W A Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Horn Concerto in E flat, K417 (1783)
1. Allegro maestoso (6’ 26”)
2. Andante (3’ 25”)
3. Rondo (3’40”)
Eric Penzel Horn; The Vienna Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Bernhard Paumgartner (Phillips Classics)
Mozart’s so called
“second” horn concerto (in reality it was the first he completed) was one of
four written for his friend Joseph Ignaz Leutgeb (1745-1811).
Leutgeb was the principal
horn in the orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg when Mozart grew up, and
many of the virtuosic horn parts in Mozart’s early symphonies would have been
written with him in mind.
Leutgab gave up
professional music in 1777 and moved to Vienna to open a cheese shop - a
venture partially funded by a loan from Leopold Mozart. This was apparently a
successful business providing him with a living and the opportunity to make
occasional concert appearances as a soloist.
In 1781, Mozart settled in
Vienna and they renewed their acquaintance. They remained friends for life and indeed
Leutgeb helped Constanze in organising Mozart’s manuscripts after his untimely
death.
The concerto follows the
usual three movement format, beginning with an Allegro maestoso with broad
melodies well suited to the rich and noble voice of the horn. The movement
demands both effortless breath control and considerable agility from the
soloist. The second movement is lyrical and reflective, and explores the beauty
of a sustained horn melody. The final movement is a lively rondo placing the
horn in its most usual context - the hunt.
At each return of the rondo theme, the soloist
leads off the hunt closely followed by the full orchestra. The movement
sustains the idiom of the chase throughout and is filled with fanfares and brilliant
dialogue between the soloist and orchestral instruments.
Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849)
Scherzo No 2 in b flat, op 31 (1837) (9’ 21”)
Vuval Fichman, piano (Laserlight
Digital Recording)
Schumann compared this scherzo to a
Byronic poem ‘so overflowing with tenderness, boldness, love and contempt’. This piece is heard in the Woody Woodpecker
episode ‘Musical Moments’.
Donald Tovey (1875 – 1940)
Elegiac Variations, Op 25 for cello
and piano (1932/33) (10’ 11”)
Ulster Orchestra with George Vass,
conductor; Alice Neary, cello; Gretel Dowdeswell piano (Toccata Classics, First
Modern Recording).
Donald Tovey has long
been known as one of the finest writers on music in English, although he saw
himself primarily as a composer.
The tone of the dark,
heroic Elegiac Variations was inspired by the death of Robert
Hausmann (1852 – 1909)*, cellist of the Joachim Quartet and a cherished
chamber-music partner of Tovey’s.
·
Hausmann premiered important works by Johannes Brahms (including the Double
Concerto) and Max Bruch (including Kol
Nidrei). He was also a teacher and a minor composer.
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Violin Concerto in D, op 77 (1877)
1. Allegro non troppo (cadenza: Nigel
Kennedy) (26’ 17”)
2. Adagio (oboe: David Theodore) (11’ 19”)
3. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace
(8’ 18”)
Nigel Kennedy (Violin)
The London Philharmonic (leader David
Nolan), conducted by Klaus Tennstedt
(EMI Records Ltd)
This piece was dedicated to his
friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim.
It’s Brahm’s only violin concerto.
Premiered January 1 1879 by Joachim, with critical reaction to the work
being mixed. There are formidable technical demands on the soloist. Violin friendly key of D as open strings add
brilliance to the sound.
The 3rd movement was the
inspiration for the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice song ‘Don’t Cry for me
Argentina’ from the musical Evita. (and the opening tune in the first movement sounds to me like the famous Florrie Ford's's rendition of 'She's a Lassie from Lancashire' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ru0zkdcNXs. I wonder if it does for anyone else?).
