Four Centuries of Great Music March 12, 2023 Chamber Music That Must Be Programmed Episode 10

Chamber Music Works that need to be programmed Episode 10

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Quartet in A Minor, H.537

The Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the most famous and influential son of the great Johann Sebastian, was one of the first composers to give a prominent role to the clarinet as solo and chamber music instrument.  The clarinet was in its infancy when Bach began to write for it, late in life, having left his position in Berlin as court composer to Frederick the Great, and taken over the directorship of the five principal churches in Hamburg after the death of his godfather, Georg Philipp Telemann.  However, by 1760 the production of clarinets with 4 or 5 keys provided a great variety of timbre and tonal flexibility. These qualities prompted the composer to write a number of original works and to rewrite existing works including the clarinet as an equal partner within the ensemble, taking the role of leading melodic instrument (hitherto given to the flute or the violin).

In early 1788 (the year of his death), Bach created the Quartet in A minor (H537, Wq93), originally written for flute, it was later transposed for the clarinet to play with the violin or viola and treble and bass keyboard lines.  Although with 4 voices, hence the name quartet, it is actually a trio in performance.   It is in 3 movements, typical fast, slow fast I. Andantino; II. Largo e sostenuto and  III. Allegro assai



Ruth Crawford Seeger:  Violin Sonata

Ruth Crawford Seeger’s style reflects influences of the early twentieth century avant-garde, from the mystical atonality of Scriabin to the disciplined organization of Schoenberg and perhaps even the crystallizations of Varèse; yet there is no mistaking her own voice and sensibility, fully apparent in her dramatic gestures, energetic counterpoint, and brusque dissonances. Her violin sonata was written in 1925-26.  During the 1930s Seeger gave up writing music due to difficulties in women getting their works published.  But returned to writing in the late 40s and early 50s.  She died of cancer in 1953.  She was the step-mother of folk musician Pete Seeger.

The work is in three moments I. Vibrante, agitato;  II. Buoyant and  III. Mistico, intenso - Allegro


Carlos Chavez: Sonatina for Violoncello & Piano

Although its brevity earns this composition the title Sonatina, it is by no means an easy work. It calls not only for great playing skill on the part of both instrumentalists, but a strong architectural sense as well. Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (1899 - 1978) was the leading figure in Mexican music from 1920 to 1970 as a composer, conductor, educator, and administrator. Barely into his twenties, he had already begun research into the music of the Native American cultures that make up an important thread of the Mexican identity and began to incorporate it into his music.

A study trip to Europe in 1922 with his new wife gave him the occasion to meet Paul Dukas. Just as he had done with Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, Dukas sensed in Chávez a temperament that would be best served by concentrating on the rich musical heritage of his homeland.  Largely self-taught as a composer, Chávez turned to the security of established European forms and wrote a sonatina for violin which he 40 years later transcribed for cello. He did put Mexican elements in the music, but in a way that was integral rather than exotic. While there are compositions where he deliberately emphasizes the Indian or popular origin of his musical materials, there are others, such as this brief sonata where this influence is the underpinning of the melodic forms themselves. This is especially true in the final movement, with its incantatory repeated notes. The movements of the sonatina are quite austere, with hard-edged post-Stravinskyian dissonances.  Rhythmic complexities abound in the sonatina. One striking passage in the second movement has the piano in triple time and the soloist in quadruple, not fitted into the same time unit as a cross-rhythm, but overlapping each other so they go in and out of phase. A few measures of three tossed into the string part here and there make these phase points unpredictable. There is a brief and touching slow section of one movement, but mostly rhythmic drive prevails. In one memorable section, the piano seems possessed by literal repetitions of the same ostinato pattern while the string solo also plays it, but picks its notes apart and recombines them in different ways each time.



Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Trio Sonata in D Major  

It is in 5 short movements Grave, Vivace e Presto; Allegro; Allegro; Aria Affetuoso and Allegro.   Italian influences are much stronger in this sonata, with imitative exchanges between the violin lines, syncopated rhythms, and cadential hemiolas. Like the G minor trio sonata it also feature sections where the bass instrument and continuo lines diverge.
Nicolette Moonen violin
Oliver Webber violin
Reiko Ichise viola da gamba
Silas Wollston harpsichord

Theodor Kirchner’s Eight Pieces for Cello & Piano, Op.79

Let’s open this second hour of Four Centuries of Great Music continuing the theme of Chamber Music Works that need to be programmed with Theodor Kirchner’s Eight Pieces for Cello & Piano, Op.79
Theodor Kirchner (1823-1903) was born in the town of Neukirchen in the German province of Saxony. He showed a prodigious musical talent at an early age, however, his father was reluctant to let him study music. It was only after hearing both Schumann and Mendelssohn highly praise his son’s talent that he permitted Theodor to attend the Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied with Mendelssohn, among others. Subsequently he held a positions as an organist and then as a teacher at various conservatories. He wrote more than 1,000 works, most are short and for the piano, although he did write a small amount of very appealing chamber music.

Theodor Kirchner’s compositional talent was respected and held in the highest regard by Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Wagner and many others. But Kirchner, found himself unable to write large scale works. Rather, he excelled at writing miniatures. He would often write several at a time and then publish them together, each with a different mood and feel and each perfect in its own way. Ultimately he became known as the undisputed master of the character piece, a short kind of free form work. Kirchner literally wrote hundreds of such pieces which can rightly be considered little gems, little masterpieces. His Eight Pieces were originally published for cello and piano by Hofmeister in 1886. They were so popular that his publisher insisted upon arrangements for violin and viola.
 
None of the pieces are longer than 4 minutes and it was intended that all eight be played together. However, Kirchner knew that they also made excellent encores when played individually and never objected to this practice.  


Albert Dietrich: Piano Trio No. 1 in C major, Op. 9