Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

CHERYL MAZAK (ZUKERMAN) out the accompaniment for Brunetti and re- tained my own part in my head); and then a rondo [Recitative and Aria: A questo seno deh vieni , K. 374] for [castrato Francesco] Cecca- relli, which he had to repeat.” This program was one of Mozart’s last official functions in the service of the archbishop. On May 9, Mozart petitioned for his release from employment, a request that was granted on June 9. This concert also marked the end of a collaboration with Salzburg court violinist Antonio Brunetti, for whom Mozart com- posed some of his five violin concertos, mis- cellaneous independent movements for violin and orchestra, and various sonatas for piano with violin accompaniment. By the time of the violinist’s return to Salzburg, however, Mozart had come to find Brunetti unpleasant. On April 11, he wrote to his father, “ Te Deum laudamus that at last that coarse and dirty Brunetti has left, who is a disgrace to his mas- ter, to himself, and to the whole orchestra.” Mozart completed the Rondo in C major, K. 373, on April 2, 1781. It is enjoyable but lightweight fare intended as popular enter- tainment, with occasional flashes of tech- nical brilliance. The solo violin introduces the refrain, which is repeated by the modest orchestral forces. By way of contrast, two ad- ditional violin themes are offered—one lively and effervescent, the other with a hint of mi- nor. A solo cadenza guides the music to the final refrain and a hushed cadence. EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934) Serenade for Strings in E minor, op. 20 Scored for a string orchestra of first violins, second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses Elgar grew up in the West Midlands of En- gland, living most of his youth in the cathe- dral city of Worcester and spending holidays in the rural countryside within sight of the rugged Malvern Hills, whose natural springs lured the Victorian elite to the spa in the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Joseph Lange (1782–83) nearby town of Malvern. His father was a pia- no tuner, music shop owner, and church or- ganist who surrounded Edward and his six siblings with constant musical activity. Though he dreamed of formal conservatory training on the continent, the younger Elgar lacked the necessary funding and settled into an unpretentious existence as a freelance vio- linist, pianist, organist, and teacher who dab- bled in composition in his spare time. Worcester offered exceptional musical op- portunities, including orchestras, bands, glee clubs, and the Three Choirs Festival, in which cathedral choirs from Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester have combined since 1715 (with the exception of war years) for one of the longest-running choral festivals in the world. London was a short train ride away, and Elgar increasingly took advantage of its proximity to attend concerts and promote his compositions. On May 8, 1889, he mar- ried Caroline Alice Roberts, the daughter of a deceased major-general from the small vil- lage of Redmarley d’Abitot. Not long after, the Elgars moved to London in the hope of es- tablishing Edward’s musical career in the city. The relocation to London was short-lived. Edward was unable to generate enough in- come to support the household, which in- creased following the birth of their only child, daughter Carise. In June 1891, the Elgars re- turned to the West Midlands, moving into a house named “Forli” in Malvern. Edward resumed his varied performance, conducting, and teaching activities. Fortunately, there was steady demand for violin teachers, especial- ly among young women of the rising class. Elgar formed 16 of his private students into a women’s orchestra—the Worcester Ladies’ Orchestral Class—which read through many of his string arrangements and compositions. Elgar composed the Serenade for Strings in E minor, op. 20, between March 31 and May 13, 1892. The Worcester Ladies’ Orchestral Class gave a private reading a few days later, pre- sumably on May 18. The Serenade received its public premiere on July 21, 1896, in Antwerp, Edward Elgar Belgium. Elgar dedicated the score to the phi- losopher W.H. Whinfield (sometimes spelled Winfield), the author of Ethics of the Future and translator of Rumi’s The Masnavi I Ma’navi . The Serenade originated in three lost string-orchestra pieces—known only by their titles, “Spring Song,” “Elegy,” and “Fi- nale”—that Elgar had composed in 1888 for the Worcestershire Musical Union, another women’s orchestra. These early compositions were a source of great pride, as he confessed to Charles William Buck, a physician and amateur musician, “I like ’em. (The first thing I ever did).” Some sources claim that Elgar created the Serenade as a third-anniversary present for Alice: “Braut [German for ‘wife’] helped a great deal to make these little tunes.” Elgar employs a wide variety of textures in his Serenade for Strings, from the solitary viola melody heard in the opening measures of the first movement to the 13-part string so- nority ending the third movement. Individ- ual movement forms, by contrast, are quite simple. The Allegro piacevole (pleasantly fast) bears the lilting rhythm of an Italian barca- rolle. Its opening and closing sections share thematic material in the key of E minor, while the central portion offers a more extended melody in E major. The C-major Larghetto revels in the lyrical capabilities of the string orchestra. The Allegretto finale, the shortest of the three movements, begins with an open- air theme in G major. Elgar concludes with a brief recollection of the E-minor barcarolle followed by a reprise of the E-major theme from the first movement. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 36 Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings The years 1801 and 1802 brought intense personal turmoil to the life of Beethoven, tempering the success he was beginning to achieve as a composer. Beethoven lavished his affections on the Countess Giulietta Guic- ciardi, a young piano student. “I am now leading a slightly more pleasant life, for I am mixing more with my fellow creatures. … This change has been brought about by a dear, charming girl who loves me and whom I love. After two years, I am again enjoying a few blissful moments: and for the first time I feel that marriage might bring me happiness. Un- fortunately she is not of my class, and at the moment I certainly could not marry—I must still bustle about a good deal.” Giulietta did not share Beethoven’s depth of feeling, and his hopes of marriage were never realized. The Countess wed Count Wenzel Robert Gal- lenberg, a composer of ballet music, in 1803. More devastating was Beethoven’s increasing hearing loss. First signs of deafness were de- tected as early as 1796. Despite treatment by the finest physicians in Vienna, the condition could not be reversed. The permanence of this affliction deeply affected Beethoven, and the despondent composer retreated to the tiny village of Heiligenstadt in 1802. In those peaceful surroundings, Beethoven began to record his innermost thoughts in the docu- ment known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. Had this document been discovered during Beethoven’s lifetime, his aloofness might have been better understood and forgiven. Beethoven continued to compose during this disheartening period, producing, among other works, the Symphony No. 2 in D major. Com- pleted in 1802, its score was dedicated to Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, one of his patrons. At the first performance on April 5, 1803, Beethoven programmed several other large-scale compo- sitions, among them his Symphony No. 1 in C major, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, and oratorio Christus am Ölberg . The Symphony No. 2 marked a turning point in Beethoven’s musical language. In many respects it con- tinued the Classical symphonic tradition of Haydn and Mozart—individual movements follow rather conventional designs, and the themes owe much to the 18th century. Never- theless, Beethoven revealed the Romantic side of his personality in a new breadth of expres- sion, which would emerge more fully in the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”). Symphony No. 2 begins with an expansive Adagio molto introduction. The ensuing Alle- gro con brio centers on the first theme’s rhyth- mic propulsion and the quiet fanfare of the second theme. The Larghetto is a spacious, lyrical sonata. Beethoven next composed a Scherzo —the first such movement in his symphonic works—a witty essay in dynamic contrasts. A trio colored by the woodwinds leads to a return of the scherzo. The finale is a rondo of grand proportions. –Program notes © 2021 Todd E. Sullivan Ludwig van Beethoven by Christian Horneman (1803) RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 24 – AUGUST 15, 2021 42