DXLV. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus: Symphony #31 in D Major, K. 297

DXLV. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Symphony #31 in D Major, K. 297 (1778)
1. Allegro assai
2. Andante
3. Allegro
Vienna Philharmonic
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond.
(18:43)

Four years have passed since yesterday's entry. Given the sobriquet "Paris," it must be seen as ironic, since Mozart was in the French capital to get a job -- he had no success.

Nevertheless, this is a magnificent work, perhaps to be considered the first of the final eleven symphonies, composed in the following 13 years.

It is a large orchestra for its time (eight winds, four brass, timpani and strings), including Mozart's first use of clarinets in the form.

First movement

Mozart's musical materials here are more motivic than melodic -- the ascending D Major scale (Mannheim rocket), the little triadic slips down -- but his mastery of said materials renders up a wonderful noise:

an example: here he momentarily slips into A minor:

and this call-and-response between winds and strings:

Development: he slips into F Major, ever so slyly:

Second movement

A calm 6/8. (Mozart composed another second movement a few months later -- we hear from one reviewer that the original "failed to please." This seems to be the original movement.)

Third movement

This syncopated 1/2-note--1/4-note rhythm seems strange even after we land on our feet!

This progression of whole-notes prefigures the "Jupiter" symphony (#41) ...

DXLIV. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus: Symphony #30 in D Major, K. 202

DXLIV. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Symphony #30 in D Major, K. 202 (1774)
1. Molto allegro
2. Andantino con moto
3. Menuetto and Trio
4. Presto
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Ton Koopman, cond.
(19:08)

A light-hearted affair, compared to the later symphonies, this one was written in Salzburg, when Mozart was already an ancient 18-year-old.

The timpani part was lost, but has been reconstructed here.

First movement

The descending D Major triad is common to both outer movements.

Look how he breaks up the beat here:

Second movement

Strings only.

Third movement

A lively minuet with a Trio in the sub-dominant.

Fourth movement

Like the first movement, a descending D Major triad:

Look at these diminished seventh chords, pounded out before a fermata:

and surely a touch of humor here with a decidedly abrupt ending, piano! Look at Koopman! He's in on the joke! (The audience isn't so sure!)

DXLIII. HAYDN, Franz Joseph: Overture to "La Vera Costanza"

DXLIII. HAYDN, Franz Joseph (1732-1809)

Overture to "La Vera Constanza" (1779)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Antal Doráti, cond.
(5:39)

Described as an operatic dramma giocoso (comical, farcical), the plot devolves around a sentimental heroine abandoned by a mad lover.

The overture is typical crisp no-nonsense Haydn:

After navigating through the dominant (F), and permutating the main theme in various ways, he returns to the tonic with a firm conclusion.

There follows this lovely Allegretto in the sub-dominant (E-Flat):

DXLII. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Three Marches for Piano Four Hands, Op. 45

DXLII. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Three Marches for Piano Four Hands, Op. 45 (1803)
1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Vivace
3. Vivace
Ivo Haag, piano
Erard Flügel, piano
(15;50)

Beethoven could be very severe with his pupil and companion, Ferdinand Ries. He frequently berated him harshly -- even when Ries was in some distant city, working furiously on editing or correcting publication proofs, Beethoven wrote him scornful, mean-spirited letters.

He famously "boxed his ears" during the first rehearsal of the Eroica, when Ries mistakenly tried to correct the horn player.

But, in rare circumstances he was kind and even displayed a sense humor, evident in this story:

**

Count von Browne was an early patron of Beethoven's music -- he commissioned the String Trios, Op. 9, and the Magic Flute cello variations, for example.

Ries was a constant visitor to the Count's home, and frequently played Beethoven's music there. On one occasion, he improvised a little march he had written, passing it off as a work of Beethoven.

It was well received, but of course Beethoven eventually got wind of it. He ordered Ries to repeat it -- which the young musician failed to do -- and with both Beethoven and the Count -- finally in on the joke -- Count Browne commissioned Beethoven to write this delightful set.

1. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Vivace

3. Vivace

DXLI. MAHLER, Gustav: Symphony #5

DXLI. MAHLER, Gustav (1860-1911)

Symphony #5 (1901-02)
Part I
1. Trauermarsch. In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt
2. Stürmisch bewegt, mit größtre Vehemenz
Part II
3. Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell
Part III
4. Adagietto. Sehr langsam
5. Rondo-Finale. Allegro -- Allegro giocoso. Frisch
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, cond.
(1:16:38)

It was unusual for a new symphony not to have a key signature attached to its title. The first movement is in C-Sharp Minor and the last in D Major.

"From the order of the movements (where the usual first movement now comes second) it is difficult to speak of a key for the 'whole symphony,' and to avoid misunderstandings the key should be best be omitted." -- GM

Symphonies 1-4 (#1: Post XXI; #2: III; #4: LXXVII) all have vocal texts, while 5-7 (#6: CIV) are purely instrumental.

Mahler was happy. He had escaped a serious medical drama, and was director of the Vienna Court Opera and the principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic. His own compositions were beginning to meet with some success. In '01, he met Alma Schindler and the next year they were expected their first child, Maria.

[Maria would die of scarlet fever in five years, and a few years after that their marriage broke apart when Alma had an affair.]

Also, at this time, a set of the complete works of Bach were finally published in a massive number of volumes. (I got to see them for myself, when my teacher Nadia Boulanger showed me her copies. She had gone blind by studying them at night under candlelight.) Mahler's study of Bach led him to achieving greater and greater heights of magnificent counterpoint and divinely-inspired polyphony.

This is a huge orchestra:

4 flutes
3 oboes
3 clarinets
3 bassoons
6 horns
4 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba
percussion
harp
strings

First movement

Mahler opens this mammoth symphony with the blast of a solo trumpet, imitating the Generalmarsch of the Austro-Hungarian army!

The March concludes and the strings take up a funereal theme:

Mahler moves to B-Flat Minor as the tempo increases. The solo trumpet still takes the lead:

Moving from down a semitone to A Minor. The music begins to swell, shedding some light from the darkness:

The movement concludes quietly with trumpet, flute, and bass drum -- and final C-Sharp pluck from the lower strings:

Second movement

An angry intensity:

The storm passes. Flutes and winds toot out a simple accompaniment to a passionate melody in the cellos.

The initial theme returns -- chaotic -- until reduced to just cello and timpani:

Through many key changes, and stormy outbursts, this section near the end of the movement stands out for its calm serenity:

and this magical conclusion: a descending three-note motif -- C / B in the celli/basses, pizzicato, with the final note -- A -- in the timpani!

Third movement

This delightful scherzo introduces several different waltz and ländler themes. Mahler requires French Horns players (all the brass, in fact) to be precise and durable. No composer before Mahler required such virtuosity ...

A new, lilting ländler theme:

Yet another theme, in the horn, then winds:

Pizzicato strings:

The movement ends with an urgent finality:

Fourth movement

Perhaps the best known movement of any Mahler symphony -- scored for only harp and strings (imagine the brass so grateful for the rest!).

It has been stripped from its larger context in the symphony by Visconti as the main theme of  his 1971 film, Death in Venice; by Leonard Bernstein for the 1968 funeral of Robert F. Kennedy; and was played in commemoration following the 9/11 attacks.

It is said to represent Mahler's love song to Alma, and he wrote a short poem to her to further illuminate the context:

Wie ich Dich liebe, Du meine Sonne
Ich kann mit Worten Dir's nicht sagen
Nur meine Sehnsucht kann ich Dir klagen
Une meine Liebe, meine Wonne

In which way I love you, my sunbeam
I cannot tell you with words
Only my longing, my love and my bliss
Can I with anguish declare

"With warmth" -- he moves the passion up a semitone from F to G-Flat:

With a magical intensity, Mahler brings this music to its conclusion -- suspended into its final breath ...

Fifth movement

The music seems suspended in midair ... motifs which will soon appear in their fullness, are in truncated form in the horn, bassoon, oboe, and horn again -- until the horns begin the rondo in a steady tempo:

Here we see the fruits of Mahler's study of Bach! A marvelous fugue with the traditional entrances staggered tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant:

and then it was over: