Four Centuries of Great Music January 14, 2024 Something in the Middle

I am calling this episode of Four Centuries of Great Music “Something in the Middle”.  Last week’s episode of Four Centuries of Great Music was focused on Swedish and Italian Baroque composers and modern Icelandic composers and so was missing over two centuries of music.  And several of the composers were not familiar names in music.  So I thought I would fill in the gap this week with familiar composers and music from the 250 year gap between 1750 and 2000.  And most  if not all of these recordings will be from 2023.

Let’s begin with Mozart’s Piano Sonata #1 K. 279.  This work was written in 1774 when he was 18 as a “calling card” since he was known as a child prodigy but not as a mature performer.  This work among others were written as a way to introduce himself to potential patrons and concert promoters as that mature musician.  It is in 3 movements marked: allegro, andante and allegro

This is a performance by Orli Shaham from her most recent album of Mozart piano sonatas Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas VOL. 4. Canary Classics

Next in this first hour of this “Something in the Middle" Episode of Four Centuries of Great Music is CESAR FRANCK Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8.  César Franck was 63, when he wrote this sonata as a wedding present for the 28-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bülow. This never appeared; it has been speculated that whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside, and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886.  It was premiered by Ysaÿe at his own wedding on September 26, 1886.  This work is in 4 movements: I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo-Fantasia. Ben moderato – Molto lento
IV_ Allegretto poco mosso

This performance is a live in concert recording in April 2022 at the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence by Renaud Capuçon, violin & Martha Argerich, piano from the album   Beethoven · Schumann · Franck    Deutsche Grammophon   

Lets end this first hour of this episode of Four Centuries of Great Music with the Prelude from GIUSEPPE VERDI’s opera ERNANI Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala conducted by Riccardo Chailly from the album Verdi Choruses    Decca Classics

Lets begin this second hour of Something in the Middle episode of Four Centuries of Great Music with Beethoven and his String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No.1 from 1806 is the first of his 3 “Russian Quartets” written as a commission by Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky, all of which contain some Russian folk melodies.  The String Quartet No. 7 is in 4 movements
I. Allegro; II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando; III. Adagio molto e mesto and IV. 'Theme russe' Allegro

Dover Quartet    Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets - Volume 2 The Middle Quartets    Cedille Records

We are closing today’s Something in the Middle episode of Four Centuries of Great Music with three works by Felix Mendelssohn
First is Song without Words Op.109.  In addition to the collection of Songs without Words for piano published in eight books, Mendelssohn also composed this piece for cello and piano in 1843 published posthumously as opus 109 with the same title. The title “Song without Words” was of apparently of Mendelssohn’s own invention which he used to describe his lyrical and melody-driven short compositions for piano. It is an appropriate title for this particular piece as it shares the lyrical qualities and is entirely dominated by the melodious cello line. Here is a performance by Haruma Sato, cello and Wataru Hisasue, piano    On Wings of Song - Mendelssohn Works

Next we have On Wings of Song Op.34 No.2 which is the second of his "six songs for voice and piano" but here we hear it as a work for cello and piano again in a performance by Haruma Sato, cello and Wataru Hisasue, piano  

Lastly is Felix Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes Op.17.  This work is for cello and piano.  The Variations concertantes were written in 1829, when the composer was twenty. The theme is one of those sweet, simple melodies. It is followed by eight variations which show the influence of both Mozart’s and Beethoven’s sets of variations, but whose final number bursts out of its frame in a sudden display of Romantic fervour.  Again this is a performance by
 Haruma Sato, cello and Wataru Hisasue, piano  from the album On Wings of Song - Mendelssohn Works
Universal Music