Edward Elgar, who is often considered the embodiment of English music and culture, viewed himself as a kind of outsider in English society. He was not a blue-blooded, well-educated Edwardian, but rather the son of a piano tuner, a self-taught composer in an academically driven field, and a Roman Catholic in a Protestant-dominated country. Nevertheless, his lush and expansive style, inspirational use of melody, and the almost palpable sense of nobility in his music epitomized late-English Romanticism—even though he looked to other parts of Europe for his musical guidance.
He struggled in his early professional life as a violinist, piano teacher, and organist. He even taught at a school for girls where his Serenade for Strings was premiered. This position offered him one of the few early opportunities to hear his compositions performed. He drew great inspiration from these experiences and even played several of Dvořák’s works under the composer’s leadership. It was during these early times that Elgar developed many of the friendships that would inspire the Enigma Variations. Regardless of how one assesses his earlier accomplishments, it was apparent that by the time of composer Arthur Sullivan’s death in 1900, Elgar was to carry the mantle of English music.
In the spring of 1905, the recently knighted Elgar traveled to the United States to receive an honorary doctorate at Yale University’s graduation. During the ceremony, his first Pomp and Circumstance march was performed, thus establishing America’s long and celebratory association with the piece. Yale professor Samuel Sanford, who had arranged for Elgar’s honor, is the dedicatee of tonight’s work.
Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro was written in 1905 for the newly organized London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). The LSO was in its infancy in 1905 when Elgar was encouraged by his friend A. J. Jaeger (the inspiration for the “Nimrod” movement in the Enigma Variations) to compose a work to highlight its virtuoso string section. Enthusiasm for the piece was slow in coming, probably because it was more cerebral and less overtly emotional than his previous works. Performers and listeners now recognize it as a masterpiece of the string literature.
Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro is reminiscent of the Baroque concerto grosso format with its featured string quartet of soloists. Its contrapuntal writing and virtuoso solo passages for both the quartet and the string orchestra reinforce this notion, despite its obvious Romantic style and large form. The Introduction opens with a serious fanfare, followed by a solo violin responding to the fanfare’s call. Later, a solo viola introduces an alluring melody that Elgar claims to have heard while on vacation in Wales. The material for the Allegro is either directly derived from, or reminiscent of, the Introduction. In what Elgar called “a devil of a fugue,” he introduces a new theme and the development of the work. The earlier themes return (or struggle to) throughout, and finally the work surges to its end with the Welsh theme in prominence and an exclamatory pizzicato chord.
The name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart conjures images ranging from the undisciplined, precocious character of the famous Miloš Forman film Amadeus to the tragic, poverty-stricken genius of legend. In the case of Mozart, however, reality is much more interesting. Born in Salzburg, Austria, well educated and well travelled, Mozart was a sophisticated, erudite man much respected and revered even during his lifetime. The excellent early training provided by his father, Leopold, and his relatively stable early home life are what allowed his profound musical proclivities to take root and flourish. His touring experiences as a young virtuoso not only established his early reputation, but also provided further opportunities for him to grow and mature as a composer. While on tour in London at age eight, Mozart began important studies (and a meaningful friendship) with Johann Christian Bach, and Mozart acknowledged his influence throughout his life. This transformative relationship delighted his father who wrote: “What he had known when he left Salzburg is nothing compared to what he knows now; it defies the imagination …”
Mozart’s seemingly effortless mastery of the Classical style, bringing it to its most refined and expressive heights, hid the fact that he was an incredibly hard worker and he considered himself merely a dedicated practitioner of the musical craft. It is precisely his quick, well-trained genius coupled with his dedication that brought him to the hallowed place he holds in Western art music. And, while accounts of his dazzling childhood achievements are well documented, the depth and maturity of the adult composer are no less astonishing. His mastery of the Classical concerto, operatic, and symphonic genres produced some of the most important and beloved artworks of European culture. Their timeless elegance, charm, and depth still resonate with audiences centuries later and are both the envy and inspiration of generations of composers beginning with Beethoven and progressing through Tchaikovsky to the present day.
Mozart composed the D-Major Divertimento in 1772, prior to his 16th birthday. The work emerged during a stretch of time he spent at home in Salzburg after two longer periods of touring in Italy. Its title refers to the intent purely to entertain—as background music for conversation, dining, dancing, or other activities (even outdoors)—though on the manuscript, the word is not in Mozart’s penmanship. As the name suggests (divertimento means “amusement” in Italian), a composition of this nature was required to be pleasant and light-hearted incidental music. Even so, K. 136 is substantial in craft, showing Mozart’s early mastery of form combined with his perpetual inventiveness. Some consider it to be one of his early string quartets, and it is sometimes even performed in this manner.
Reminiscent of an Italian sinfonia or small symphony, the D-Major Divertimento is organized in a fast-slow-fast movement progression, with nods to Haydn and J. C. Bach in style. The exuberant Allegro, in sonata form, features conversational violin virtuosity. Layering bubbling textures and song-like lyricism, it is ebullient and joyful, with any forays into minor keys brief and unburdened. The noble and poised Andante spins sinuous melodies atop a pulsing accompaniment, while the playful, contrapuntal Presto is both effortlessly complex and utterly delightful.
Johann Sebastian Bach is the most famous Baroque era composer and the descendent of a long line of German composers. During his lifetime, his travels were confined to a relatively small geographical area, but the extent of his legacy and influence as a composer spans centuries and galaxies (a recording of his Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 is on board the Voyager spacecraft currently navigating interstellar space). Bach was able to take the ideas of previous composers and synthesize and perfect them, bringing the Baroque style to its height. His keyboard compositions are unrivaled for their inventiveness and perfect counterpoint, and his use of the tempered tuning system allowed him to expand the harmonic breadth and depth of keyboard literature. While Franz Liszt’s original compositions are vital to the piano and symphonic repertoire, he is also famous for his piano transcriptions of everything from symphonies to opera arias. In fact, about half of his 800 or so compositions are treatments of others’ works. His transcriptions helped popularize musical masterpieces such as the orchestral works of Berlioz and Beethoven and even helped revive the appreciation of Bach’s music in the 19th century.
There is not a definitive history of this particular concerto: Some scholars suspect it was written during Bach’s time in Cöthen as Kapellmeister in 1717–1723, and others believe it was in Leipzig while at the Collegium Musicum in the 1730s. It was during this latter time period, however, that he transcribed the piece for harpsichord (existing now as the Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058), which he or one of his sons likely played.
In addition to his renown as a keyboardist, Bach himself was also a skilled violinist, and his formidable oeuvre of solo works for the instrument include eight sonatas for violin and harpsichord, six unaccompanied sonatas and partitas, considerable features in three of the Brandenburg Concertos, and a number of solo and double concertos. His intimate knowledge of the instrument allowed him to significantly expand the capabilities of the violin as a fully harmonic and contrapuntal instrument.
A mainstay in the violin repertoire, the A-Minor Concerto combines the structural elements of Vivaldian concertos with Bach’s own contrapuntal writing and harmonic density. The stately opening Allegro is in ritornello form (Italian for “refrain”), alternating the orchestral main theme with solo episodes. A more relaxed and reflective Andante in C major counters the gravity of the outer fast movements, while the final Allegro assai is a rollicking, fugal gigue. Bach cleverly features the string-crossing technique of bariolage (French for “multi-colored”), to great effect.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the epitome of Russian Romanticism, and his symphonies, ballets, operas, and concertos are staples of the standard orchestral repertoire. Also a conductor (though not a confident one), Tchaikovsky led Carnegie Hall’s opening concerts in 1891. He came from humble beginnings, studied law, and eventually gave it up for musical pursuits as one of the first students of the new conservatory system in Russia. However, he was also an outsider in his own society. As a citizen of Czarist Russia, he suffered great emotional stress because of the social, and even legal, consequences of revealing he was gay. Throughout his life, Tchaikovsky suffered from depression and personal tragedy—all of which colors his music, giving it a dark hue and sometimes desperate passion.
The Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48, was written in 1880, almost simultaneously with the 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky wrote about the serenade: “I wrote from inner compulsion. This is a piece from the heart, and so, I venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities.” The piece also pays homage to the Classical era—especially Mozart—in form, charm, and often style, while simultaneously drawing material from Russian folk songs in the Finale. Tchaikovsky considered the work almost a symphony for strings, and his inscription in the score reads: “The larger the number of players in the string orchestra, the more this shall be in accordance with the author’s wishes.”
The title serenade harkens back to the idea of the Classical serenades of Mozart. The first movement, Pezzo in forma di sonatina, is written in the old sonatina form, but with a slow Andante non troppo introduction. Its Allegro moderato section has two contrasting themes, one passionate and one charming. The introduction returns at the end, as if energized by the preceding material. According to Tchaikovsky, “the first movement is my homage to Mozart. It is intended to be an imitation of his style, and I should be delighted if I thought I had in any way approached my model.” The second movement is a classic waltz form that begins with a beautiful, romantic theme that the composer indicates should be played sweetly and with grace. Movement three, “Élégie,” is more introverted and melancholy. The shadows lift briefly in the middle section before the music turns even more inward, with strings muted, eventually ascending to a peaceful, shimmering translucence in the coda. Folk music influences rule the Finale with two melodies, “On the Green Meadow” and “Under the Green Apple Tree,” introduced in the Andante and Allegro con spirito sections, respectively. The similarity to the thematic material in the introduction to the first movement provides a nice reminiscence. Finally, a full-blown return of the first-movement theme creates a wonderful closing unity to the work before its rousing finish.
—Dr. ToniMarie Marchioni
(2003 NYSO Participant)