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drplaceboAbout a month ago, I got a comment on one of my Forgotten Masterpiece Friday posts from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nucleosides about wanting to introduce her kids to more classical music. FMF isn't necessarily a vehicle for introductions to classical music -- there's some great music there, but you're not going to hear a lot by the well-known composers. As it was, I was also thinking about posting a monthly "virtual concert" of YouTube links to form something like an actual concert program. All featuring the same type of ensemble or combination of instruments, so one group of musicians could in theory perform the entire concert. Each of these would include somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes of music, like a real-world concert.
I'd still throw in some off-the-beaten-path stuff, but the goal is to have a balanced and varied concert program, including pieces by the greats, that you can hear without having to leave your computer. This seems like a better format for people who aren't seasoned listeners.
So here's my first try at one of these! I think I'll start posting these around the beginning of each month.
September's virtual concert features viola quintets (string quartet with the addition of a second viola) from the Romantic era: two youthful works and one mature one, one piece from the beginning of the Romantic era and two Late Romantic quintets.
Franz Schubert, Overture for String Quintet (1811)
Beginning when he was 11 or 12, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) played in a family string quartet. None of his family were virtuoso string players, but his two older brothers were fairly good violinists, his father was a competent amateur cellist, and young Franz himself completed the quartet by playing the viola. Sometimes the quartet became a quintet or sextet, as friends and neighbors began to join the family group occasionally. This was the context for Schubert's first compositions: when he was 13, he wrote a few string quartets to play with this family ensemble. (None of these very early quartets survive, so they are not among his 15 numbered string quartets.)
As it turns out, Schubert's family string ensemble did not only play pieces that were composed as chamber music; his father had arranged several opera overtures by Salieri and Cherubini for string quartet or quintet. And this probably explains the unusual title of Schubert's earliest surviving piece for strings, his Overture for String Quintet, which he completed in June 1811 when he was 14 years old. Composed in a single movement, it clearly shows the influence of orchestral music in its extensive use of string tremolos, melodies doubled at the octave, and fanfare-like passages.
Carl Nielsen, String Quintet in G Major (1889)
Perhaps the photos of the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) as a young man say it all: at a time when posing for pictures was an extremely serious matter, he practically invented mugging for the camera. Similarly, he was the most irreverent of composers: his 2nd Symphony, "The Four Temperaments," was inspired by a comically bad painting he saw hanging on the wall while having a beer at a hotel bar. Nielsen's rarely-performed String Quintet, one of his early compositions, puts that irreverence on full display.
Nielsen begain composing this quintet in September 1888, just days after the premiere of his Suite for String Orchestra, the first public performance of any of his music. He had recently graduated from the Copenhagen Conservatory and applied for a grant to continue his studies abroad; and he thought a performance attended by Niels Gade, the director of the conservatory and one of the people evaluating his grant application, could tip the scales in his favor. As a young composer, Nielsen was not especially cognizant of the logistics of getting a performance. On January 1, 1889, he wrote to his girlfriend, by way of explaining why she had not seen him in some time: "I've been so endlessly busy just recently, partly with rehearsals and partly in the Royal Theatre, and finally with the quintet, which I absolutely must get finished today, as it is to be played or rather rehearsed with Anton Svendsen on one of the first days in January." (Svendsen was a friend who played violin alongside Nielsen in the Royal Danish Orchestra.) Then, before having set a performance date or rehearsed the piece a single time, he evidently contacted Gade to inform him that his music was being played on February 13. It seems Nielsen had jumped the gun, and Svendsen had only made a vague promise to perform the piece but not on any specific date. Thus, we have Nielsen's rather embarrassed letter to Svendsen in February, after a failed attempt to find the violinist in person: "Yesterday I went into the theatre to talk to you [...] I came to ask whether it is possible for it to be played on Wednesday [next] week. I was rash enough – in my joy at your kind promise – to tell Professor Gade that you would play it; from which you will understand that it is of even more importance to me to have it performed." Fortunately, despite the extremely short notice, Svendsen kept his promise, and the quintet was performed on Wednesday, February, 13, 1889, with Svendsen playing the first violin part and Nielsen himself playing second violin. The quintet received glowing reviews, but Nielsen had to be satisfied with that -- despite all his efforts he failed to win the grant that year, though he applied again and succeeded the following year.
The quintet saw about half a dozen performances during Nielsen's lifetime, but was not published until half a decade after his death. Despite making no real effort to get the quintet published, Nielsen did not forget it; in the last year of his life he added to the manuscript a dedication to the Thorvald Nielsen Quartet, and reportedly told a member of the quartet that he preferred it to any of his string quartets.
While this quintet contains plenty of pleasant melodies, Nielsen announces almost from the beginning that he does not intend for it to be a genial salon piece; the first viola makes a sardonic interjection less than thirty seconds into the first movement that totally changes the direction of the music. Throughout the piece, the young composer displays his penchant for keeping the listener constantly off balance, especially in the fiery scherzo and the exuberant finale.
I. Allegro pastorale
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto scherzando
IV. Finale: Allegro molto
* Note: all the recordings of the Nielsen string quintet on YouTube are provided by record labels. If you have trouble listening because of country restrictions, let me know -- I can try posting a different recording whose country restrictions may be different.
INTERMISSION
Get up and stretch your legs a bit, maybe take a short walk or get a snack or a drink. Yes, I mean it.
Brahms, String Quintet No. 2 (1890)
In contrast to the two other pieces on the program, the second string quintet by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of his mature works. In fact, when he completed it in 1890, he intended for it to be the last composition of his career. (It was not.)
Strangely, even the composer's friends viewed the quintet as rather introspective, perhaps because of his announcement that it was to be his last work. But this was a cheerful Brahms (or at least a comparatively cheerful Brahms); he begin composing this quintet after returning home from a vacation in Italy. The first movement is infused with the exuberance of the Mediterranean, though not without some moments of typically Brahmsian angst. This is followed by an unusually stormy slow movement and a scherzo movement that alternates between a melancholy, skittish waltz and a gentle, rustic dance. The finale is extroverted, beginning off-balance in a minor key but quickly launching into more upbeat tunes influenced by Hungarian dance music.
Also, note the stunning performance venue! This video was recorded in the famous Rock Church in Helsinki.
nucleosides about wanting to introduce her kids to more classical music. FMF isn't necessarily a vehicle for introductions to classical music -- there's some great music there, but you're not going to hear a lot by the well-known composers. As it was, I was also thinking about posting a monthly "virtual concert" of YouTube links to form something like an actual concert program. All featuring the same type of ensemble or combination of instruments, so one group of musicians could in theory perform the entire concert. Each of these would include somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes of music, like a real-world concert.I'd still throw in some off-the-beaten-path stuff, but the goal is to have a balanced and varied concert program, including pieces by the greats, that you can hear without having to leave your computer. This seems like a better format for people who aren't seasoned listeners.
So here's my first try at one of these! I think I'll start posting these around the beginning of each month.
September's virtual concert features viola quintets (string quartet with the addition of a second viola) from the Romantic era: two youthful works and one mature one, one piece from the beginning of the Romantic era and two Late Romantic quintets.
Franz Schubert, Overture for String Quintet (1811)
Beginning when he was 11 or 12, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) played in a family string quartet. None of his family were virtuoso string players, but his two older brothers were fairly good violinists, his father was a competent amateur cellist, and young Franz himself completed the quartet by playing the viola. Sometimes the quartet became a quintet or sextet, as friends and neighbors began to join the family group occasionally. This was the context for Schubert's first compositions: when he was 13, he wrote a few string quartets to play with this family ensemble. (None of these very early quartets survive, so they are not among his 15 numbered string quartets.)
As it turns out, Schubert's family string ensemble did not only play pieces that were composed as chamber music; his father had arranged several opera overtures by Salieri and Cherubini for string quartet or quintet. And this probably explains the unusual title of Schubert's earliest surviving piece for strings, his Overture for String Quintet, which he completed in June 1811 when he was 14 years old. Composed in a single movement, it clearly shows the influence of orchestral music in its extensive use of string tremolos, melodies doubled at the octave, and fanfare-like passages.
Carl Nielsen, String Quintet in G Major (1889)
Perhaps the photos of the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) as a young man say it all: at a time when posing for pictures was an extremely serious matter, he practically invented mugging for the camera. Similarly, he was the most irreverent of composers: his 2nd Symphony, "The Four Temperaments," was inspired by a comically bad painting he saw hanging on the wall while having a beer at a hotel bar. Nielsen's rarely-performed String Quintet, one of his early compositions, puts that irreverence on full display.
Nielsen begain composing this quintet in September 1888, just days after the premiere of his Suite for String Orchestra, the first public performance of any of his music. He had recently graduated from the Copenhagen Conservatory and applied for a grant to continue his studies abroad; and he thought a performance attended by Niels Gade, the director of the conservatory and one of the people evaluating his grant application, could tip the scales in his favor. As a young composer, Nielsen was not especially cognizant of the logistics of getting a performance. On January 1, 1889, he wrote to his girlfriend, by way of explaining why she had not seen him in some time: "I've been so endlessly busy just recently, partly with rehearsals and partly in the Royal Theatre, and finally with the quintet, which I absolutely must get finished today, as it is to be played or rather rehearsed with Anton Svendsen on one of the first days in January." (Svendsen was a friend who played violin alongside Nielsen in the Royal Danish Orchestra.) Then, before having set a performance date or rehearsed the piece a single time, he evidently contacted Gade to inform him that his music was being played on February 13. It seems Nielsen had jumped the gun, and Svendsen had only made a vague promise to perform the piece but not on any specific date. Thus, we have Nielsen's rather embarrassed letter to Svendsen in February, after a failed attempt to find the violinist in person: "Yesterday I went into the theatre to talk to you [...] I came to ask whether it is possible for it to be played on Wednesday [next] week. I was rash enough – in my joy at your kind promise – to tell Professor Gade that you would play it; from which you will understand that it is of even more importance to me to have it performed." Fortunately, despite the extremely short notice, Svendsen kept his promise, and the quintet was performed on Wednesday, February, 13, 1889, with Svendsen playing the first violin part and Nielsen himself playing second violin. The quintet received glowing reviews, but Nielsen had to be satisfied with that -- despite all his efforts he failed to win the grant that year, though he applied again and succeeded the following year.
The quintet saw about half a dozen performances during Nielsen's lifetime, but was not published until half a decade after his death. Despite making no real effort to get the quintet published, Nielsen did not forget it; in the last year of his life he added to the manuscript a dedication to the Thorvald Nielsen Quartet, and reportedly told a member of the quartet that he preferred it to any of his string quartets.
While this quintet contains plenty of pleasant melodies, Nielsen announces almost from the beginning that he does not intend for it to be a genial salon piece; the first viola makes a sardonic interjection less than thirty seconds into the first movement that totally changes the direction of the music. Throughout the piece, the young composer displays his penchant for keeping the listener constantly off balance, especially in the fiery scherzo and the exuberant finale.
I. Allegro pastorale
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto scherzando
IV. Finale: Allegro molto
* Note: all the recordings of the Nielsen string quintet on YouTube are provided by record labels. If you have trouble listening because of country restrictions, let me know -- I can try posting a different recording whose country restrictions may be different.
INTERMISSION
Get up and stretch your legs a bit, maybe take a short walk or get a snack or a drink. Yes, I mean it.
Brahms, String Quintet No. 2 (1890)
In contrast to the two other pieces on the program, the second string quintet by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of his mature works. In fact, when he completed it in 1890, he intended for it to be the last composition of his career. (It was not.)
Strangely, even the composer's friends viewed the quintet as rather introspective, perhaps because of his announcement that it was to be his last work. But this was a cheerful Brahms (or at least a comparatively cheerful Brahms); he begin composing this quintet after returning home from a vacation in Italy. The first movement is infused with the exuberance of the Mediterranean, though not without some moments of typically Brahmsian angst. This is followed by an unusually stormy slow movement and a scherzo movement that alternates between a melancholy, skittish waltz and a gentle, rustic dance. The finale is extroverted, beginning off-balance in a minor key but quickly launching into more upbeat tunes influenced by Hungarian dance music.
Also, note the stunning performance venue! This video was recorded in the famous Rock Church in Helsinki.