Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble

Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio in G Major, op. 1, no. 2 for Piano, Violin and Cello:  Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote this work, one of his earliest published compositions, in 1794-95 at the age of 24.  He had moved from Bonn to Vienna two years before to study with Haydn.  The year 1794 was a breakout year for Beethoven.  Haydn had left Vienna for London, and Beethoven began to earnestly pursue his career as pianist and composer.  He had not yet begun to lose his hearing.  Nor had this “ugly, uncouth little man” [David Dubal] yet been recognized as a demigod and genius, much less the wild, eccentric misanthrope of legend.  This trio’s four-movement format was unusual for its time.  Its departure from formality and the independence of its three instrumental parts – the piano is central but not dominant – distinguish this early Beethoven work from the style of Haydn.  Movement I reflects Beethoven’s love for lengthy transitions.  Movement II starts conservatively, but “breaks out into the world of the Romantic” [Lewis Lockwood].  The two parts of Movement III rely on the same musical motif, while it “rocks back and forth between D major and B minor” [John Palmer].  And Movement IV is a “tour de force of motivic manipulation that Beethoven would not surpass until his [first] String Quartet”  [John Palmer].  Beethoven dedicated the three piano trios of Opus 1 to his patron, Prince Karl von Lichnowsky.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Oboe Quartet in F Major, K.370 for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello:  What can one say about Mozart (1756-1791)?  He learned to play the keyboard at age 3, started composing at age 5, and learned violin at age 6, during a tour during which he and his older sister performed all across Europe.  He was “history’s first important professional ‘freelance’ musician”  [David Dubal].  Mozart wrote this work at age 25, shortly before he left Munich for Vienna, for a virtuosic oboist, Friedrich Ramm, whom he had met in Munich during the winter of 1780-81.  This is a three-movement work which contains readily recognizable melodies in its first and third movements.  Movement I is a sonata-form movement; the oboe presents the theme and then shares the dialogue with the strings.  Movement II is written in D minor, the key of some of Mozart’s most expressive music.  Movement III concludes the work with a spirited, cheerful rondo.  Listen for a tricky passage in that movement in which the oboe plays in 4/4 time, while the strings play in 6/8 time.

Arnold Schoenberg (arranged by Anton Webern), Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E Major, op. 9 for Violin, Cello, Flute, Clarinet and Piano:  Schoenberg (1874-1951) was born into a poor Viennese Jewish family that could not afford formal music lessons.  After his father’s death, Schoenberg, age 16, worked as a bank clerk for five years to support his family.  He attracted the attention of the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky, who gave him lessons in melody and counterpoint, and whose sister Schoenberg later married.  At the time he composed Chamber Symphony No. 1 (1906), Schoenberg could not secure a formal teaching position in Vienna on account of the prevalent anti-Semitism.  So he composed, gave private lessons and lived in near-poverty.  Among his students were Alban Berg and Anton Webern.  Schoenberg composed this work before his atonal period or his development of twelve-tone technique.  It was a “highly charged Romantic but still essentially tonally chromatic composition” [David Dubal].  In a Vienna that liked its status quo, this work was controversial.  Indeed, its performance in February 1907 generated “seat-rattling, whistle-blowing, and ostentatious walk-outs” [Alex Ross, quoting a Schoenberg student].  Schoenberg originally wrote Chamber Symphony No. 1 for 15 instruments.  The version that Brightmusic will perform was arranged by Schoenberg’s student Anton Webern for five instruments.

Johann Strauss II (arranged by Arnold Schoenberg), Emperor Waltz, op. 437 for String Quartet, Flute, Clarinet and Piano:  Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) composed the Kaiserwaltz (the Emperor Waltz) in 1889 at age 64.  The son of Johann Strauss, a waltz-maker to Vienna, exceeded his father by creating more sophisticated harmonies and orchestrations.  The Emperor Waltz, written in honor of Franz Josef, reflected the spirit of 19^th Century imperial Vienna.  In composing this work, Strauss was “thinking as much in terms of the concert hall as the dance hall” [John Palmer].  The work reflects the style typical of the time: an introduction, five different waltzes and a coda.  The “King of Waltz” is the only Viennese composer on this program who was born in Vienna and died in Vienna.  He is buried there, not far from the graves of Beethoven and Brahms.  The version of Emperor Waltz that Brightmusic will play was arranged by Arnold Schoenberg in 1925 for a performance in Barcelona, Spain.