DLII. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Das Liedchen von der Ruhe, Op. 52, No. 3

DLII. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Das Liedchen von der Ruhe, Op. 52, No. 3 (1793)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Jörg Demus, piano
(2:44)

 

Words by Hermann Wilhelm Franz Ueltzen.

Im Arm der Liebe ruht sich's wohl
Mir winkt sie, ach! vergebens
Bei dir, Elise, fänd' ich wohl
Die Ruhe meines Lebens
Dich wehrt mir harter Menschen Sinn
Und in der Blüte welk' ich hin!

Im Schoß der Erde ruht sich's wohl
So still und ungestöret!
Hier ist das Herz so kummervoll
Dort wird's durch nichts beschweret
Man schläft so sanft, schläft sich so süß
Hinüber in das Paradies

In the arms of love I would doubtless find peace
But it beckons to me, alas, in vain
With you, Elise, I would doubtless find
A lifetime of peace
Harsh people keep you from me
And I languish in my prime

In the womb of the earth I would doubtless find rest
So silent and undisturbed!
Here my heart is full of sorrow
There nothing can oppress it
One sleeps so gently, sleeps so sweetly
As one passes over into Paradise

DLI. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus: Piano Trio in D Minor, K. 442

DLI. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Piano Trio in D Minor, K. 442 (1785-88) [fragment, completed by Stadler]
1. Allegro
2. Andantino
3. Allegro
Willi Boskovky, violin
Nikolaus Hübner, cello
Lili Kraus, piano
(23:00)

Mozart left many projects unfinished. He might have interrupted his work on this trio for an opera, or a symphony -- much more important work. His friend, Anton Stadler -- the clarinetist for whom Mozart wrote the magnificent concerto and quintet -- completed the work, presumably after Mozart's death.

First movement

Second movement

Third movement

DL. RILEY, Terry: Journey From the Death of a Friend

DL. RILEY, Terry (1935-       )

Journey From the Death of a Friend (1972)
TR, everything
(18:28)

From the soundtrack to the film Les Yeux Fermés directed by Joël Santoni. Riley uses many of the same techniques he used in his groundbreaking 1969 album, A Rainbow in Curved Air (see Post XLI).

DXLIX. BACH, J.S.: Es stehn vor Gottes Throne, BWV 309

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

Es stehn vor Gottes Throne (1750 or earlier)
Chamber Choir of Europe
Nicol Matt, cond.
(1:09)

Unusually, this chorale was never used in any other work. In fact, Bach set it without text. The text here was provided by the editors of the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA).

The YouTuber has some nice peaceful images accompanying the music.

DXLVIII. BACH, J.S.: Cantata #76: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76

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

Cantata #76: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76 (1723)
Part One
1. [Coro]: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes
2. Recitativo (Tenore): So läßt sich Gott nicht unbezeuget!
3. Aria (Soprano): Hört, ihr Völker
4. Recitativo (Basso): Wer aber hört
5. Aria (Basso): Fahr hin, abgöttische Zunft!
6. Recitativo (Alto): Du hast uns, Herr, von allen Straßen
7. Choral (Coro): Es woll uns Gott genädig sein
Part Two
8. Sinfonia
9. Recitativo (Basso): Gott segne noch die treue Schar
10. Aria (Tenore): Hasse nur, hasse mich recht
11. Recitativo (Alto): Ich fühle schon im Geist
12. Aria (Alto): Liebt, ihr Christen, in der Tat!
13. Recitativo (Tenore): So soll die Christenheit
14. Choral (Coro): Es danke, Gott, und lobe dich
Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra
Karl Richter, cond.
(37:21)

Sinfonia, Part Two

Having just moved to Leipzig, after working in Weimar and and Köthen, Bach set to work on his first annual liturgical cycle of cantatas -- with two back-to-back two-part, 14-movement cantatas (BWV 75 was his first Leipzig work).

The two-part structure was designed so that the sermon would come exactly in the middle of the work.

Part One

1. [Coro]: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes

Richter ignores the solo indications, and uses the full choir. Not really a deal-breaker, but one wonders why?

The glory of God are the Heav'ns declaring and the firmament showeth His mighty handiwork. There is not a speech or a language where their voices are not resounding.

2. Recitativo (Tenore): So läßt sich Gott nicht unbezeuget!

Let not our God be unattested
His grace and mercy proclaim Him ev'rywhere
The firmament and Heavens so declare
Got set them all in motion
And man and beast to life awakened
Yea God Himself is mindful of us
He calls thru heralds from above
Arise, and come to join my feast of love

3. Aria (Soprano): Hört, ihr Völker

This da capo aria is accompanied only by solo violin and continuo.

Hear, ye people, God is calling

Haste to seek His Throne of Grace
Christ, His Son, for all Creation
Is the groundwork and the base
Thru Him mortals gain salvation

4. Recitativo (Basso): Wer aber hört

But who will hear
Since all the earthly rabble
Has turned to other Gods!
To ancient idols each aspires
The gods of his desires
Man's habits oft to folly prod
And Belial invades the House of God
Since even Christian folk from Christ are turning

5. Aria (Basso): Fahr hin, abgöttische Zunft!

Out ye, idolatrous mob!
Despite the world's condemnation
I render my adulation
To Christ the light of the world

6. Recitativo (Alto): Du hast uns, Herr, von allen Straßen

To Thee, O Lord, in loving kindness

Thou called to us
When we wee groping here in heathen blindness
And as the light gives life and vigor to the air
To light from darkness Thou didst lead us
With Thine own hand didst water and didst feed us
And send Thy Spirit to us
With hope and courage to renew us
And so with humble hearts we offer Thee this prayer

7. Choral (Coro): Es woll uns Gott genädig sein

With full orchestra. The continuo plays this same figure through the entire chorale.

God casts on us His kindly glance
His gracious blessing giving
And lightens with His countenance
The lives that we are living
That of His pleasure and His might
We may be ever learning
That they who scoff may see aright
Their God no longer spurning
Thro' Christ to Him be turning

Part Two

8. Sinfonia

9. Recitativo (Basso): Gott segne noch die treue Schar

God bless Thy ever faithful flock
That they may do Thee honor, believing
Loving, worshipping, to magnify Thy Kingdom
As part of Heaven here on earth
They must, while yet alive
With hate and danger strive
And so prepare their souls for Heaven

10. Aria (Tenore): Hasse nur, hasse mich recht

Accompanied only by continuo. Cantata experts call this the "hate aria."

Hate ye me, hate ye me well
Foul fiends of Hell!
Jesus' love within me glowing
Ev'ry other joy foregoing

11. Recitativo (Alto): Ich fühle schon im Geist

My spirit comprehends
The sweetness of the love which Jesus Christ extends
To me like manna, to feed my soul
Thru this it is that, here below
In loving each his brother
We strengthen one another

12. Aria (Alto): Liebt, ihr Christen, in der Tat!

Da capo aria, accompanied by oboe d'amore and viola de gamba. Richter seems to use a normal oboe and cello.

Show your love by what you do
Just as Jesus died to save you
So requite the love He gave you
Live as He commanded you

13. Recitativo (Tenore): So soll die Christenheit

Now must all Christendom
United to do God honor
And praise His loving kindness
So will the Heav'ns declare
And ever tell the story
Of God, and sing His glory

14. Choral (Coro): Es danke, Gott, und lobe dich

Same as #7 with different verse from the Luther hymn, Es woll uns Gott genädig sein.

Thy Name, O God, we magnify
And thank Thee, Thine elected
Our flocks are fair, our crops are high
Thy Word is well respected
We bless Thee, Father and Thy Son
The Holy Ghost, The Three in One
To Thee by all is honor done
Thy folk adore Thee, ev'ryone
And from our hearts sing: Amen

DXLVII. DEBUSSY, Claude: Préludes, Book 1

DXLVII. DEBUSSY, Claude (1862-1918)

Préludes, Book 1 (1909-10)
Pascal Rogé, piano
(45:11)

Impressionism. Both Debussy and Ravel hated the term, but if the shoe fits ...

1. Moods and emotions aroused by the subject rather than a detailed tone-picture. (Debussy intended the music to speak for itself, and placed each prélude's title at the end of the movement, presumably to allow the performer to experience the music without being influenced by its evocative title. How silly! For a pianist to learn this music, he or she must practice it for a long time, and thus the title will have already resonated with his or her understanding of the music.)
2. Color or timbre is more important than traditional melodic, harmonic or rhythmic structures. Combinations of clashing chords, ambiguous tonality, extended harmonies, and the use of modes and exotic scales (e.g. whole-tone), parallel motion -- these all help define the term.

1. Danseuses de Delphes: Lent et grave (Dancers of Delphi)

2. Voiles: Modéré (Veils/Sails)

Ambiguity. Since plurals in French cannot distinguish gender (le voile = veil; la voile = sail), we cannot know for sure which word Debussy might have meant. Perhaps both ...

3. Le vent dans la plaine: Animé (The Wind in the Plain)

4. "Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir": Modéré ("The sounds and fragrances swirl through the evening air")

From a poem by Baudelaire, Harmonie du soir (Evening Harmony) ...

5. Les collines d'Anacapri: Très modéré (The Hills of Anacapri)

6. Des pas sur la neige: Triste et lent (Footsteps in the Snow)

7. Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest: Animé et tumulteux (What the West Wind Has Seen)

8. La fille aux cheveux de lin: Très calme et doucement expressif (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)

One of Debussy's best-known works.

9. La sérénade interrompue: Modérément animé (Interrupted Serenade)

10. La cathédrale engloutie: Profondément calme (The engulfed Cathedral)

11. La danse de Puck: Capricieux et léger (Puck's Dance)

12. Minstrels: Modéré

DXLVI. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Sonata #24 in F-Sharp Major for Piano, Op. 78

DXLVI. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Sonata #24 in F-Sharp Major for Piano, Op. 78 (1809)
1. Adagio cantabile -- Allegro ma non troppo
2. Allegro vivace
András Schiff, piano
(11:11)

Five years passed between #23 ("Appassionata") and the present work. Other than the Fifth Piano Concerto ("Emperor"), Beethoven did not produce much in this year -- soon he would be reduced to follow Haydn's suggestion and write folksong arrangements for English publishers -- a sad commentary on the state of his affairs during this period.

Ah, but to write for love! The sonata is dedicated to Countess Thérèse von Brunswick -- who may or may not have been the "Immortal Beloved."

Beethoven -- now entirely deaf -- wrote this masterpiece with condensed intensity (it is not incomplete -- he always only intended it to be in two movements), and rhapsodic imagination.

Schiff gives an edifying lecture on the piece here. He points to perhaps the only previous example of music in the key of six sharps -- the second movement of Haydn's String Quartet #64, Op. 76, No. 5. It was apparently nicknamed "The Cemetery" because there are so many "crosses."

**

First movement

The first four bars are sublime. They will not appear again.

Beethoven moves rhythmically from 1/4-notes to 16th-notes to 1/8th-note triplets.

The development section moves rapidly through different key centers -- three in the first six bars! (F-Sharp Minor, A Major, G-Sharp Minor):

Second movement

This little ditty might sound familiar:

 

Beethoven wrote a set of piano variations on the theme, WoO 79.

The playful ascending C-Sharp Major triads (with leading tone) is paralleled here with descending motion.

Where did that come from?

Britannia makes a few more appearances. A pause. And a sweeping ending ...