XI. HEINICHEN, Johann David: Concerto in F Major, S. 235 -- I. Vivace

XI. HEINICHEN, Johann David (1683-1729)

Concerto in F Major, S. 235 -- 1. Vivace (?)
Musica Antiqua Köln
Reinhard Goebel, cond.
(4:16)

A contemporary of Bach, Heinichen was completely forgotten until around 1992, when Goebel recorded these magnificent concerti. His music has unique qualities in its unusual orchestration and form development.

X. TELEMANN, Georg Phillipp: Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E Minor

X. TELEMANN, Georg Phillipp (1681-1767)

Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E Minor (?)
1. Fantasia
2. Largo
3. Allegro
4. Largo
5. Presto
Felipe Egaña, Traverso
Anninka Fohgrub, Recorder
Bremer Barockorchester
(16:05)

This delightful performance of one of Telemann's most popular works is beautifully played by this historical-instruments ensemble.

The two soloists make their appearance on stage with magical mystery!

Starting at 1:36:

IX. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus: Concerto #20 in D Minor for Piano, K. 466

IX. MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Concerto #20 in D Minor for Piano, K. 466 (1785)
1. Allegro
2. Romanze
3. Rondo, Allegro assai
Mitsuko Uchida, piano and cond.
Camerata Salzburg
(34:09)

Our memories of our childhood are often quite formative. When I first heard this magnificent piano concerto, I was very young and thereafter never seemed satisfied with recordings other than:

Richter/Warsaw

Perhaps I've grown more open to new things in my old age. This recording with Uchida -- one of the greatest Mozart interpreters of our times -- in which she both plays and conducts, is filled with incredible sublimity and delicate beauty.

The hushed, mysterious, syncopated introduction:

VIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Symphony #4 in C Minor, Op. 43

VIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Symphony #4 in C Minor, Op. 43 (1935-36)
1. Allegretto poco moderato -- Presto
2. Moderato con moto
3. Largo -- Allegro
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, cond.
(1:04:34)

Shostakovich's first three symphonies were written when he was 19-23. When he composed the Fourth, he was 30 and had just completed his opera, then titled "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensek District."

The opera was a popular success, but Stalin -- who had attended a rehearsal of this symphony -- was somehow dissatisfied with the composer's efforts.

He had an article published in Pravda entitled Muddle Instead of Music. Thus began the first of Shostakovich's troubled relationship with the dictator.

Shostakovich surely knew which side his bread was buttered on. His next symphony -- the Fifth (see Post CLXIX), perhaps his most popular, had a subtitle: "a Soviet artist's creative response to justified criticism."

Not until Stalin's death in 1953 did DS write a work as great and massive as the Fourth.

After withdrawing the work from rehearsals, it was not heard again until 1961! For 25 years, the manuscript gathered dust in a drawer ...

**

The end of the Second Movement contains some brilliant writing for percussion (36:04).

The end of the final movement is a long drone in C Minor which is very effective.

VII. STRAVINSKY, Igor: Le Sacre du Printemps

VII. STRAVINSKY, Igor (1882-1971)

Le Sacre du Printemps (1913)
Part I: L'Adoration de la Terre (Adoration of the Earth)

Introduction
Les Augures printaniers (Augurs of Spring)
Jeu du rapt (Ritual of Abduction)
Rondes printanières (Spring Rounds)
Jeux des cités rivales (Ritual of the Rival Tribes)
Cortège du sage: Le Sage (Procession of the Sage: The Sage)
Danse de la terre (Dance of the Earth)

Part II: Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice)
Cercles mystérieux des adolescentes (Mystic Circles of the Young Girls)
Glorification de l'élue (Glorification of the Chosen One)
Évocation des ancêtres (Evocation of the Ancestors)
Action rituelle des ancêtres (Ritual Action of the Ancestors)
Danse sacrale (L'Élue) (Sacrificial Dance)

Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
Jaap van Zweden, cond.
(36:39)

On April 16, 1971, my 18-year-old self had my first lesson with the 84-year-old Nadia Boulanger.

Midway through the lesson, her butler entered the room and whispered something to her. With tears in her eyes, she told me that her dearest friend, Igor Stravinsky, had just died. I tried to excuse myself, but she insisted on finishing the lesson and then she went into mourning.

Many months later, after proving my abilities to part-write the Vidal basses and having told her of my great love for this work, I arrived at the lesson with the full score propped up on the piano. In 90 minutes, she taught me a lot about this great masterpiece!

Into the weeds:

VI. BERG, Alban: Violin Concerto

VI. BERG, Alban (1885-1935)

Violin Concerto (1935)
1. Andante (Prelude) -- Allegretto (Scherzo)
2. Allegro (Cadenza) -- Adagio (Chorale Variations)
Akiko Swanai, violin
Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra
Pierre Boulez, cond.
(26:30)

The simplest explanation of 12-tone (or "serial") music can be grasped by looking at the above image:

P (Prime) is a scale of the 12 notes in the chromatic scale (all 1/2-step intervals)

R (Retrograde) is the same scale starting with the last note and ending with the first.

I (Inversion) is the Prime scale inverted -- that is instead of ascending by 1/2-steps, it descends by 1/2-steps.

RI (Retrograde inversion) is the Inverted scale from last note to first.

Thus, the composer creates the music by using these different 12-tone scales in a variety of progressions.

Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, Anton Webern and Berg ("The Viennese School") were among the first to compose music in this style in the early 1900s.

One of the greatest violin concertos of the 20th century, Berg used the following 12-tone row:

Although it is a true 12-tone row with no repeated notes, one might notice that by breaking the row into four equal parts, tonal chords are formed!

The first three notes form a G minor chord; the next three an F# diminished; the third three an E Major chord; and the final three, ascending whole tones ...

... these last three notes nicely correspond with a Bach chorale from his 1723 cantata: "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort." --

which Berg re-orchestrates near the end of the concerto.

A marvel of compositional construction and filled with deep beauty, pathos and love.

Into the weeds:

V. BARTÓK, Béla: String Quartet #4

V. BARTÓK, Béla (1881-1945)

String Quartet #4 (1928)
1. Allegro
2. Prestissimo, con sordino
3. Non troppo lento
4. Allegro pizzicato
5. Allegro molto
Quartet Ebène
(27:05)

In 1969 at National Music Camp (Interlochen), I took a class with the late Homer Keller.

He passed out scores of this quartet, and we studied it intensely, learning about the "arch" form and the chromatic nature of the way the theme weaves its way throughout all the movements of this amazing, astonishing work.

Into the weeds: