Ravinia 2021 - Issue 1

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-97) Seven Fantasies, op. 116 When Robert Schumann wrote his 1853 arti- cle “New Paths” in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , he proclaimed the young Johannes Brahms the new genius of German music. “Following the paths of these chosen ones with the utmost interest, it has seemed to me that, after such a preparation, there would and must suddenly appear someday one man who would be singled out to make articulate in an ideal way the highest expression of our time, one man who would bring us mastery, not as the result of a gradual development, but as Minerva, springing fully armed from the head of Cronus. And he is come, a young creature over whose cradle graces and heroes stood guard. His name is Johannes Brahms .” At the time of the article, Brahms was attract- ing attention as a pianist in recitals through- out Europe with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Hoffmann, known as Ede Reményi. The depth of expression in Brahms’s playing particularly affected Schumann: “Even out- wardly, he bore in his person all the marks that announce to us a chosen man. Seated at the piano, he at once discovered to us won- drous regions. We were drawn into a circle whose magic grew on us more and more. To this was added an altogether inspired style of playing which made of the piano an orchestra of lamenting and exultant voices.” Many of Brahms’s compositions for the pi- ano come from these early years of growing renown. Not only did he compose numerous sets of variations, three sonatas, and ballades and dances for the solo piano, but he also wrote for chamber combinations that includ- ed the piano. When Brahms left his native Hamburg for Vienna in 1862, his interest in solo piano composition shifted from vari- ations and dances to freer, more improvisa- tory pieces. Nearly all are entitled capriccios, intermezzos, rhapsodies, or fantasies. These works come from widely separated dates during his 35 years in Vienna: there were two Photograph of Johannes Brahms by C. Brasch (1889) sets of piano pieces from 1878–79 and four sets from 1892–93. Among the last group of solo piano com- positions were the Seven Fantasies, op. 116. Brahms completed work on these pieces in 1892 at his summer residence at Ischl, al- though it is possible that he had sketched some of the pieces earlier. Simrock published the completed set of Seven Fantasies the fol- lowing year. Brahms entitled the works in the op. 116 set capriccios and intermezzos. The term “capriccio” applies to the quicker pieces. The tempo markings also suggest an element of driving intensity: Presto energico , Allegro passionate , and Allegro agitato . The three ca- priccios (nos. 1, 3, and 7) are related by means of a diminished-seventh harmony. The re- maining four pieces, called “intermezzos,” are the slower and more lyrical works in the set. Variations on a Theme by Paganini in A minor, op. 35 (Book 2) During the winter of 1862–63, Brahms com- posed two books of piano variations—14 variations in each volume—based on the Ca- price in A minor, op. 1, no. 24, for unaccom- panied violin by the virtuoso Niccolò Pagani- ni (1782–1840). More accurately, Brahms entitled his set Studien für Pianoforte. Varia- tionen über ein Thema von Paganini , indicat- ing the emphasis on a different piano tech- nique in each variation, or study. Reportedly, Brahms had Polish pianist Carl Tausig (1841–71) in mind when he composed this work. A first-general pupil of Franz Liszt, the tragically short-lived Tausig earned wide- spread admiration for his rare combination of virtuosic flare and emotional restraint. Wil- helm von Lenz offered the following portrait in his book Die grossen Pianoforte-Virtuosen unserer Zeit aus persönlicher Bekanntschaft: Liszt, Chopin, Tausig, Henselt (The Greatest Piano Virtuosos of Our Time from Personal Acquaintance: Liszt, Chopin, Tausig, Henselt; 1872): “Tausig possessed, in a high degree, the power of subordinating his own nature to the Photograph of Carl Tausig by Heinrich Graf necessity of his art, so that in the fugue he was peculiarly at home. He commanded the entire arsenal of the utmost possibilities of the pia- no as expressed in the compositions of Liszt, and was a finished interpreter of Chopin.” A formidably strong pianist himself, Liszt said Tausig possessed “fingers of steel.” Brahms gave the first complete performance of his Variations on a Theme by Paganini on November 25, 1865, in Zurich. Soon, other pi- anists studied and played the work, and a tra- dition arose whereby the variations, or stud- ies, were selected and reordered according to the conception of the individual performer. Clara Schumann may have initiated this prac- tice of rearranging the movements. The vari- ations also gained a reputation for their dev- ilish difficulty; Clara referred to them as the Hexenvariationen (Witchcraft Variations). Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, op. 5 While vacationing at the estate of Count- ess Ida von Hohenthal, Brahms secured his brother Fritz a position as private music teacher to her children. Out of gratitude, Brahms dedicated the newly completed Sonata No. 3 (1853) to the countess. Clara Schumann gave the first public performance of the Andante and Scherzo movements at a Gewandhaus recital in Leipzig on October 23, 1854, and she played the complete sonata for the first time six weeks later in Magdeburg. Clara also programmed the work on her tour of north German cities during the fall of 1854. Brahms admired Clara’s interpretation of this work, as he wrote to the violinist Joseph Joa- chim: “Yesterday she did my F-minor sonata exactly as I had envisaged it, only still more nobly, with more quiet enthusiasm, and yet at the same time cleanly and purely and with the most magnificent tone in the more powerful passages—all little advantages which she has over me.” The five-movement Sonata No. 3 is one of the most monumental keyboard works of the whole 19th century. Brahms expanded the typical four-movement design to include an intermezzo before the finale. The Allegro maestoso opens with a dramatic gesture: two chords flanking a dotted rhythmic pattern that leaps upward from the lowest register of the piano. A tranquil phrase containing a triplet figure in the bass provides temporary repose, and then the opening gesture returns somewhat varied. The second theme in ma- jor is actually a further transformation of the initial idea; the rhythmic figure in the bass provides support for the chordal treble line. A gentle chromatic descent closes the expo- sition. Development focuses on the opening gesture before introducing a new, expressive theme played in the middle register quasi cel- lo (like a cello). Brahms begins the recapitula- tion near the end of the dramatic first theme, consciously avoiding the tranquil middle phrase. Both the chordal second theme and the chromatic closing idea return. A sizeable coda concludes the movement. Brahms prefaced the C-minor Andante espressivo with a quote from a poem by C.O. Sternau: “The evening falls, the moonlight gleams, / There are two hearts united in Love, / And embracing one another in bliss.” The quiet fall of twilight is evoked in his first theme: a descending series of pitches, each set apart by the interval of a third. The key changes to D-flat major for an extremely soft and tender theme. Following a restatement of the opening idea, an extended coda (contain- ing a repeated bass pitch and a lyrical melo- dy) draws the movement to a close. The waltzing, minor-key Scherzo contains an elusive, wandering harmonic foundation that reveals the influence of Robert Schumann’s piano music. The trio changes to major and introduces a more subdued, legato character before the boisterous scherzo returns. Next comes the Intermezzo , an introspec- tive piece in B-flat minor subtitled Rückblick (Reminiscence). Its descending andante mol- to theme shares a melodic kinship with the opening theme of the second movement. A timpani-like pattern in the lower register re- curs throughout. This movement proceeds without interruption into the finale. The Allegro moderato ma rubato is a darkly colored, modified rondo in minor. Its refrain contains short phrases and bold dynamic contrasts. The first contrasting theme states Joachim’s musical motto—F, A, and E-flat as derived from the phrase “frei aber einsam” (“free but alone”)—supported by an arpeg- giated accompaniment. A return of the re- frain leads to a second contrasting theme, a legato hymn in D-flat major. The refrain is fragmented and developed, and the hymn- like theme returns in a thinly textured setting with staccato accompaniment. A final refrain fragment is heard before a presto coda, which concludes the sonata with a sense of majesty. –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan Clara Schumann by Edward Hendeman RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 43