Four Centuries of Great Music June 18, 2022 Four Centuries Special Edition

This is the a special edition of Four Centuries of Great Music following the 2022 Laffont Grand Finals Concert.

Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

Written in 1871, the quartet has four movements:  I. Moderato e semplice; II. Andante cantabile; III. Scherzo. Allegro non tanto e con fuoco – Trio; IV. Finale. Allegro giusto – Allegro vivace (D major)

The first movement, marked Moderato e semplice, places the gently rocking theme in a dignified classical setting, with rich harmonies and intense counterpoint that celebrate the sense of unity found in the string quartet sound.
The second movement the andante cantabile is one of Tchaikovsky’s best known melodies an based upon the Ukrainian folk song "Vanya sat on the sofa,” - as the story goes he heard a house painter sing this song while visiting his sister.

The jaunty syncopated theme and dark, minor-key flavor of the Scherzo-Trio movement, marked Allegro non tanto e con fuoco,  make it alternately mysterious and festive.  The forthright sonata-rondo Finale, marked Allegro giusto – Allegro vivace, contains the lyricism, simple harmonies, and syncopated rhythms that characterize the entire work.


Mozart’s Piano concerto No. 21 in C Major is the second of three piano concerto Mozart wrote in 1785 and followed the No. 20 D minor concerto by only a month.  It is in three movements. The first movement marked Allegro maestoso begins with a march like theme which becomes more melodic and returns to a march like motif before the entry of the piano.  Themes both foreshadow the theme of the first movement of Symphony #40 written 3 years later and are used in his 3rd horn concerto which was written about this same time

The second movement, marked andante, begins with a dream-like melody in the strings, then the solo piano enters and ends with a recapitulation of the dream-like melody.  This movement that was featured in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan

The 3rd movement  a rondo marked Allegro vivace assai begins in a joyous theme. After a short cadenza, the piano joins in and further elaborates on this theme.  The soloist plays scale and arpeggio figurations that enhance the themes, as well as a short cadenza that leads back to the main theme to reach a triumphant conclusion.


Beethoven: Bagatelle in B-Flat Major