Day 323: String Quartet No. 3, Piano Quartet No. 1

BrahmsCD17Okay. Now we’re talkin’.

This string quartet is more like it!

Or maybe I’m just hopped up on Tim Hortons’ coffee and Boston Cream donuts.

But something feels different about String Quartet No. 3 in B flat Op. 67.

Movement I (“Vivace”) is lively and fun. Even the much slower Andante of Movement II isn’t putting me to sleep (I’m not ruling out the coffee, though).

Nope. Movement III (“Agitato – Allegretto non troppo”) is also interesting, even though I feel kind of…oh, I don’t know…agitated.

Finally, Movement IV (“Poco allegretto con variazioni”) finishes up Brahms’ third string quartet in fine form, sounding very Baroque like. Plus, there’s that humorous-sounding pizzicato happening. Never fails to put a smile on my face.

Once again, the performers on this string quartet are:

Tokyo Quartet
Peter Oundjian, Kikuei Ideka violins
Kazuhide Isomura viola
Sadao Harada cello

From its entry on Wikipedia:

The String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67, was composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1875 and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock. It received its premiere performance on October 30, 1876 in Berlin. The work is scored for two violins, viola, and cello, and has four movements:

Brahms composed the work in Ziegelhausen, near Heidelberg, and dedicated it to Professor Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann, an amateur cellist who had hosted Brahms on a visit to Utrecht. Brahms was at the time the artistic director of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. The work is light-hearted and cheerful, “a useless trifle,” as he put it, “to avoid facing the serious countenance of a symphony”.

Brahms was 42 when he composed this string quartet.

The second composition Continue reading

Day 322: String Quartets 1 & 2

BrahmsCD16I expect big things from today’s CD.

String quartets are usually where a composer can shine.

Some of my favorite music is a string quartet.

So my ears are wide open this morning, watching the thunderstorm roll through, sipping a hot cup of coffee. Ear buds in.

I have all the time I need to listen to Brahms.

Which is what I am doing.

However, so far, I’m not impressed.

Here’s what’s on Brahms CD 16:

String Quartet No. 1 in C minor Op. 51 No. 1

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 51 No. 2

From their entry on Wikipedia:

Johannes Brahms’s String Quartets Nos. 1 in C minor and 2 in A minor were completed in Tutzing, Bavaria, during the summer of 1873, and published together that autumn as Opus 51. They are dedicated to his friend Theodor Billroth.

Brahms was slow in writing his first two string quartets. We know from a letter from Joseph Joachim that a C-minor quartet was in progress in 1865, but it may not have been the same work that would become Opus 51 No. 1 in 1873. Four years before publication, however, in 1869, we know for certain that the two quartets were complete enough to be played through. But the composer remained unsatisfied. Years passed. New practice runs then occurred in Munich, probably in June 1873, and Brahms ventured south of the city to the small lakeside town of Tutzing for a summer respite. There, with the Würmsee (as Lake Starnberg was then called) and the Bavarian Prealps as backdrop, he put the finishing touches on the two quartets.

He was 40 years old at the time of publication. Brahms regarded the string quartet as a particularly important genre. He reportedly destroyed some twenty string quartets before allowing the two Op. 51 quartets to be published.[1] At least one of the quartets (No. 1 in C minor) had been complete as early as 1865 but Brahms continued to revise it for nearly a decade.

Performers are:

Tokyo Quartet
Peter Oundjian, Kikuei Ideka violins
Kazuhide Isomura viola
Sadao Harada cello

The music is played with deftness, precision, and confidence.

But it’s just not moving me.

What I’m not necessarily hearing in this music is the sound of ice cubes tinkling against the sides of glasses, indulgent laughter from men and women trying to impress one another, and a murmur of a crowd oohing and ahhing over art they have no hope of understanding, explaining, or even liking.

In other words, one of the things a string quartet reminds me of is the music played during a wine-and-cheese soiree at an art gallery.

This doesn’t sound like that. It’s not Baroque-y enough or something.

It just sounds like great musicians playing average music, lots of music written in the same tempo – with the one possible exception being Movement IV (“Allegro non assai”) from String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 51 No. 2. I thought I heard a little life in that composition. But I wasn’t sure.

Am I too hard on Brahms?

Maybe Brahms following Beethoven wasn’t such a good idea.

Maybe if I scheduled Brahms after Haydn this would sound like something Olympian gods handed down to mere mortals.

Alas…

Day 321: Clarinet Trio, Clarinet Quintet

BrahmsCD15A clarinet quintet, eh?

I had no idea such a thing existed.

But, apparently, it does.

Because here it is on today’s Brahms CD, which is a clarinetist’s dream come true.

There are two compositions on Brahms CD 15:

Clarinet Trio in A minor Op. 114

Performed by:

Karl Leister clarinet
Wolfgang Boettcher cello
Ferenc Bognar piano

According to its entry on Wikipedia:

The Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in A minor, Op. 114, was one of four chamber works featuring clarinet composed by Johannes Brahms in rapid succession after emerging from retirement toward the end of his life.

It is one of a small number of compositions for clarinet, cello and piano, and one of the very few to have entered the standard repertoire. Eusebius Mandyczewski, a scholar and friend of Brahms, wrote of the trio that “It is as though the instruments were in love with each other.”

Brahms was inspired to compose these works by the playing of clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld.

Brahms was 58 when he composed this trio in the summer of 1891.

Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115

Performed by:

Karl Leister clarinet
Brandis Quaratett
Thomas Brandis, Peter Brem violins
Wilfried Strehle viola
Wolfgang Boettcher cello

According to its entry on Wiki:

Johannes Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 was written in 1891 for the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld.

The piece is known for its autumnal mood. It consists of a clarinet in A with a string quartet and has a duration of approximately thirty-five minutes.

At the time Brahms started composing his Clarinet Quintet, only a few works had been composed for this type of ensemble and even now there are not many. Examples include those by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Anton Reicha, Carl Maria von Weber, Franz Krommer, Alexander Glazunov, Heinrich Baermann, and Thomas Täglichsbeck. Brahms modeled his composition after Mozart’s.

Brahms was 58 when he composed this clarinet quintet.

Day 320: Piano Trio No. 2 & Horn Trio

BrahmsCD14Instant Brahms Favorite!

These trios are splendid, full of melody and pathos.

There are two compositions on today’s Brahms’ CD:

 

 

Piano Trio No. 2 in C Op. 87

Performed by:

Israel Piano Trio
Menahem Breuer violin
Marcel Bergman cello
Alexander Volkov piano

According to its entry on Wikipedia:

The Piano Trio in C major, Op. 87, by Johannes Brahms was composed during 1880-2. It is scored for piano, violin and cello. It was first performed at a chamber music evening in Frankfurt-on-Main on 29 December 1882.

Brahms was 49 when he completed his Piano Trio.

Horn Trio in E flat Op. 40

Performed by The Nash Ensemble
Frank Lloyd horn
Marcia Crayford violin
Ian Brown piano

According to its entry on Wiki:

The Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40, by Johannes Brahms is a chamber piece in four movements written for natural horn, violin, and piano. Composed in 1865, the work commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother, Christiane, earlier that year. However, it draws on a theme which Brahms had composed twelve years previously but did not publish at the time. The work was first performed in Zurich on November 28, 1865, and was published a year later in November 1866. The Horn Trio was the last chamber piece Brahms wrote for the next eight years.

Brahms chose to write the work for natural horn rather than valve horn despite the fact that the valve horn was becoming more common. The timbre of the natural horn is more somber and melancholic than the valve horn and creates a much different mood. Nineteenth-century listeners associated the sound of the natural horn with nature and the calls of the hunt. Fittingly, Brahms once said that the opening theme of the first movement came to him while he was walking through the woods. Brahms also learned natural horn (as well as piano and cello) as a child, which may be another reason why he chose to write for these instruments following the death of his mother.

Brahms was 32 when he composed the Horn Trio.

Both are equally wonderful. It would be hard for me to pick between the two, although I am partial to the horn. It’s one of the most soothing sounds on the planet. So the Horn trio would probably get the nod.

Day 319: Piano Trios 1 & 3

BrahmsCD13This is beautiful music.

I could listen to this again, and likely will.

I’ve always enjoyed trios (piano, violin, cello). Those particular instruments blend well together.

This is just nice, soothing, intriguing music that pulls me in and compels me to keep listening.

The musicians on today’s CD are the Gutman Trio, which consists of:

Sviatoslav Moroz violin
Natalia Gutman cello
Dmitri Vinnik piano

The compositions are:

Piano Trio No. 1 in B Op. 8

According to its entry on Wikipedia:

The Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8, by Johannes Brahms was composed during 1854. The composer produced a revised version of the work in 1889. It is scored for piano, violin and cello, and it is the only work of Brahms to exist today in two published versions, although it is almost always the revised version that we hear performed today. It is also among the few multi-movement works to begin in a major key and end in the tonic minor; another being Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony.

Brahms was 21 when he first composed this music, and 56 when he revised it.

Piano trio No. 3 in C minor Op. 101

According to its entry on Wiki:

The Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 101, by Johannes Brahms is scored for piano, violin and cello, and was written in the summer of 1886 while Brahms was on vacation in Hofstetten, Switzerland. It was premiered on 20 December of that year by Brahms, violinist Jenő Hubay, and cellist David Popper.

There are still a lot of competing notes for my tastes. But these compositions are exquisite.

I particularly liked Movement II (“Scherzo: Allegro molto”) from Piano Trio No. 1 in B Op. 8, and Movement I (“Allegro energico”) from Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor Op. 101.

Of the two compositions, I think I liked Piano Trio No. 1 better than No. 3. The first one seemed more melodic and introspective to me.

Brahms was 53 when he composed this piece of music.

Day 318: Clarinet Sonatas

BrahmsCD12Clarinet sonatas?

One of the things I like about Brahms is that he writes for instruments that don’t normally get the spotlight.

Like today’s compositions.

I had no idea a Classical composer wrote for clarinet.

The clarinet is one of my favorite instruments, along with French horn, oboe, and bassoon. Oh, and piano.

I guess the only instruments I don’t like are the brass ones – except for the aforementioned French horn.

Okay. Let’s face it. I don’t know what I like and don’t like. I only know it when I hear it.

I liked what I heard today. As music I’d listen to again, I’m not so sure I liked it that much. But as pieces for the clarinet I can absolutely understand their importance and value.

Today’s clarinet sonatas were performed by:

Karl Leister clarinet
Ferenc Bognar piano

The compositions are:

Clarinet Sonata in F minor Op. 120 No. 1

Clarinet Sonata in E flat Op. 120 No. 2

According to their entry on Wikipedia:

The Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 are a pair of works written for clarinet and piano by the Romantic composer Johannes Brahms. They were written in 1894 and are dedicated to the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The sonatas stem from a period in Brahms’s life where he “discovered” the beauty of the sound and color of the clarinet. The form of the clarinet sonata was largely undeveloped until after the completion of these sonatas, after which the combination of clarinet and piano was more readily used in composers’ new works. These were the last chamber pieces Brahms wrote before his death and are considered two of the great masterpieces in the clarinet repertoire. Brahms also produced an oft-performed transcription of these works for viola with alterations to better suit the instrument.

Brahms was 61 when he wrote these pieces for the clarinet.

Day 317: Cello Sonatas

BrahmsCD11I like things that are different.

Like most people who dig underground/alternative music, musicians, authors, books, or art, I like discovering stuff that’s a step or two outside the norm.

When it comes to music, I still flip out over Led Zeppelin, Rush, Queen, ELP, Yes, Bad Company, the Beatles, and Alice Cooper. But when I discover an obscure passage of music, or a quirky band – or rare instrument like the glass harmonica, which I discovered listening to Mozart’s compositions a few years back – I get all tingly.

That goes double for Classical music. Symphony after symphony after opera after opera bores me to tears. Especially if they all sound the same, which they often do.

That’s why I like piano sonatas, cello sonatas, and other compositions that open up the space between notes to let another instrument come forward, or a melody reveal itself. There’s usually an opportunity for the music to sound different, to be magical.

Usually.

Beethoven, for example, knew how to put air between notes, to let his compositions breathe. There’s no equivocation with Beethoven. His works are just powerful pieces of music that kick my ass.

Brahms, however, is another story.

In the case of Brahms’ cello sonatas (Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor Op. 38 and Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Op. 99), what we have is more notes, not necessarily something fundamentally different from everything else I’ve heard from him so far.

And that’s too bad, because the cello has the ability to dig really deep, to pluck emotional chords that can bring tears welling up in one’s eyes. It’s a mournful instrument. Combined with a piano – which can also be extremely emotional – such a sonata could be powerful stuff, indeed.

Although Movement I (“Allegro non troppo”) from Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor features Continue reading

Day 316: Violin Sonatas, Scherzo in C Minor

BrahmsCD10I’ve been listening to Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1 and Violin Sonata No. 2 for the better part of the last hour and I not only couldn’t tell you which is which I couldn’t prove that I’d heard anything at all.

The music absolutely did not stick with me, except for a bit of for Movement I (“Allegro amabile”) of Violin Sonata No. 2.

The piano in that piece reminded me of Chopin or one of Beethoven’s wistful compositions. And the violin has some emotionally penetrating moments.

Still, a mere 10 minutes later, I couldn’t hum a few bars of it.

I think I know the perfect analogy: Brahms is like Chinese food. An hour later and I’m hungry again.

The musicians on today’s CD are:

Kristof Barati violin (tracks 1-10)
Karla Wurtz piano (tracks 1-10)

Tasmin Little violin (track 11)
John Lenehan piano (track 11)

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Op. 78

From its entry on Wikipedia:

The Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78, for violin and piano was composed by Johannes Brahms during the summers of 1878 and 1879 in Pörtschach am Wörthersee. It was first performed on 8 November 1879 in Bonn. Each of three movements of this sonata shares common motivic ideas or thematic materials from the head-motif of Brahms’s two songs “Regenlied” and “Nachklang”, Op. 59, and this is why this sonata is also called Rain Sonata (Regen-Sonate).

Brahms was 56 when he composed this music.

Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Op. 100

From its entry on Wiki:

The Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 (“Thun” or “Meistersinger”) by Johannes Brahms was written while spending the summer of 1886 in Thun in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.

It was a very fertile and refreshing time for Brahms. His friend the Swiss pastor and poet Josef Victor Widmann (1842-1911) lived in Berne and they visited each other. He was also visited by the poet Klaus Groth and the young German contralto Hermine Spies. Both Groth and Brahms were somewhat enamoured of Spies. He found himself so invigorated by the genial atmosphere and surroundings that he said the area was “so full of melodies that one has to be careful not to step on any”. In a short space of time, he produced, in addition to this violin sonata, the Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99, the Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101, and various songs.

The 2nd Violin Sonata is the shortest and is considered the most lyrical of Brahms’s three violin sonatas. It is also considered the most difficult of the three to bring off successfully, and to exhibit its balance of lyricism and virtuosity. It maintains a radiant, happy mood throughout.

That’s the best description for what I’m hearing that I’ve yet read on Wiki.

Violin Concerto No. 2 is Continue reading

Day 315: Violin Concerto, Concerto for Violin, Cello & Orchestra

BrahmsCD9I’ll say one thing for Brahms: he loves to fill his compositions with lots of notes.

But not in a Mozartian way so that the compositions are still melodic and memorable.

They’re just busy.

Perhaps the word I’m looking for is jumbled.

In my opinion, Beethoven – my favorite Classical composer – used notes more judiciously, with lots of space for shading between the light and dark, the somber and joyful. More importantly, Beethoven had a tremendous knack for writing melodies that touched me deeply.

Brahms, on the other hand, seems to have a profound grasp of the instruments – sort of like how a potter works with clay – yet he lacks an awareness of how the instruments could be used to create an aural landscape so compelling one could not possibly turn away.

Art for art’s sake.

In other words, competence, perhaps even mastery, yet Continue reading

Day 314: Piano Concert No. 2

BrahmsCD8I prefer this piano concerto to Brahms’ first one.

But that’s like saying I prefer Plymouth Gin to Beefeater Gin.

Both are terrific brands of gin. So picking one doesn’t slight the other a whole lot.

This piano concerto seems to be much more full, more dramatic (perhaps overly so, like the soundtrack to a 1940s film noir), and more complex.

However, “complex” also means quite busy. There are a lot of notes flying by on the piano, particularly in Movement II (“Allegro appassionato”). There are also melodic strains of something from one of Beethoven’s works in Movement II, one of his compositions that I number among my favorites. Because I’ve heard it often, and it’s a powerful melody, I picked up on it in Brahms’ piano concerto. I don’t recall off hand what it’s name is. But I hear that same melody in Brahms’ music.

Brahms CD 8 features the following musicians:

Cecile Ousset piano
Jurnjakob Timm cello
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Kurt Masur conductor

According to its entry on Wikipedia Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op. 83:

is separated by a gap of 22 years from his first piano concerto. Brahms began work on the piece in 1878 and completed it in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna. It is dedicated to his teacher, Eduard Marxsen. The premiere of the concerto was given in Budapest on November 9, 1881, with Brahms as soloist, and was an immediate success. He proceeded to perform the piece in many cities across Europe.

Brahms was 48 when he wrote this piano concerto.