If you are a regular visitor to these pages you will (hopefully!) have noticed that Arcana’s traversal of Beethoven‘s complete works has been going at a very slow pace (i.e. it’s stopped!) So far we have listened to everything written up to and including Beethoven’s 34th birthday…which means a lot of the best music is still to come!
I wanted, then, to put this as a placeholder to reassure the throng that the project has not stopped, and that it will resume with Beethoven’s first full opera, Leonore, very shortly. Stay tuned!
Peanuts comic strip, drawn by Charles M. Schulz (c)PNTS
An die Hoffnung Op.32 for voice and piano (1805, Beethoven aged 34)
Dedication Countess Josephine von Brunsvik Text Christoph August Tiedge
Duration 4’00”
Listen
by Ben Hogwood
Background and Critical Reception
Christoph August Tiedge’s lied An die Hoffnung had a profound effect on Beethoven, who set the text on two separate occasions – once published as Op.94 in 1816, but firstly published as Op.32 eleven years prior. Its dedication to Countess Josephine von Brunsvik is significant, for she was an unrequited love interest for the composer early in 1805. In March she wrote to her mother, “The good Beethoven has composed a lovely song for me on a text from Urania ‘An die Hoffnung’ as a gift for me”
By the summer feelings on both sides had cooled somewhat, with Beethoven removing Josephine as its dedicatee. Susan Youens, in booklet notes written for a collection of Beethoven lieder on Signum Classics, describes how the song’s ‘major mode optimism is rendered profound by darker touches of minor. The singer’s eloquent leap upward and the quiet blaze of a new (major) key for the acclamation to Hope – “O Hoffnung” – are unforgettable’.
Thoughts
This does indeed appear to be one of Beethoven’s most heartfelt utterances in the medium of singer and piano. It helps that the range of the song falls neatly within the grasp of either a baritone or tenor range, making it available for almost all male voice types.
Yet it is the elegance of the piano with which Beethoven begins, an unspoken melody spinning out with heartfelt ease. When the singer enters the mood is solemn yet rays of light are frequently shed by the piano harmonies as the music turns back to the major key.
The song makes a profound impact, both singer and pianist under the spell of Tiedge’s poetry, right up to the final line – and a final serene thought from the piano. We are in the calm of E flat major, same key as the Eroica symphony, but what a different mood we have here – vulnerability instead of heroism.
Recordings used
Werner Güra (tenor), Christoph Berner (fortepiano) (Harmonia Mundi) Matthias Goerne (baritone), Jan Lisiecki (piano) (Deutsche Grammophon) Ian Partridge (tenor), Richard Burnett (fortepiano) (Amon Ra) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Jörg Demus (piano) (Deutsche Grammophon) John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Iain Burnside (piano) (Signum Classics) Hermann Prey (baritone), Leonard Hokanson (piano) (Capriccio)
Fischer-Dieskau benefits from a heavenly introduction from pianist Jörg Demus, who sets the tone for an intense and often visionary account. The two recordings with fortepiano are quite different – Werner Güra and Christoph Berner pressing on a quite a rate when compared with Ian Partidge and Richard Burnett.
Also written in 1805 Spohr String Quartet no.2 in G minor Op.4/2
The Longing for Happiness. Left wall, detail from the Beethoven-Frieze (1902) by Gustav Klimt
Symphony no.2 in D major Op.36 for orchestra (1800-1802), arranged for piano trio 1805 (Beethoven aged 34)
Dedication unknown Duration 30′
1. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio 2. Larghetto 3. Scherzo: Allegro 4. Allegro molto
Listen
Background and Critical Reception
Beethoven’s friend and pupil Ferdinand Ries took charge of this arrangement of the Symphony no.2 for piano trio – but the very limited writings about the arrangement strongly imply that the final decisions on its construction and execution were made by Beethoven himself.
The reason for this arrangement is not abundantly clear, other than it making the symphony available for domestic, small-scale music making. Yet the nature of the scoring would mean only very accomplished players could see it through from one end to the other!
Thoughts
This is a remarkable and surprisingly effective transcription, one that fully retains the vitality of Beethoven’s invention while compressing it for the intimacy of a chamber music environment.
Inevitably the textures are very different, but having less instruments does on occasion give the listener opportunity to appreciate the bare bones of Beethoven’s melodic invention.
Spotify playlist and Recordings used
Robert Levin (piano), Peter Hanson (violin), David Watkin (cello) (Archiv Produktion)
Emanuel Ax (piano), Leonidas Kavakos (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello)
This is a very fine performance from pianist Robert Levin and soloists drawn from the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. The fast music is punchy and incisive, while the slower music has more intimate moments, beautifully captured.
You can chart the Arcana Beethoven playlist as it grows, with one recommended version of each piece we listen to. Catch up here!
Also written in 1805 SpohrString Quartet no.1 in C major Op.4/1
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Jörg Widmann (clarinet)
Weber (arr. Widmann) Clarinet Quintet in E flat major J182 (1815, arr. 2018) Widmann Con Brio (2008); Drei Schattentänze (2013) Beethoven Symphony no.7 in A major Op. 92 (1812)
Symphony Hall, Birmingham Wednesday 10 May 2023
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
Jörg Widmann has enjoyed a productive association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, having been Artist in Residence during the 2018/19 season, and tonight’s concert was typical with its playing to his strengths as composer, clarinettist and (by no means least) conductor.
Arranger, too, given this programme commenced with his take on Weber’s Clarinet Quintet. Most ambitious of its composer’s works for Heinrich Baermann, it demonstrably gains from receiving a concertante treatment. The interplay between clarinet and strings pointed up the acute contrasts of mood and motion in the initial Allegro, then transformed the Fantasia into an operatic ‘scena’ of sustained plangency. With its ‘capriccio presto’ marking and teasingly playful manner, no movement could be less like a Menuetto than the scherzo which follows; here and in the final Rondo, Widmann summoned a tensile virtuosity paying dividends in the latter’s impetuous course to a thrilling denouement. Having given us Weber’s ‘Third Clarinet Concerto’, maybe Widmann could add a Fourth by transforming the Grand Duo Concertant?
The stage was reset for Con Brio, most often played of Widmann’s orchestral works and (in other contexts) a curtain-raiser bar none. Commissioned to accompany Beethoven’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies in a cycle by Mariss Jansons with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, it alludes to both pieces while casting an ear – sometimes facetious, always provocative – over two centuries of European art-music. Whether Widmann hears this as running on borrowed time, the closing bars do not so much resolve as atrophy via a break-down of graphic intent.
A darkened stage greeted listeners after the interval, across which was placed the music for each of Widmann’s Three Shadow Dances. These combine extended clarinet techniques with engaging, often playful virtuosity – moving (right to left) from the deadpan jazz gestures of ‘Echo-Tanz’, through the submerged remoteness (with no electronic treatment) of ‘(Under) Water Dance’, to the uproarious routines of ‘Danse africaine’ where the instrument becomes its own percussion outfit as it bounds towards the ‘elephant calls’ that signify its conclusion.
It made sense to round off the evening with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, having already been anticipated in the first half. In his opening remarks, Widmann spoke of the life-changing effect this work had at first hearing, and he duly threw caution to the wind with a reading that brimmed over with the excitement of new discovery. Surprisingly, he chose not to divide the violins right and left, as this would have emphasized their dizzying antiphonal exchanges in the outer movements. Having set a challengingly fast tempo for the scherzo, which the CBSO met with assurance, he might profitably have held back marginally for the greater part of the finale – enabling the coda to ‘take off’ with a frisson as could only be inferred here. This was otherwise a performance that conveyed the music’s visceral essence with thrilling immediacy.
It set the seal on an impressive showing for Widmann and this orchestra, who will hopefully be working together again in a future season. Next week sees the CBSO reunited with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla for a performance of Mahler’s decidedly non-valedictory Tenth Symphony.
Beethoven and the Austrian composer Wenzel Müller, who wrote the initial theme on which the ‘Kakadu’ variations are based
Variations on Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu Op.121a for piano trio (1803, revised 1819-20. Beethoven aged 33 at time of composition)
Dedication Prince Nikolas Borissovich Galitzin
Duration 19′
Listen
by Ben Hogwood
Background and Critical Reception
The reference material I have been using for the Beethoven project has the Kakadu variations with a completion date of 1803 – though there are another tranche of dates to take into account. The first autograph score appeared in 1816 after what appears to have been a number of revisions, giving an indication of how Beethoven regarded the material. The opus number 121 confirms a much later publication date of 1824, closely followed by the Choral symphony.
Lewis Lockwood suspects that a number of revisions may even have been made as late as this, particularly the striking introduction with which the work begins. The theme, however, is taken from an opera by the Austrian composer Wenzel Müller. Completed in 1794, the comedy Die Schwestern von Prag (‘The sisters from Prague’) contains the aria I am Kakadu the tailor, whose main theme is lifted by Beethoven for this piece. Following a large introduction are 11 variations on the theme.
Thoughts
This is a substantial piece of work, especially with a full bodied introduction added to the front. In truth this introduction gives the Kakadu variations something of a Baroque profile, giving it a stern, slow minor key introduction, very much a ‘Grave’. It builds in tension, too, with some pretty sparse material that lasts over a third of the piece, and is drawn out for maximum dramatic impact.
Once the theme finally arrives it is something of a light relief, with quite a jaunty profile as the piano and staccato strings set out the simple tune. A feeling of contentment prevails, and this spreads to a flowing first variation and a second variation with light hearted triplets on the violin.
The cello takes over melodic duties for a warm third variation, and the interplay becomes more dense – a sparkling fourth and more intimate fifth attest. The sixth opens the hatches with octaves on the piano, before a thoughtful seventh brings violin and cello alone, the former sweetly sung. The piano’s return is initially quite restrained, the ninth variation a hark back to the solemn introduction and a pause for thought. For the tenth it is as though the trio have saddled a horse and ridden off at speed. The last variation and finale is a wholly suitable summing up, bringing the work to a bracing conclusion.
Spotify playlist and Recordings used
Beaux Arts Trio (Philips Classics) Daniel Barenboim (piano), Pinchas Zukerman (violin), Jacqueline du Pré (cello) (EMI) Rudolf Serkin (piano), Yuzuko Horigome (violin), Peter Wiley (cello) (Sony Classical) Florestan Piano Trio (Hyperion) Stuttgart Piano Trio (SWR)
There are some heavyweight trio combinations who have taken on the Kakadu variations. Among them are the superstar trio of Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman and Jacqueline du Pre, whose high voltage version is a memorable encounter. As enjoyable are the versions from the Beaux Arts Trio, the Stuttgart Trio, and Rudolf Serkin leading the Marlboro Music Society.
Arcana.fm 