Sunday, November 24, 2019, 3pm Hertz Hall David Finckel, cello Wu Han, piano PROGRAM Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 Allegro ma non tanto Scherzo: Allegro molto Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897) Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 Allegro vivace Adagio affettuoso Allegro passionato – Trio Allegro molto INTERMISSION Claude DEBUSSY (1862–1918) Nocturne and Scherzo for Cello and Piano César FRANCK (1822–1890) Violin Sonata in A Major (trans. cello) Allegro ben moderato Allegro Recitativo-fantasia (Ben moderato – Molto lento) Allegretto poco mosso David Finckel and Wu Han appear by arrangement with David Rowe Artists (www.davidroweartists.com). Public Relations and Press Representative: Milina Barry PR (www.milinabarrypr.com) David Finckel and Wu Han recordings are available exclusively through ArtistLed (www.artistled.com). Artist website: www.davidfinckelandwuhan.com Wu Han performs on the Steinway Piano. This performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Will and Linda Schieber. Cal Performances’ 2019–20 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 21 PROGRAM NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven The cello and piano continue trading motifs, Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 each repeating what the other has just played. Beethoven composed the Sonata in A major— A heroic closing theme is the culmination of one of the greatest works in the cello litera- the section and a brief, contemplative recollec- ture—between 1807 and 1808, in the midst of tion of the opening motif leads to the repeat one of his most phenomenally prolific periods of the exposition. (these years also saw the birth of the Fifth and The development explores even more in- Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concer- credible worlds, turning through mysterious, to, the Choral Fantasy, and the Op. 70 Piano rhapsodic, stormy, soaring, and mystical sound Trios. The new prominence of the cello, the worlds before reaching the recapitulation, sweeping use of the instrument’s range, and where the cello plays the theme in its original the long, singing lines in the work all herald form against triplet decorations in the piano. the full flowering of the cello’s role in Beetho- The coda is thoughtful, and an extended chro- ven’s compositions. The earliest sketches of the matic buildup leads to a heroic statement of sonata appeared in 1807, among those for the the theme. After some dreamy, languishing Fifth Symphony; Beethoven completed the music almost dies away, Beethoven finishes work in Vienna in the spring of 1808, at the this great movement with a surprise forte. age of 38. The extraordinary second movement is the Beethoven dedicated the sonata to Baron Ig- only appearance of a scherzo (meaning “joke”) naz von Gleichenstein, an amateur cellist and in all five cello sonatas. The music begins on one of the composer’s closest friends and ad- the upbeat, and the 3-1 rhythm never ceases, visers between 1807 and 1810. Gleichenstein even in the happier trio section. Although helped to organize a consortium of sponsors there are many clever exchanges, the incessant, who offered Beethoven a guaranteed annual manic energy leaves the distinct impression stipend to remain in Vienna. It is thought that that this scherzo is no joke. the dedication of the sonata was a gesture of A short Adagio cantabile, a beautiful song thanks to the baron. After the agreement was for both instruments, relieves the nervousness signed, Beethoven asked Gleichenstein to help of the scherzo. A moment of hesitation leads him find a wife. to the quiet, almost surreptitious appearance A year after the work was completed, Bee- of the final Allegro vivace. The theme, though thoven complained that the sonata “had not happy like its predecessors in the earlier sona- yet been well performed in public.” The first tas, is more lyrical and has greater emotional record of a performance is from 1812, when depth. It introduces a movement in which the the sonata was played by Beethoven’s pupil composer employs virtuosity not as an end in Carl Czerny and Joseph Linke, the cellist who itself, but as a means of creating internal excite- would later give the first performance of the ment. The second subject presents a difference Op. 102 sonatas. Linke was the cellist of the of opinion between cello and piano, the cello Razumovsky Quartet, which premiered many singing a short phrase, the piano responding of Beethoven’s string quartets. with percussive eighth notes. The development After presenting the first movement’s noble section is mostly wild, with flying scales and theme alone, the cello rests on a low note while pounding octaves. Approaching the recapitu- the piano continues to a cadenza. The music is lation, Beethoven employs the basic materials then repeated with the roles reversed, the cello of the movement: the rhythmic eighth-note playing an ascending cadenza marked dolce. accompaniment is combined with chromati- The mood is rudely broken by a ferocious ver- cism, grasping for the main theme. The coda sion of the theme in minor that quickly dissi- is full of thoughtfulness and pathos. There is a pates to allow for the entrance of the second sense of reflection amidst excitement, of Bee- subject, a beautiful combination of a rising thoven yearning to be understood, yet with scale (cello) against a falling arpeggio (piano). satisfaction denied. After a series of repeatedly Opposite: photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco 23 PROGRAM NOTES unsuccessful attempts, the home key of A ma- “Why on earth didn’t I know one could write jor is finally attained, as the eighth-note melo- a violoncello concerto like this? Had I only dy accelerates to frenzied sixteenth notes. The known, I would have written one long ago!” ending is triumphant, as Beethoven hammers At the time of the sonata’s premiere, the his point home, the cello repeating the first bar conductor and critic Eduard Hanslick wrote, of the theme over and over again with the pi- “In the Cello Sonata, passion rules, fiery to the ano pounding out the eighth-note accompani- point of vehemence, now defiantly challeng- ment (“I will not give up!”). ing, now painfully lamenting. How boldly the —David Finckel first Allegro theme begins, how stormily the Allegro flows!” Indeed, Brahms’ writing at this Johannes Brahms stage in his career evinces a sense of daring Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 often overlooked in the dichotomy between a Brahms spent the summer of 1886 in the idyl- Brahmsian conservatism and Wagnerian pro- lic Swiss resort town of Thun. He rented the gressivism. second floor of a hillside house on the Aare The work unfolds with a bristling ener- river, and spent much of the summer at a local gy, with a jolting explosion in the piano an- casino, drinking beer and playing cards with swered by a triumphant cry from the cello. musicians from the house orchestra. He wrote The opening Allegro vivace’s central theme happily to his friend Max Kalbeck, “It is sim- comprises these shouting fragments, rather ply glorious here. I only say, quite in passing, than a continuous melodic line. Remarking on that there are crowds of beer gardens—actual its unusual rhythms and bold melodic leaps, beer gardens—the English [tourists] are not at Schoenberg would later write: “Young listen- home in them!” ers will probably be unaware that at the time The Cello Sonata in F major was com- of Brahms’ death, this sonata was still very posed for Robert Hausmann, a close friend of unpopular and was considered indigestible”— Brahms and cellist of the great Joachim String a useful reminder to the contemporary listen- Quartet. Like the violinist Joseph Joachim and er, for whom this work fits well within com- the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, Hausmann mon practice, that Brahms was nevertheless served Brahms as the prototypical performer- a “progressive” composer (Wagner and com- muse, very directly inspiring Brahms’ cello pany notwithstanding). The movement’s har- writing over the last decade of his career. By all mony is similarly insolent, handily integrating accounts, Hausmann played with a remarkably dissonant tones, and flirting with minor-key burnished tone and ample technique; Brahms’ tonality throughout the exposition. writing suggests that Hausmann had no trou- The work’s harmonic boldness carries into ble negotiating the cello’s highest registers, nor the Adagio affettuoso, which begins in the sur- rising above the clanging fortissimo chords in prising key of F-sharp major, a half-step from the piano. Brahms’ facility with instrumental the key of the opening movement. Hypnotic technique is similarly evident in the striking pizzicati mark time under the melody in the tremolo across the strings, taken from the piano before Brahms again employs the cello’s piano’s opening gestures, which Brahms uses luminous upper register to sing a long phrase to end the exposition, and then echoes at the that climbs passionately, before settling into a haunting end of the development section. (It is sweet lullaby. The movement is organized into also interesting to note that, despite that mas- ternary (A–B–A) form: as in the first move- tery Brahms had achieved in writing for the ment, the harmonies throughout the central B cello by the time of this work, as well as the section are exquisitely rich. A moment of mys- Double Concerto the following year, he still tery presages the appearance of the troubled was not satisfied. Upon hearing Dvořák’s Cel- and turbulent middle section. After a jarring lo Concerto of 1895, he reportedly exclaimed, transformation of the cello’s opening pizzicati, 24 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES the music of the opening returns, beautifully linist Maurice Thieberg with the composer decorated by a flowing accompaniment in the at the piano, before Debussy rewrote it as a piano.