Era: Classical (even though now we are on our way to Romantic stylistically and arguably Romantic/is Romantic - When Schubert/Beethoven die, that's it for me)
Year: 1828/posth.
Form: Symphony
Score: 90
Musically possibly the most accessible of the bunch - meaning I think it's the most warm/melodic. I didn't read these like I did the other two.
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Before his death in 1828, Franz Schubert had completed portions of two projected song cycles -- one on poems by Ludwig Rellstab, and the other on poems of Heinrich Heine. These cycle fragments, representing a total of thirteen songs, were collected after the composer's death by his brother, Ferdinand Schubert, and one of his publishers, Tobias Haslinger, who then added "Die Taubenpost" and published all fourteen as Schwanengesang (Swan Song) in 1829.
It is impossible to know how much thought these men gave to their hodgepodge; it is likely that their motives were entirely commercial (the Heine songs, in particular, showed promise as moneymakers). So one should not examine Schwanengesang in the same light as Schubert's two earlier cycles, Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, both of which were conceived of as wholes by the composer. Schwanengesang lacks the literal sense of journey that accompanies the other cycles, and so also their sense of interpretive architecture; however, true "cycle" or not (a debatable point), it possesses enormous musical variety and emotional scope. It crystallizes the musical and literary currents present in Schubert's thinking at the time of his death, and hints at the creative paths he might have followed had he enjoyed the luxury of more time. At the very least, Schwanengesang showcases Schubert's flexible response to poetry and revisits the archetypes of song and sentiment that populate his output overall. Here we have "riding" songs and "wandering" songs, the friendly brook and the crashing wave, virtuosity and musical economy, all juxtaposed -- as appropriate a swan song as could be for one of the greatest song composers of all time.
The seven Rellstab poems that form the first half of Schwanengesang were originally given to Beethoven for consideration, but Beethoven died before he had a chance to set them. The composer's secretary then passed them on to Schubert. Schubert's settings magnify the robust and conventional style of Rellstab's language; they exploit the composer's fondness for unusual modulation and active piano figurations, but they rarely challenge one's sense of the normal or expected. The joy of the Rellstab songs lies in their journey from one mood to the next in the seamless way that is so typical of Schubert.
Schubert became acquainted with Heine's Buch der Lieder (Book of Songs) through one of the reading groups that gradually displaced the famous "Schubertiades" (informal concerts of his works) in the last years of the composer's life. The six settings from this collection that are included in Schwanengesang clearly demonstrate the degree to which Schubert rethought musical structure in response to poetry. A conventional setting like "Das Fischermädchen" (The Fisher Girl) -- full of tongue-in-cheek elegance -- finds itself juxtaposed with "Die Stadt" (The City), in which the composer actually departs from functional tonality. These songs are entirely about mood and irony, and they leave traditional concepts of beauty and lyricism behind. In "Der Doppelgänger," Schubert weaves together the archaic technique of ostinato with vocal declamation that comes strikingly close to Sprechgesang ("speech-song") -- a device that was fully a half century ahead of its time.
"Die Taubenpost" (The Carrier Pigeon) is a charming setting of Johann Gabriel Seidl, who provided texts for a number of Schubert's songs ("Der Wanderer an den Mond" is a well-known example). If anything, "Die Taubenpost" is an example of the way Schubert could transform a poem of modest quality into an especially memorable song. Not relating to the rest of Schwanengesang in any way, it was perhaps included to mitigate the very dark sentiment of the Heine settings and end the cycle on an upbeat note.
Love the clips. Brendel is a badass. Dang, I love his playing!
That said, I still prefer listening to Beethoven, Mozart, or even Haydn in this genre. Delightful as Schubert may be, he just doesn't reach me to the same level.
Era: Classical (even though now we are on our way to Romantic stylistically and arguably Romantic/is Romantic - When Schubert/Beethoven die, that's it for me)
Year: 1825-1828; 1822
Form: Symphony
Score: 90
I approached my acquisition of a disc with Schubert's 8th and 9th as more of filling a hole in a collection than picking it up for the purpose of the love of the music. After all, what's the point of an unfinished symphony? It's only famous for novelty sake, right? And if he never bothered to finish it, it couldn't be that good to begin with, eh? And even if it was good... the unfinished nature of it must make it a rather unsatisfying listen, right?
I was wrong. The 8th is wonderful. What's more, I don't feel cheated that it ends with the Andante.
And the 9th is even better. It's not one I like to listen to often, but when I can set aside the time and energy, it really does the trick.
Love the clips. Brendel is a badass. Dang, I love his playing!
That said, I still prefer listening to Beethoven, Mozart, or even Haydn in this genre. Delightful as Schubert may be, he just doesn't reach me to the same level.
Brendel is indeed a badass. And yes, I get what you mean RE: Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn being your preference. This go around with Schubert I discovered a quality I didn't find in any other composer and it took probably 100 tracks into his "discography", if you will, for me to discover it, but it is a subtle thing and I totally get it. I also like Schubert because of the texts he took and put to music probably more than anyone else, being a German lit major, so I guess I have a deeper love that way (typically text doesn't do much for me, but for much of his Lieder he takes from some of the best German poetry ever and puts it to a Bob Ross painting... just kidding - I just love how his music is subtle and beautiful). But yea, totally get the preference.
9th is a bit draining and 8th possibly sums up what I'll call (even if experts don't agree, even with each other) the Beethoven/Mozart classical era, launching us into the Romantic full on.
And it's a wrap on the classical/late classical/pre-early romantic period for me. I'm currently jamming some Mendelssohn.
I don't know, actually, why this painting is so tied to Romantic Music (other than it being a romantic era painting itself), but I remember back in the 90s it being part of the conversation. Anyway, I stumble upon it again here from Wikipedia. It's personal conquer over the alps. The glory of the alps. Being alone with thoughts and emotions. The juxtaposition of darkness and brightness. It just fits.
Anyway, heaven help me... the Romantic period is quite more intense than anything I've attempted yet before.
musictheoryacademy.com names some themes of this period as an ok introduction for those interested.
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Emotional expression – this became more important than formal structural considerations as composers rebelled against the formal restraint of the classical period.
Big expansion in size of orchestra and in types of instrument.
New structures/forms – rhapsody, nocturne, song cycle
Increasingly elaborate harmonic progressions
Longer melodies than classical period
Bigger range of dynamics
Larger range in pitch (could be very easily expressed on the piano).
Nationalism in music – some composers sought to use their compositions to celebrate their countries e.g. Sibelius Finlandia
It wasn't until the second time I appreciated the Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage Overture - I could at times feel the ocean, which was cool. Historically speaking, I'm a fan of the Reformation and so it was cool to hear a symphony written to celebrate 300 years since the Reformation. I'd have to say it wasn't anything spectacular musically speaking though. As I listen to these works though, I'd have to clearly state they are indeed Romantic in form. Ruy Blas actually was my favorite of the bunch, even if I had wished the Reformation Symphony was much more powerful. What I will say is it's dynamics were great and how can I say no to that opening warm bass tone?
Symphony No. 5 in D major/D minor ("Reformation"), Op. 107
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Mendelssohn composed his Symphony No. 5 in D major ("Reformation"), Op. 107, for the centenary of the Augsburg Protestant Confession. Perhaps less well-known than the third and fourth symphonies, it nevertheless offers much to interest those absorbed by Mendelssohn's rediscovery of the musical past, by his noteworthy religious odyssey, or by the more general confluence of Christianity and musical Romanticism.
In December of 1831 the "Reformation" symphony was to have been played in Paris by the Conservatoire orchestra. The players felt it contained too much counterpoint and was lacking in melody, however, and refused to play it. The work was first performed in Berlin in 1832, but it was not published until 1868. Mendelssohn was not proud of the piece, calling it "a fat, bristly animal" and "a complete misfit."
The symphony seems to suggest a program depicting the evolution toward Protestantism in Germany. Mendelssohn first introduces the "Dresden Amen" (a setting of the word "Amen" by J.G. Naumann [1741-1801] that still appears in hymnals) at the end of the slow introduction to the first movement, and it soon reappears at the close of the development section. (Wagner would use the same melody in Parsifal.) The Finale is based on Martin Luther's Ein feste Burg is unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God), and contains a further reference to the "Dresden Amen," which becomes a unifying device.
In the slow introduction to the first movement, the "Dresden Amen" appears twice in the strings, separated by a leaping figure in the woodwinds, and persists until the beginning of the Allegro con fuoco. The Allegro shifts to D minor and begins with an idea similar to a theme from Haydn's Symphony No. 104 which covers the rising fifth of the "Amen" with a leap instead of a scale. The secondary theme is also derived from the "Amen" motive. Mendelssohn ends the sonata-form movement in D minor.
The second movement could not be more different from the first. Resembling band music, the lively scherzo begins with a dotted inversion of the "Amen." A more literal reference occurs in the subdued trio section. The third movement, marked Andante and in G minor, is chiefly for the strings. Fragments of the "Amen" appear in the first violin melody, and the movement closes with a reference to the second theme of the first movement.
Mendelssohn moves without pause from the third movement to the Finale, which begins with an introductory instrumental chorale based on a streamlined version of Ein feste Burg, first appearing in the flute. Marked Allegro vivace, the Finale proper is in sonata form and 6/8 time, featuring a secondary theme that is an inversion of the main theme of the first movement's Allegro con fuoco section. Counterpoint is prominent in the development section, which treats the second verse of Luther's chorale, using it as a cantus firmus. At the end of the raucous coda, Mendelssohn gives a last, loud variant of the chorale for the whole orchestra.
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, overture in D major, Op. 27
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This is the fourth of Mendelssohn's seven overtures and was written before the similarly maritime Hebrides Overture, Op. 26. It was composed in 1828 and inspired by a pair of poems (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) by Goethe, who very much liked young Mendelssohn's orchestral setting. The same poems were used by Beethoven to produce a short choral work with the same title.
Mendelssohn meant to create an unorthodox form comprising two pictures, though in performance the "Calm Sea" portion sounds like a conventional slow introduction to a fast overture. One musical idea pervades the whole composition, generating the main motive of the opening section and both main themes of the "Prosperous Voyage" section. In mood, the music moves from the depressed feelings of the opening (a "calm sea" was a disaster for merchants in the days of sailing ships), where a slow chordal accompaniment in strings support anxious woodwinds, to the activity and optimism of the second section, where plucked strings depict the sails snapping to and the flute part gains a hopeful melody. Cellos take up a fine melody as the ship makes forward progress. Finally, it ends in an Allegro maestoso coda expressing celebration on sighting land, which is where Mendelssohn allows his poetic imagination to be swamped by conventionality, with insincere brass and timpani. On the other hand, the overture is remarkable for its wide rhythmic variety.
Ruy Blas, overture for orchestra in C minor, Op. 95
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This overture is the result of a request to Mendelssohn from the Leipzig Theatrical Pension Fund, a charity that Mendelssohn liked to support. They intended to mount a benefit performance of Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas, and asked him for an overture and a song for the production. Mendelssohn obliged with a choral song, but initially demurred as to the overture; having read the play he privately decided that it was "quite ghastly" and politely told the Pension Fund people that he did not have time to write an overture. Then he thought the situation over and realized that he had left the impression that he could not write an overture in the space of a few months. His competitive nature flared up, and he wrote the overture in three days. The overture is a blood-and-thunder affair of generalized Romantic era emotionalism, with a troubled introduction, a furious opening theme, a tense second subject, and a lot of violence in working out. Bombastic? Unusually for Mendelssohn, absolutely yes. But it is effective and a good curtain raiser. Incidentally, Mendelssohn never changed his mind about the play, and preferred to call this work the "Theatrical Pension Fund Overture."
Like many, I got on board with Mendelssohn's fourth but didn't really pursue his other symphonies. This fifth proved to be pretty rousing; those cellos and violins be jammin'!
Mendelssohn is highly regarded for his incidental music, but that's also something I never really got into. But this Ruy Blas was very entertaining. I think the note you shared really helps explain what it is and how it came to be what it is; a very amusing anecdote that explains things nicely.
I might be doing things differently moving forward... lemme know if you prefer my old methodology. There's just too much work going on with individual posts and some folks around here just do a week recap, so might try that out considering I'd be making like 285 posts just for the Romantic period. Plus I don't like my album chart and I'm just going to isolate the works this time with limited groupings instead of always having it grouped... we'll see how this plays out.
Note: years get confusing - they can be published, premiered, or written and sometimes those dates have decades in between.
String Symphony #5 in Bb (L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg) by Felix Mendelssohn
Score: 83ish
Year: 1821
Thoughts: This had a nice melody and structure. It immediately clicked, but wasn't great either.
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Felix Mendelssohn's Sinfonia for string orchestra No. 4 in C minor bears the date September 5, 1821; his next such effort, the Sinfonia for string orchestra No. 5 in B flat major, was finished only ten days later, further proof that the list of extraordinary child composers did not end with Mozart. Mendelssohn proves himself equal to the task at hand, as he almost invariably did throughout his short life; and in this case the task was the unenviable one of writing a full three-movement sinfonia worthy of any accomplished adult composer in just nine days while still only 12 years of age.
As with so many of these early string sinfonias, Baroque vigor is the fundamental sentiment throughout much of the B flat Sinfonia. The three movements are an Allegro vivace, and Andante in E flat major, and a final Presto; Mendelssohn opts not to add a slow introduction to the front of the first movement (something that he had just done, for the first time in the sinfonias, in the Sinfonia No. 4). The Andante slow movement relishes itself: it knows that it is beautiful and sonorous, and its aspirations end there. It comes to a quiet close, and thus there is a real break before the outburst of the happy and sometimes quasi-fugal Presto -- the kind of break not heard in the last couple of sinfonias, as their second movements, in real Baroque chamber music fashion, instead lead straight into the next movement.
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Martha Argerich - Charles Dutoit - Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (1998) by Frederic Chopin
Score: 80
Year: 1829ish
Thoughts: I remember thinking it felt like a notch too far in the Schubert uncanny valley.
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Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Sir Neville Marriner / Academy Of St Martin-in-the-Fields) by Felix Mendelssohn
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Mendelssohn, precocious and prodigious, wrote five works for piano and orchestra between the ages of 21 and 29. He began the first of them, the Capriccio brilliant, in 1830, but did not complete it until 1832. He composed the G minor Concerto in the interim, on a visit to Munich, where his frequent companion was Delphine von Schauroth, the daughter of a baroness. "She is an artist, and very cultured, whom everyone adores," he wrote to his cherished sister Fanny. "Ministers and counts trot around her like domestic animals in the hen yard; artists, too, and other cultivated persons....In short, I made sheep's eyes."
The concerto took shape in 1831 before and after morning calls on Delphine. Again to Fanny: "She composed a passage...that makes a startling effect," without specifying which one. Felix dedicated the work to Delphine, but assured Fanny that he did not love her. But then Mendelssohn didn't quite love his wife Cécile, either, when they were wed in 1837. Passion and joy developed later on, reversing the more common conjugal pattern.
He played the premiere himself in Munich on October 17, 1831, and often thereafter, with great success far and wide. Yet it was a performance by Liszt in Paris that made the work truly famous. A legion of young pianists took it up -- so obsessively that Berlioz, in Evenings with the Orchestra, wrote tongue-in-cheek of an Érard piano on which 31 contestants played the music competitively. He claimed that the instrument refused to quit playing the music until it was chopped into pieces and burned.
While Mendelssohn's model was the 1821 Konzertstück by Carl Maria von Weber, his indebtedness does not reduce the merits of his G minor Concerto, any more than Grieg's indebtedness to Schumann detracted from their stylistically related piano concertos in A minor. The melodic vocabulary and harmonic syntax are pure Mendelssohn, already a master at 17 and by 22 a consummate individualist.
This fast, fiery first movement begins with an uprushing, chromatic crescendo for the orchestra. The piano enters with staccato octaves that change themselves into the principal subject. The orchestra takes over and embellishes the main theme until the piano counters with a new, palpitantly lyrical subject. Both are developed rhapsodically, followed by a proud and virtuosic reprise. A fanfare leads without pause to the second movement, an E major Andante, song-structured, of tenderness and poignance that verge on melancholy. The principal theme is sung by violas, then cellos, with bassoons and horns in support. When this ultimately fades into silence, another fanfare heralds an ebullient rondo finale, Molto allegro e vivace, whose main theme is introduced by the piano. At the close, Mendelssohn ties everything together by recalling the lyrical second subject of the opening movement.
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Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40 (1837), was premiered by the composer, to much acclaim, at the 1837 Birmingham Festival. In comparison with the Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (1830-1831), the Second Concerto is somewhat subdued, lacking the irrepressible verve and impatience of the earlier work. Nevertheless, this works exhibits all the admirable characteristics of Mendelssohn's writing for piano and orchestra: dramatic themes, engaging virtuosity, and moments of reflective, even mysterious, calm. While the solo part unmistakably assumes a central role, Mendelssohn never relegates the orchestra to mere accompanimental figuration: instead, it figures prominently in presenting the main themes and complementing the piano with sensitive coloration. The concerto opens with the orchestra presenting a simple, triadic theme; in Mendelssohn's hands, however, this deceptive simplicity translates into a mood of seriousness, immediately engaging the listener. This atmosphere is dispelled by the brightness of the charming second theme, which introduces an atmosphere of lightness and transparence. The second theme, almost narrative in quality, reappears in a number of guises, exemplifying Mendelssohn's extraordinary ability to imaginatively reiterate a particular musical idea. The second movement opens with a piano solo that develops into an emotional labyrinth. Mendelssohn creates a hypnotic atmosphere of tranquil meditation, mystery, and melancholy. As the movement progresses, this mood transforms into a subtle dialogue between piano and orchestra. The third movement displays the scherzando qualities so typical of Mendelssohn's concertante works. Breathless, energetic, and somewhat fragmented, the finale exploits the brilliance and virtuosic possibilities of the piano to the fullest, deftly interspersing this effervescent flow with moments of soul-searching tranquility.
Norma (Richard Bonynge / Orchestra & Chorus Of The Welsh National Opera / Luciano Pavarotti) by Vincenzo Bellini
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Hebrides Overture, Op.26 "Fingal's Cave" by Felix Mendelssohn
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It was inspired by one of Mendelssohn's trips to the British Isles, specifically an 1829 excursion to the Scottish island of Staffa, with its basalt sea cave known as Fingal's Cave. It is not known whether Mendelssohn set foot on the island, the cave being best visible from the water, but the composer reported that he immediately jotted down the opening theme for his composition. He at first called the work To the Lonely Island or Zur einsamen Insel, but then settled on the present title. However, in 1834, the year after the first publication, Breitkopf & Härtel issued an edition with the name Fingalshöhle (Fingal's Cave) and this title stuck, causing some confusion.
Being a concert overture, The Hebrides does not precede a play or opera, but is instead a standalone composition in a form common for the Romantic period. Dedicated to King Frederick William IV of Prussia, then Crown Prince of Prussia, the B minor work became part of the standard orchestral repertoire and retains this position to the present day.
Symphony 4 A, Op.90 "Italian" by Felix Mendelssohn
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In early 1833, Mendelssohn completed his Symphony No. 4 in A major, published posthumously as his Op. 90. He started the piece in Italy in 1832 and finished it in Berlin. It was first performed in London on March 13, 1833, and has since been Mendelssohn's most popular symphony. The composer gave the piece its nickname, "Italian."
Somewhat dissatisfied with the Symphony in A major, Mendelssohn planned to revise it before publication; this never occurred however, and the piece was published as it stood after his death. The composer noted that in the symphony he tried to convey his personal impressions of the art, nature, and people of Italy. Musically, it is a more tightly-controlled, original work than his previous symphonies; the opening theme is among the most famous in all music.
Mendelssohn's signature orchestral textures are evident from the very beginning: pulsing woodwinds create a harmonic background for the simple, horn-call theme in the violins. The rapid pace and fragmentary nature of the theme keep the music from falling into predictable rendering of the 6/8 meter. Two more themes appear before the development section, in which we hear fugato treatment of the main theme, the transitional theme and new melodic material in the minor mode. The recapitulation is not literal; everything is varied. In the coda, the minor-mode theme from the development returns, but the movement closes on A major.
Ignaz Moscheles contended that the main theme of the second movement, an Andante con moto in D minor, contains the melody of a Czech pilgrim song; others claim it is a rendition of Karl Friedrich Zelter's "Es war ein König in Thule." Cast in D minor, the elegant movement has two major sections arranged in an ABAA' pattern, the contrasting B section emphasizing A major. The closing, quiet, pizzicato bass notes convey a sense of resignation.
The third movement, Con moto moderato, is a fairly conventional minuet and trio in A major, possibly inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's humorous poem, Lilis Park. In the coda, the melody of the trio section tries, unsuccessfully, to assert itself over that of the minuet.
Mendelssohn entitled the Finale, "Saltarello," which is a lively Neopolitan dance featuring hopping and jumping; the fast main theme conveys the leaping aspect of the dance. The movement's high point is the central development, in which Mendelssohn creates a continuos crescendo from pianissimo to fortissimo. Near the close we hear a reference to the main theme of the first movement, but on A minor, the key in which the movement ends.
While the classical period will probably always be my favorite, there's no denying the explosion that took place in the romantic period, which not only lasted longer, but also had a far more diverse group of top level contributors.
I understand the need to streamline the diary a bit at this point. I applaud your attempt to meet the challenge of maintaining coverage without letting the project balloon into a decades-long venture!
However, with this much thrown out per post, it's gonna be hard to keep up!
So just as your coverage may be a little more superficial, I suspect so will be my responses. That said, I do hope that as you cross some things that really move you beyond the bulk of what you're reviewing, you do share more depth in your analysis at least for those you find to be real gems. I really do like reading your take on things, especially those that really catch your ear, and especially your soul.
Regarding the latest batch, I'll start with Mendelssohn. I've always had kind of a lukewarm relationship with him. In the end, I don't listen to quite as much Mendelssohn as maybe I should, but I just rarely leave a Mendelssohn listen feeling wowed, other than acknowledging how astonishingly young he was when he wrote most of his works. But in the end he doesn't grab me quite like the Beethoven/Haydn that preceded him or the Brahms/Dvorak who came after, so he's like an 8 sandwiched between a bunch of 10s.
His string symphonies strike me as an early romantic version of the least of Haydn's early classical symphonies. Now realize that saying like "the least of" Haydn's early symphonic work is in no way a negative criticism as you know I love just about every symphonic thing Haydn ever did. But again, while that means I like it, it's good stuff and all, it's just not upper echelon enough to get much time in my rotation.
For some reason I never really took to Fingal's cave. A fresh listen here, when in the right mood, did help, but still not something I'll grab often, even though it is excellent programme music.
I did, however, really enjoy refreshing my acquaintance with his piano concertos as a result of this post. Dude really expected his soloist to throw off some fantastic flourishes! But more than just fanciful flights, overall construction and large scale musical flow were excellent as well.
Mendelssohn's fourth symphony is what brought me to his music in the first place (probably like most entering classical music). It's easy to see why it remains his most beloved piece, and I consider it a gem to this day, even if it doesn't get tons of spins in my system.
Now what really grabbed me from this set was the Chopin concertos, especially #1. I've always thought Chopin was rather less successful with the large concerto form than the shorter solo piano pieces where his only rival is Debussy. But in approaching these again, I'm changing my mind. Dude could definitely write large scale orchestral work for piano! In studying these pieces, I also solved one of my mini-mysteries. I'd always thought of his 1st as more mature than the 2nd. sure, both are loaded with virtuoso passages of the highest order along with sumptuous melodies, but the first simply seems a more consistent and coherent musical argument, with melody and fireworks more perfectly balanced, and in the end significantly greater emotional impact. Well, as it turns out, the first was actually second; it just happened to be published first and therefore became known as such. So it turns out that my impression that the first takes the best of the first and brings it to holistic perfection was actually on target. Here's a performance that really brings out the wonder of this work; Kissin has just the right touch on the piano.
The Symphonie Fantastique is a very interesting piece to me. I really shouldn't like it as much as I do given my general tastes. For instance, I generally prefer the German/Austrian palette to the French. I really love that lineage from Haydn through Beethoven to Brahms, and Berlioz is completely outside that thread. He did things with symphonic form that seem a little random or out of place. And do I really need to hear more presentation of some amorous Frenchman's obsession with some woman? Sure, when it's this good! This piece is something of a marvel. It is the only of his four symphonies that I really care for.
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