TH S E A S O N P R O G R A M N O T E S 45 WEEK 3 JULY 30–AUGUST 5, 2017 Sunday, July 30, 6 pm of Beethoven’s first string quartet; he was BRETT DEAN (b. 1961) Monday, July 31, 6 pm working on the set of quartets as he pre- Rooms of Elsinore (2017) pared these trios for publication. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 – 1827) The noble slow movement, carefully (Commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1 marked Adagio, ma non tanto e cantabile, Music Festival and the Library of Congress; (1797–98) is based on two long-spanned melodies, New Mexico premiere) both heartfelt in their intensity. Beethoven “The best of my works,” crowed the young sets this movement in 3/4, but the actual Please see “Commissions and Premieres” in Beethoven to his friend and patron Count pulse is 9/8, and within this he makes the program book for notes by the com- Johann Georg von Browne in 1798. He was further metric subdivisions. This seemingly poser about his work. describing the set of string trios he had gentle movement grows complex as it written over the previous two years that proceeds, and the young composer makes ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (1874 – 1951) he dedicated to Browne. He was probably effective use of silence at some points, a Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), after right, for these three concise trios represent mark of acute control. Dehmel, Op. 4 (1899) a clear advance over the chamber works The lively Scherzo: Allegro has some and piano sonatas he had published up to unusual points of its own. That Beethoven Verklärte Nacht was one of Schoenberg’s then. The string trio (violin, viola, cello) is a would even choose to write a scherzo first successes, and it remains his most challenging form, for the composer must do here (rather than the expected minuet) is popular work. He wrote this 30-minute without the second violin that completes remarkable, and its brief but sturdy trio piece for string sextet (string quartet plus the harmony in the string quartet. section does not lead to the expected da viola and cello) in the final months of Beethoven responded to the challenge capo repeat. Instead, Beethoven writes 1899 when he was 25 but could not get it with works of power and individuality. All out the return of the opening section and performed. When he submitted it for per- three trios have four movements, two have subtly varies it as he brings the movement formance to the Tonkünstlerverein (Vienna’s potent scherzos, and throughout the set to its close. chamber music society), the judges rejected Beethoven experiments with form. Yet for The blistering Presto that concludes the it because the score contained a chord they all his pride in these string trios—and for Trio brings yet more surprises. It is in sonata could not find in their harmony textbooks. all his success with them—Beethoven never form (rather than the expected rondo), and Referring to its unusual tonalities, one returned to this form. By the time they the opening theme falls into two parts: a of the judges made a now-famous crack, were published, he was deeply engaged in perpetual-motion beginning that gives way saying that Verklärte Nacht sounded “as writing his first cycle of string quartets, and almost instantly to a melody so innocent if someone had taken the score of Tristan in that form he discovered much greater that it sounds like a children’s song. The when the ink was still wet and smudged it expressive possibilities. true second theme, a soaring idea for violin over.” Of the set of string trios, the stormy and viola in octaves, is also developed, and Verklärte Nacht was finally performed No. 3 in C Minor has become the most Beethoven provides an exposition repeat. in 1903 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet. famous, but the gentler No. 1 in G Major Full of brilliant passage work and complex The leader of that Quartet, Arnold Rosé, is just as striking, perhaps because it is modulations, this movement requires the was Mahler’s brother-in-law, and Mahler crowned by a stunning slow movement. It most skilled performers, and at the very met Schoenberg at rehearsals for Verklärte is also the only one of the three with a slow end they are given a coda of breathtaking Nacht and became his champion, though introduction; this weighty Adagio sets up virtuosity. he confessed that some of Schoenberg’s the rhythmic spring of the Allegro con brio, —Eric Bromberger music was beyond him. The first perfor- a sonata-form movement full of nobility of mance brought howls from conservatives, line and fluid ease of writing. Beethoven but this music made its way quickly into provides repeats of both exposition and the repertory. In 1917 Schoenberg arranged development before a lively coda drives Verklärte Nacht for string orchestra and the movement to its close. Along the way, revised this version in 1943; at today’s con- alert listeners may recognize the thematic cert the music is heard in its original form. kernel that would become the near-ob- Verklärte Nacht is based on a poem sessive main theme of the first movement of the same name by Richard Dehmel, a Program notes for Music at Noon Concerts are sponsored by Barbara & Ronald Balser with thanks to the gifted Festival musicians who inspire us all. German lyric poet. The subject of Dehmel’s “Verklärte Nacht” from Weib und Welt “Transfigured Night” poem may have been as difficult for early (1896) by Richard Dehmel Viennese audiences as Schoenberg’s music. (1863 – 1920) It can be briefly summarized: A man and a woman walk together through dark woods, Zwei Menschen gehn durch kahlen, kalten Two people walk through a barren, cold with only the moon shining down through Hain; grove; the black branches above their heads. The Der Mond läuft mit, sie schaun hinein. The moon races along; it draws their gaze. woman confesses that she is pregnant but Der Mond läuft über hohe Eichen The moon races above tall oaks; by another man—her search for happi- Kein Wölkchen trübt das Himmelslicht, Not even small clouds dim the light of the ness led her to seek fulfillment in physical In das die schwarzen Zacken reichen. sky, pleasure. Now she finds that nature has Die Stimme eines Weibes spricht: Into which the dark tree tops reach. taken vengeance on her. The man speaks, The voice of a woman speaks: and instead of denouncing her, accepts her and the child as his own: their love for each Ich trag ein Kind, und nicht von Dir I am carrying a child, and not yours; other will surround and protect them. The ich geh in Sünde neben Dir. I walk beside you in sin. man and woman embrace, then continue Ich hab mich schwer an mir vergangen. I have sinned grievously against myself. their walk through the dark woods. But Ich glaubte nicht mehr an ein Glück I no longer believed in happiness the night has now been transfigured, or Und hatte doch ein schwer Verlangen Yet had a deep yearning transformed, by their love. The first line of Nach Lebensinhalt, nach Mutterglück For a life with meaning, for the joys of Dehmel’s poem—“Two people walk through Und Pflicht; da hab ich mich erfrecht, motherhood a barren, cold grove”—is transformed in Da liess ich schaudernd mein Geschlecht And duty; so I grew bold the last line: “Two people walk through the Von einem fremden Mann umfangen, And, shuddering, I gave myself to the em- exalted, shining night.” Und hab mich noch dafür gesegnet. brace of a stranger, Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht can be Nun hat das Leben sich gerächt: And even thought I was blessed for it. understood as a tone poem depicting the Nun bin ich Dir, o Dir begegnet. Now life has taken its revenge, events of Dehmel’s poem, and it falls into Now I have met you, yes, you. five sections: “Introduction,” “Woman’s Confession,” “Man’s Forgiveness,” “Love Sie geht mit ungelenkem Schritt. She walks with an awkward gait. Duet,” and “Apotheosis.” Verklärte Nacht Sie schaut empor, der Mond läuft mit. She looks upwards: the moon is racing may look forward to the music of the 20th Ihr dunkler Blick ertrinkt in Licht. along. century, but its roots are firmly in the 19th: Die Stimme eines Mannes spricht: Her dark gaze drowns in light. the influences are Brahms (in the lush, The voice of a man speaks: dramatic sound), Wagner (in the evolving harmonies), and Richard Strauss (whose Das Kind, das Du empfangen hast, The child you have conceived, tone poems served as models). The music is sei Deiner Seele keine Last, Let it not be a burden to your soul. dark and dramatic, and Schoenberg drives O sieh, wie klar das Weltall schimmert! Look! How brightly the universe shimmers! it to several intense climaxes. Particularly Es ist ein Glanz um Alles her, There is a radiance around everything; interesting are the harmonies. This music Du treibst mit mir auf kaltem Meer, You’re drifting with me on a cold sea, begins in dark D Minor and evolves through Doch eine eigne Wärme flimmert Yet a special warmth radiates troubled and uncertain tonalities to the Von Dir in mich, von mir in Dich. From you into me, and from me into you. bright D Major of “Man’s Forgiveness” and Die wird das fremde Kind verklären It will transfigure the stranger’s child; the concluding walk through the transfig- Du wirst es mir, von mir gebären; You will bear it for me, as though it were ured night.