ œ™ ‰ œ ™ j j ™ & œ™ bœ J J œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ jŒ 29, 1856) p > œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ bœ Vc. ? nœ œ œ ™ Adagio and Allegro in A-flat Major for Horn and Piano, op. 70 ¢ bb ∑ œ œ ∑∑& œ bœ J Composed: 1849 b &b ≈ ≈ bœ ≈ ‰ ™ ≈ ≈ œ œ ≈ œ ‰ ™ bœ ≈ œbœ œœœ œœ œœœ œ™ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œœ™ œœ œœ œœ bœœ Pno. bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ Published: 1849 pœ œ œ ™ ? b ™ ™ ™ j ™ ‰ ‰ ‰ ‰ œ™ Other works from this period: Detailed in the notes below b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ { œ™ œ™ œ™ œ œ œ œ œ™ Approximate duration: 8 minutes The development section illustrates Schumann’s counterpoint studies. (The composer’s fragile psychological health was a lifelong struggle. He suf- The years 1848–1850 saw a great surge in Schumann’s creative output. In 1849 fered deep bouts of depression as early as 1828, accompanied by increasing alone, he completed nearly forty works, including the Spanisches Liederspiel, thoughts of suicide throughout the 1830s. In 1844, he had a particularly severe op. 74, and Lieder-Album für die Jugend, op. 79, among numerous other songs; breakdown. His gradual recovery in early 1845 was aided by the catharsis of the Zwölf vierhändige Clavierstücke für kleine und grosse Kinder (Twelve Four-Hand counterpoint exercises, which produced a set of Four Fugues for Piano, Piano Pieces for Small and Large Children), op. 85; the orchestral Concertstück for op. 72, and Six Fugues on the Name BACH for Organ, op. 60.) After a series of Four Horns, op. 86, and Introduction and Allegro appassionato, op. 92; an assort- fragmented thematic utterances, the cello presents an enigmatic pizzicato motif, setting off an extended contrapuntal passage, quivering with nervous *Bolded terms are defined in the glossary, which begins on page 92. 26 Music@Menlo 2017 energy. As a haunting afterthought to the movement’s recapitulation, the collaborated with Brahms on the composition of his Violin Concerto and also cello figure returns just before the movement’s close.
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