The Concert - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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63. Admiration and Rivalry Feb 01, 2009

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Debussy: Sonata for cello and piano
Ravel: Trio

Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are held today as two icons of French classical music. Both were prominent in fin-de-siecle Parisian culture, associating closely with writers, poets, and painters. Both attended the 1889 Paris Exhibition and were fascinated by the musical cultures they encountered there, particularly the Javanese gamelan. Working in almost parallel fashion, both actively sought to create a fluid new sound world, rich in texture and color, and each emerged with a distinctive musical idiom. The two pieces we’ll hear today were written within a year of one another, in the midst of World War I. Debussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano was composed in 1915, three years before his death. Within its irregular phrasing and rubato, every gesture in the cello conjures a speaking voice, urgently trying to communicate. Ravel’s 1914 Trio is especially notable for its narrative quality, as if a story or panorama were slowly unfolding as the three instruments weave in and out of each other, layering and disassembling strata of sound.

62. Emblems Jan 15, 2009

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Chopin: Three Mazurkas, Op. 59
Webern: Variations for Piano, Op. 27
Beethoven: Cello Sonata in A Major, Op. 69

Though disparate in sound and style, today’s three pieces are similar in that each can be considered emblematic of its composer’s sound and approach. Chopin, frequently discussed as a nationalist composer, expressed allegiance with his Polish homeland by returning to the form of the mazurka, a quintessential Polish folk dance, throughout his career. His Three Mazurkas contain the composer’s hallmark elegance, virtuosity, and structural sophistication. Webern’s Variations for Piano exemplify the twelve-tone row compositional technique to which Webern strictly adhered throughout his life, along with the pointillistic texture, complex rhythm, and sharply disjointed lines that illustrate his sound world. Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in A Major is emblematic in that it captures much of the composer’s dedication to a ‘heroic spirit.’ The opening theme contains a fiercely majestic quality and Beethoven’s expansive and demanding use of the cello and piano creates a fullness of sound that surpasses usual expectations for two instruments.

61. The Piano Trio Jan 01, 2009

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Kreisler: Miniature Viennese March
Schubert: Trio in B-flat Major, D. 898, Op. 99

The development of the piano trio is inextricably linked to the evolution of the piano as an instrument. Because the piano’s precursors, such as the harpsichord, had little dynamic range and were unable to sustain notes, composers often used the strings as accompaniment to balance the volume of the three instruments. As the piano’s volume and richness of tone increased, string parts became increasingly substantial and melodic. Written in 1827, Schubert’s intricate and expansive B-flat Major trio is arguably the first piano trio where the cello truly becomes an equal musical partner in the ensemble. Kreisler’s early 20th-century Miniature Viennese March is playful and jazzy, with the violin and cello sharing the lively, sometimes sultry, melody while the piano acts as accompaniment, providing a dissonant offbeat rhythm clearly influenced by popular American music of the time.

60. An English Musical Renaissance Dec 15, 2008

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Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel (selections)
Elgar: Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82

British composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar were the first since Henry Purcell (1659-1695) to have a major impact on British classical music. They, in turn, paved the way for later British composers, leading to a 20th century musical renaissance in England. Vaughan Williams attended some of the best institutions in England, and received instruction from very prominent composers, yet he became best known for his appreciation and use of British folk songs. These three pieces--“The Vagabond,” “The Fireside,” and “Whither Must I Wander”--are taken from his song cycle “Songs of Travel” which uses poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. Elgar, a generation older than Vaughan Williams, was largely self-taught as a composer and gained much of his knowledge by studying scores in his father’s music shop. After his first major success with “The Enigma Variations,” Elgar became known as the greatest English composer since Purcell.

59. The Drama of Beethoven Dec 01, 2008

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Beethoven: Fifteen Variations and a Fugue in E-flat Major, Op. 35
Beethoven: String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4

Both of the pieces on today’s podcast were written by the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the early years of his career. Beethoven was a virtuosic pianist who often impressed patrons and audiences by performing his own compositions and then improvising extensively upon them. Today, his Fifteen Variations and a Fugue for solo piano is often nicknamed “The Eroica Variations” because Beethoven re-used the main theme of this piece for the finale of his Eroica Symphony. The String Quartet in C Minor, one of Beethoven’s first string quartets, is elegant and agile, while still displaying strong marks of the composer’s famously dramatic temperament. Right from the opening of the first movement, we hear a stormy melodic line over driving bass notes. The line rises and increases in intensity, spilling over into an abrasive and disruptive series of chords. Even in his early works, Beethoven chose confrontation over simple closure.

58. Human and Divine Nov 15, 2008

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Bruhns: Mein Herz ist bereit
Bruhns: De Profundis clamavi
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht for String Sextet, Op. 4

The two composers that we’ll hear today draw on very different textual materials for their work. Nicolaus Bruhns, a seventeenth century German composer, set Biblical Psalms in his two sacred concerti. Arnold Schoenberg’s string sextet Verklärte Nacht, or “Transfigured Night,” is based on a poem which describes a man and woman talking in moonlit woods. Containing daring erotic and social themes, it was considered risqué even to the modernist circles in turn-of-the century Vienna. Yet despite the historical and textual gap, both composers used their music to link the human and the divine. While the text of Bruhn’s concerti is directed towards the divine, the expressive quality of the gestures and melodies are very human. And although the emotional journey of Verklärte Nacht seems to be entirely of this world, the sustained pure chords in the last measures of the piece indicate that the human element can finally be transcended for the clarity of the night.

57. The Sopranos Nov 01, 2008

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Saint-Saëns: Romance for flute and harp
Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis
Saint-Saëns: Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75

Today we will be listening to three pieces written for soprano instruments in the late 19th century by two French composers – Camille Saint-Saëns and Claude Debussy. Saint-Saëns’ Romance for the flute, with its elegant and soaring melodic lines, is the perfect showcase for this quintessential soprano woodwind. “Chansons de Bilitis,” written for high voice and piano, is a set of three poems that tell a mythic tale of lust, betrayal, and abandonment. The last piece, Saëns’ Violin Sonata in D minor, is written for the highest member of the string family. In this fiery sonata, the atmosphere is dark and brooding, interspersed with moments of beauty and playfulness. These three pieces demonstrate that soprano instruments not only embody refinement and beauty, but they can manifest a passion and ferocity that reflect the richness of human emotions.

56. A Young Brahms Oct 15, 2008

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Brahms: Sonatensatz for violin and piano
Brahms: String Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18

Brahms played chamber music from a young age, and these compositions demonstrate a deep commitment to and love of the music created by a small number of players. Whether he wrote for two instruments, or for six, Brahms gave each part its own unique character, so that each voice contributes to the structural and emotional integrity of the music. The Sonatensatz was originally the scherzo movement of a sonata that Brahms wrote with his friends, Albert Dietrich and Robert Schumann. It is a true collaboration between the violin and piano, demanding full emotional intensity from both instruments. In the string sextet, Brahms takes full advantage of each member of the ensemble. It is lushly textured; rich in the bass register; and ethereal in the high violin lines. Each voice—whether it is interrupting, sympathizing, questioning or supporting—has an important place within the larger conversation.

55. Innovation in Music Oct 01, 2008

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Vivaldi: Concerto for orchestra in D minor, FXII, No. 31
Schubert: Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956, Op. 163

To our modern ears, innovation in music composed centuries ago is hard to detect. But both of the pieces in today’s podcast use innovation in instrumentation and style to create a sound that was new for the audiences of their time. Vivaldi’s Concerto is one of many that he wrote for various groups of instruments - in this case, violins, oboes, recorders and a bassoon, accompanied by a small orchestra. While this might not sound unusual, the bassoon was actually a new instrument in the early 18th century, and its prominent inclusion would have been a pleasant novelty for Vivaldi’s audience. This piece also differs from the standard Baroque concerto form by fluidly weaving the solo instrumental parts in with the larger ensemble. Schubert’s Cello Quintet also contains an unusual instrument - a second cello! The standard string quintet uses an extra viola, so this is an unexpected combination. Sadly, this quintet was Schubert’s last instrumental composition. While many of the melodies are lilting and joyful, harmonic shadows are constantly emerging.

54. Structure and Simplicity Sep 15, 2008

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Strauss/Godowsky: Die Fledermaus (Symphonic Metamorphosis)
Schoenberg: Six Short Pieces for Piano, Op. 19
Mozart: String Quartet in A Major, K. 464

When Leopold Godowsky, a virtuosic pianist and famous pedagogue, transcribed and arranged themes from Strauss’ operetta “Die Fledermaus” in 1912, he had two goals—to capture the charming and humorous spirit of Strauss' operetta and to extend the limits of pianistic technique. The result is a piece so difficult that it is rarely heard in live performance! Schoenberg's Six Short Pieces, also written in 1912, have a very different sound. The composer was just beginning to experiment with atonality and in these little piano pieces, Schoenberg creates succinct microcosms of music that truly are so short that they have no formal structure. The last selection is Mozart's Quartet in A Major. An original manuscript indicates that this quartet actually caused Mozart more trouble than his others. There are alterations, changes and musical fragments that are unusual for his composing style. The quartet itself, however, flows with so much lyricism and beauty that it is impossible to hear any hint of this compositional struggle.

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