CCXI. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: String Quartet #8 in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2

CCXI. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

String Quartet #8 in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (1808)
1. Allegro
2. Molto adagio
3. Allegretto
4. Finale. Presto
Parker Quartet
(32:58)

1803

In 1792, Count Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was appointed as the Tsar's ambassodor to Vienna. An accomplished amateur violinist, he established a house string quartet and in 1806 commissioned Beethoven for a set of three quartets -- insisting that each contained a Russian theme.

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By looking at the opus numbers after the great success of the Eroica (see Post XXIX), we find masterpieces, one after another:

• Op. 56: The Triple Concerto
• Op. 57: The 23rd piano sonata: "Appassionata"
• Op. 58: The Fourth Piano Concerto
• Op. 60: The Fourth Symphony (see Post CLXXXIV)
• Op. 61: The Violin Concerto

These three quartets are no exceptions; towering works of importance in the quartet literature.

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First Movement

The first thing one notices is the stopping and starting again:

again the opening of the development section -- this time piano, and in remote keys:

and again the recap, ff and p, ending on an inverted diminished chord:

Two other interesting features of this movement are the two bars of heavy sforzandi chord followed by two bars of dolce piano:

and the lovely section of anticipatory syncopation:

Second Movement

Anticipating the Heiliger Dankgesang of Op. 132, Beethoven writes one of his most tender, beautiful slow movements in his oeuvre:

ending in an E minor hush, with a softly rumbling underlying cello part:

Third Movement

A dancer with one foot longer than the other!

 

and here's our Russian theme in the Trio; the original song "Glory to the Sun," was used most famously by Mussorgsky in the coronation scene of his opera, Boris Godunov [see Post CLXXIX].

Beethoven never enjoyed taking orders from the nobility. Joseph Kerman:

"It sounds as though Count Razumovsky has been tactless enough to hand Beethoven the tune, and Beethoven is pile-driving it into the ground by way of revenge."

Fourth Movement

In the unrelated key of C Major, Beethoven finally releases the joy:

and ends the with a torrential rush of notes, firmly cadencing in E Minor:

CCX. BACH, J.S.: O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig (Leipzig Chorales), BWV 401

CCX. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)

O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig (Leipzig Chorales), BWV 401 (1739-42)
Wolfgang Zerer, organ
(6:53)

Though not as well-known as the Prelude & Fugues (see Post CVIII), or Toccatas, the eighteen Leipzig Chorales and among Bach's greatest compositions for organ. Based on chorale melodies, he spins out great stretches of virtuoso writing.

This one is in three sections, each progressively more complex. The third puts the chorale melody in the pedal part.

CCIX. MILHAUD, Darius: Piano music

CCIX. MILHAUD, Darius (1892-1974)

Piano music
Saudades do Brazil (Suite de danses) (1920-21)
La Muse ménagère (à M.M.M.M. (1945)
L'album de Madame Bovary (1933)
Madeleine Milhaud, narrator
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
(1:04:32)

Milhaud's friendshp with Paul Claudel led him to Brazil in 1916, providing the inspiration for Saudades. Every piece in the collection is dedicated to a different person.

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Muse is, of course, about his beloved wife, Madeleine, who provides the narration here.

"Opening with a dedication to his wife, La mienne (My Own), the day begins with Le réveil (Waking Up) and proceeds to Les soins du ménage (Household cares), a moment of poetry in La poésie, busy cooking in La cuisine and a more lyrical evocation of flowers in the house in Les fleurs dans la maison. The washing is done in La lessive, there is music together in Musique ensemble and acknowledgement of his son Daniel in Le fils peintre (The Painter Son). In Le chat the cat takes its ease, followed by Cartomancie (Fortune-Telling) and the very real Les soins au malade (Nursing the Sick). The day draws to a close with La douceur des soirées (Sweetness of the Evenings) and Lectures nocturnes (Reading at Night). The work ends with Reconnaissance à la Muse (Gratitude to the Muse).

**

Drawn from his score for Renoir's Madame Bovary, these piano arrangements are accompanied by extracts from the Flaubert novel, chosen by Madeleine Milhaud.

"They do not follow the order of the novel's narrative, but start with reference to the early days of Emma's marriage. The beggar's song (Chanson) belongs to a later stage in the narrative and has symbolic significance, while Rêverie takes us back to Emma's early dreams, at her convent school. Le Tilbury (The Carriage) takes Emma and Léon on their headlong ride, after their assignation in the cathedral. The exact placing of the extracts in the narrative (Romance, Game, Autograph, The Saint Hubert, Sigh, In the Woods, Promenade, Thinking, Chagrin, Barcarolle and Last Pages) is hardly necessary to an understanding of the music, matched here with reflections of Emma Bovary's moods and feelings as the tragedy unfolds."

CCVIII. HANDEL, George Frideric: Alcina

CCVIII. HANDEL, George Frideric (1685-1759)

Alcina (1735)
Alcina (Paula Berry)
Morgana (Megan Miceli)
Ruggiero (Simone McIntosh)
Bradamante (Veronica Algie)
Oronte (Haitham Hadar)
Melisso (Igor Mostovoi)
Oberto (Hannah de Priest)
Christian Carpino (Transformed lover of Alicina)
Eric Epp (Transformed lover of Alicina)
Bryan dePersia (Transformed lover of Alicina)
Justin Swanson (Transformed lover of Alicina)
McGill Baroque Orchestra
Hank Knox, cond.
(2:38:42)

Handel took the fantasy idea from Orlando furioso, an epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto. He used this material in several different operas.

**

It's obvious that J.K. Rowling knew her history: we have a hippogriff (who flew the characters to Alcina's island before the opera starts!) and plenty of magic wands!

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There are several excellent productions on YouTube, but I chose this one because it has English subs. And these college kids are amazing! A German-born composer who might as well have been English writes an opera in Italian which is performed by a bunch of Canadian students in Chinese costumes. There you go.

If you can't spare the 2:48:42, there is an excellent exposition of the plot of this opera in this animated video which lasts a mere two minutes -- and it does manage to pretty much sum up the whole thing!

Handel's writing is magnificent. Simple, but floridly decorated; melodies that stay with you long after the performance. For example, this aria designated for Alcina, is somehow sung by Morgana here. No matter, it is an example of an excellent aria, with a high B-Flat held for seven beats (46:34):

CCVII. BACH, J.S.: Cantata #212: "Mer Hahn en neue Oberkeet," BWV 212

CCVII. BACH, J.S. (1685-1750)

Cantata #212: "Mer Hahn en neue Oberkett," BWV 212 (1742)
1. Overture
2. Duet aria: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet
3. Duet recitative: Nu, Mieke, gib dein Guschel immer her
4. Aria (soprano): Ach, es schmeckt doch gar zu gut
5. Recitative (bass): Der Herr ist gut: Allein der Schösser
6. Aria (bass): Ach, Herr Schösser, geht nicht gar zu schlimm
7. Recitative (soprano): Es bleibt dabei
8. Aria (soprano): Unser trefflicher
9. Duet recitative: Er hilft uns allen, alt und jung
10. Aria (soprano): Das ist galant
11. Recitative (bass): Und unsre gnädge Frau
12. Aria (bass): Fünfzig Taler bares Geld
13. Recitative (soprano): Im Ernst ein Wort!
14. Aria (soprano): Klein-Zshocher müsse
15. Recitative (bass): Das ist zu klug vor dich
16. Aria (bass): Es nehme zehntausend Dukaten
17. Recitative (soprano): Das klingt zu liederlich
18. Aria (soprano): Gib, Schöne
19. Recitative (bass): Du hast wohl recht
20. Aria (bass): Dein Wachstum sei feste und lache vor Lust!
21. Duet recitative: Und damit sei es auch genung
22. Aria (soprano): Und dass ihr's alle wisst
23. Duet recitative: Mein Schatz, erraten!
24. Chorus: Wir ehen nun, wo der Dudelsack
The Bach Players
(29:26)

Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you nineteen for me
Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all

-- George Harrison's song Taxman

Written 224 years apart, Johann and George's compositions have a lot in common! The main difference is -- in the end -- George doesn't offer to go out for a drink with the Man.

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With more movements than any other cantata, and completely different than most of Bach's work, this "Peasant Cantata" is a complete joy. It is possibly the last known dated cantata of Bach.

Picander -- himself a tax collector -- proposed the idea to Bach, who composed the piece in a folksy, burlesque style -- pure entertainment.

The work is an homage to Carl Heinrich von Dieskau, a tax collector and owner of the Knauthain estate (mentioned in #14).

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1. Overture

The overture is a collection of various dance tunes, some as short as seven bars.

2. Duet aria: Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet

A bourée:

The Chamberlain
has become our new Squire.

3. Duet recitative: Nu, Mieke, gib dein Guschel immer her

Come, Molly, let me have a kiss.
If only that were all!
I know you well, you good-for-nothing
you always ask for more.

4. Aria (soprano): Ach, es schmeckt doch gar zu gut

Oh, how delightful it is
if two people are affectionate;
there's a turmoil in the belly
as though a whole lot of fleas and bugs
and a raging swarm of wasps
were bickering among themselves.

Is there anything in the 18th-century that describes love-making from a woman's viewpoint like that?!

5. Recitative (bass): Der Herr ist gut: Allein der Schösser

6. Aria (bass): Ach, Herr Schösser, geht nicht gar zu schlimm

  

Oh, Mr. Tax Collector, don't be so unkind
to us poor peasant folk!
Leave us our skins;
though, like a caterpillar, you devour
the cabbage down to its very stalk,
content yourself with that!

7. Recitative (soprano): Es bleibt dabei

There is no argument
that our master is the best of all;
he could not be improved on
and is worth more than a sack of silver coin.

8. Aria (soprano): Unser trefflicher

Our excellent
beloved Chamberlain
is an affable man
with whom no-one can find fault.

9. Duet recitative: Er hilft uns allen, alt und jung

He helps us all, both young and old.
and, between you and me:
didn't our village get off lightly
in the recent draft?
I know an even better tale,
our master controls the tax.

10. Aria (soprano): Das ist galant

This is splendid,
no-one says anything
about the ground rents.
No-one breathes a single word
Knauthain and Cospuden
have not yet paid their dues.

11. Recitative (bass): Und unsre gnädge Frau

And our gracious mistress
is not at all proud.
Though we are poor and uncouth,
she chats with us, as though
she were the same as us.
She is pious, thrifty and careful
and would gladly for our master
turn every bill to good account.

12. Aria (bass): Fünfzig Taler bares Geld

To pay out fifty thalers in hard cash
without any redress
is hard to put up with
when they've got us by the short hairs. (!)
But what's gone is gone,
we'll be able to make it up
twice over in some other way;
forget the fifty thalers!

13. Recitative (soprano): Im Ernst ein Wort!

Now pay attention!
Before I give any thought
to our tavern
or to dancing,
first you must listen to my new song
in honour of our Squire.

14. Aria (soprano): Klein-Zschocher müsse

This da capo aria is the longest of the cantata. It is likely that the performers danced in the instrumental section:

Let Klein-Zschocher be
as gentle and sweet
as almond kernels.
Today let nothing
but abundance of blessings
enter our community.

15. Recitative (bass): Das ist zu klug vor dich

That is too learned for you,
and in the townsfolks' style;
we peasants do not sing so softly,
listen to the piece that suits me!

16. Aria (bass): Es nehme zehntausend Dukaten

Notice the first entrance of the horn!

May the Chamberlain
collect ten thousand ducats every day!
May he drink a glass of good wine
ad may be enjoy it in full measure!

17. Recitative (soprano): Das klingt zu liederlich

That sounds much too disrepectful.
There are some fine folk here
who would laugh at it
with all their hearts,
just as if I were
to sing the old lay.

18. Aria (soprano): Gib, Schöne

May you, lovely lady,
have many sons
tall and good-looking
and may you rear them;
that is the hope of Zshocher and Kanuthain.

19. Recitative (bass): Du hast wohl recht

I think you are right,
The piece does not sound good.
I'll have to force myself
to sing a townefied tune.

20. Aria (bass): Dein Wachstum sei feste und lach vor Last!

Another da capo aria, this time for the bass. Note the gorgeous interplay between violin and continuo.

May you ever prosper
and enjoy life!
Your good heart
has prepared the soil
on which you will surely flourish.

21. Duet recitative: Und damit sei es auch genung

And that must suffice.
Now let us all repair
to our tavern.
In other words, you want to say:

22. Aria (soprano): Und dass ihr's alle wisst

Let everyone know
that the time has come
to drink our fill.
Let those who are thirsty, wave.
And if their right hand is too weak,
then let them have recourse
to their left hand!

23. Duet recitative: Mein Schatz, erraten!

My sweet, you guessed it!

And since there's nothing else
left here for us to do,
let us went our weary way
to our dear old tavern.
Well, let the devil take me,
Master Ludwig, and the Tax Inspector
must come with us today.

24. Chorus: Wir gehen un, wo der Dudelsack

We're going to the tavern
where the merry bagpipe drones,
and shout full of glee:
long live Dieskau and his kin,
may he be granted
whatever he desires,
and whatever he has set his heart on!