It has been the ambition of many famous composers to beat their mentors at their own game. This desire, whether motivated by pride, jealously, or a sincere need to keep improving the sound of music, held Beethoven back from writing for string quartets. He worried needlessly about following the giants Haydn and Mozart. But it took Brahms even longer (two decades) to release his first quartet. You have to sympathize with the poor guy. The “Big Foot” steps he had to fill were left by Beethoven.
Then there’s independent Charles Ives, whose first quartet evolved, more or less, from a music assignment at Yale and the pieces he wrote (or arranged) for church. What a fetching contrast, these three offerings tonight. The common thread, it would appear, is that each quartet is the composer’s first entry into the string quartet medium. Music historians have to tell us, for the sake of accuracy, that Beethoven’s 1st Quartet in F was actually composed second. But we don’t get uptight about who’s on first as long as everybody scores.QUARTET IN F MAJOR BY BEETHOVEN
Just what is it that you don’t know about the hot-tempered, prodigiously-talented, and tragically-deaf Beethoven? There are more superlatives written about him than there are false endings in his symphonies. Possibly you’ve not heard Robert Schumann’s take on him: “Nature would burst should she attempt to produce nothing but Beethovens.” Schumann may not have excelled in sentence structure, but he knew his music. One of the favorite adoration tales is the one about the military band director Louis Antonine Jullien, who was so in awe of Beethoven that whenever he conducted his works, he would ceremoniously accept a pair of new white kid gloves, put them on with the grace of a swan, and then raise his jeweled baton. You can bet Elise’s “Fur” that the music measured up to its presentation.
BONUS FACT: Beethoven’s Third Symphony (Eroica) has been described as “the greatest single step made by a composer in the history of the symphony and music in general.” His steps in other music media earned him hero status with an assortment of admirers from Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms to Linus.
To find the key to his evolution as a composer, look no further than the string quartets. Even in his early-period quartets of the Opus 18 collection, Beethoven coasts along with the same classical refinements of Haydn and Mozart, but then suddenly he will write something that’s altogether different. We ask that you erase from your mental tape the middle and late string quartets, those irresistible enduring masterworks that sealed Beethoven’s passion for romanticism and emotionalism. Without comparing, listen for the early seeds of change.
In the first movement, do you hear a more confident Beethoven improving on the tidy classicism of Haydn, by pairing in sonata form a brilliant dominant motif with a second theme? By the time the coda comes around, our expectations have been deliciously violated, if ever so slightly – an early clue perhaps to his later trademark surprises. Listen also for the late-coming tune to the party. The stranger is introduced and congenially mixed with the crowd. But the new acquaintance has set another stage for change.
The tragic D minor Adagio, inspired by the tomb scene in Romeo and Juliet, is another new seed – a seed of romanticism that grows to a wonderful emotional height, quite a departure from the purely classical style.
Almost as an apology for straying, the scherzo rests comfortably in the Classical period. The pleasant little frolic sends the first violin off on the fast lane while other instruments limp rhythmically around it (in unison). The humor in the trio section is delightful. Partly in rondo and partly in sonata form, the final movement demands virtuoso playing from each player. Sometimes, however, there’s a lightness of sound that defies the hard work.QUARTET NO.1 FROM THE SALVATION ARMY BY CHARLES IVES
Pianist/Conductor Charles Ives was a millionaire! Never underestimate the earnings of an ace insurance salesman.
If first he made his fame with the largest insurance agency in the country, Ives eventually became America’s first major composer. Being first soon became a habit. He was the first American composer to break away from the German style that had influenced most of American music in the 19th century. He was the first composer to venture out into polytonality (the simultaneous playing of music in two different keys), atonality, microtones, and tone clusters. Well let’s call a spade a spade. The tone-cluster idea struck him when he practiced percussion parts on the piano with fists. Ives was the first and best teenage organist in his home state of Connecticut, and he may have been the first organist to be encouraged by a minister to beef up the hymns. His Organ Variations on “America” is one of his most popular works.
Ives’ style was clearly influenced by his bandmaster father, who enjoyed playing around with tone colors, alien harmonies, and weird acoustics. He would have the young Ives sing in a different key from the accompaniment just for the experimental fun of it. It appears that Ives lived happily, especially after his harmonious marriage to Harmony Twitchell. BONUS FACTS: Do you know any other Insurance agent to win a Pulitzer Prize? Never mind that is was for his Third Symphony. At Yale, sports were Ives’ main interest and he was an enthusiastic member of the baseball team. His non-musical grade average struck out at D-plus.
Quartet No. 1 was inspired by American church revivals, festivals, and traditions. It has two nicknames “From the Salvation Army” and “A Revival Meeting.” Though not among the listed masterpieces, the piece composed during his sophomore year at Yale is charming and a good introduction to the forward thinking that influenced so many American composers. Igor Stravinsky got it right: “This fascinating composer was exploring the 1960’s during the heyday of Strauss and Debussy.”
Note that the four movements read like a church bulletin. In the Chorale, two hymn tunes are freely utilized: “From Greenland’s Icy Mountain,” and “All Hail the Pow’r of Jesus’ Name.” Originally written for church, the second movement is a Prelude. What say we, for a change, be quiet and listen to it. Since the offertory offers us the treats, no collection plate will be passed. Enjoy the daring dissonances and exciting rhythm treatments, all on the tune of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” The Postlude pulls out all the stops. One might say this movement is playing in tongues. It certainly dishevels the tune “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Take note of a melody that moves happily along with three beats to a measure while the accompaniment stays in four. By the climactic ending, we should be converted to Ives.SYMPHONY NO 1 IN C MINOR BY BRAHMS.
If we were conducting, the white kid gloves would come out for Brahms, the classically-minded but very romantic composer. His allegiance to Bach and his use of material from the Lutheran Bible endeared him to many fans, who also know, without a doubt that he buried the competition in 19th- century romantic harmonies and long flowing phrases. His music is not a Sunday in the park kind of easy listening, but the hyper intensity of his expressions is mighty rewarding.
Several historians describe Brahms as Beethoven’s successor in symphonic music, going so far as to say Brahms’ 1st Symphony is really Beethoven’s 10th. Robert Schumann believed Brahms to be “the true apostle who would someday write Revelations.” Robert and his talented wife Clara were Beethoven’s devoted mentors, and Clara was central to Brahms life and probably to his music. When Schumann suffered a mental breakdown Brahms returned to help Clara, with whom he fell deeply in love. During her long widowhood, Clara continued to mentor Brahms. We are in debt to Clara for pushing Brahms to be the best of Brahms. Would his music have been the same had they every married?
In many ways Brahms’ life was to be pitied. He struggled with poverty, his father’s alcoholism, his mother’s illness, his parents’ marital problems, his own shyness, and his inferiority complex. But it’s difficult to weep too many tears for someone who knew the unimaginable joy of writing such beautiful music.
BONUS FACTS: Can you believe this? Somebody at a major concert hall altered the exit sign to read “In Case Of Brahms.” You think that’s ridiculous? How about this quote from the master himself: “I would give everything I have ever composed to have written “The Blue Danube Waltz.” Quartet No. 1 in C Sharp minor is a mostly a somber, turbulent work. You will hear one simple theme unify the entire work. The intimate second movement refreshes with a “song” without words, and the likeable Intermezzo features an effect called “buriolage:” the same note is played on two different strings (alternating stopped/open sounds). Strings players can’t use a mute as do trumpet players to get the jazzy “Wah-Wah” sound. So to create a similar sound they “buriolage” it. Much like the first movement in shape and energy, the Allegro finale wants us to know that it is ending. We might even hear something that sounds like impatience.