Beethoven, Piano Sonata in G major

 
Ludwig van Beethoven was 24 years old when he turned to Antonio Salieri – Kapellmeister, renowned opera director and alleged poisoner of Mozart – for lessons from the Italian maestro. Ludwig had been settled in Vienna for a little over a year after his father's death at the end of 1792. His mother had died five years earlier, and the passing of his father made him realize that he no longer had any ties to Bonn, his hometown.

Looking for teachers
So settled in Vienna at the beginning of 1793, the young Ludwig will try to acquire a greater technical background based on the lessons that some renowned Viennese master could provide him. His first attempt, of course, was with Joseph Haydn, forty years his senior. It was not only the age gap that counted. The incompatibility of character was enormous and the lessons with the master did not last more than a few months. Then he tried Albrechtsberger, an eminence in the art of counterpoint, with whom he behaved more tolerant, following his precepts for a little more than a year. Between 1793 and 1794 he also frequented another famous pedagogue of the time, Johann Schenk. None of them satisfied him.

Master Salieri

Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825)

Interestingly, it will be the slandered Antonio Salieri with whom Beethoven will have the longest teacher-student relationship. And we don't just say it because of the gossip surrounding the Italian composer but because Salieri was an opera-oriented musician and, as far as we know, Beethoven composed only one. However, he will attend his teachings for more than eight years, from 1794 to 1802. Even later, the master from Bonn will often seek the advice of the Italian musician. All this will not prevent that later, already respected and famous, when asked repeatedly about the teachers to whom he owed something, Beethoven answers, a little haughty, although perhaps only annoyed: "I am a student of Socrates and Jesus Christ."

Sonata in G major, op. 14 N ° 2
Published in 1799, it was probably composed the year before. Described by the pianist and musicologist Donald Tovey as "an exquisite little work", it sets an enormous distance from the most famous sonata that precedes it, the romantic and intensely dramatic "Pathetique" (opus 13). One wonders, then, if in its creation Salieri did intervene in some way to calm the spirits, suggesting to Beethoven an aesthetic return to pure classicism, in Haydn style.

Movements
They are three, traditionally fast - slow - fast, yet the scherzo, usually an inner movement, is placed here at the end.

00:00  Allegro  The main theme begins with the rhythmic accent in the middle of the measure, which may cause some confusion in the listener as it makes it difficult to follow the meter of the piece during the first seconds. A brief turn brings the accentuation to the beginning of the measure at 00:25. The movement holds three easily distinguishable themes, presented successively: the one that has just begun at 00:25, the second at 00:54 and the third at 1:26. The movement then proceeds along the usual lines in its development and recapitulation.

07:22  Andante - Theme and variations.  Although this movement is the slow one, it begins with a martial, somewhat presumptuous motif. Three variations will follow. It closes with the contrivance used by Haydn in his symphony "The Surprise": the attending ladies will wake up if they are asleep, if they are not, they will let out a howl at the final chord in C major, fortissimo, entirely unexpected.

12:49  Scherzo - Allegro assai.  It begins with an agile theme that will cover a wide range of the keyboard, in its development. A contrasting motive will appear at 13:47. Scholars see here a scherzo in the form of a rondo. Apparently, Beethoven used here the term scherzo in a broad sense, that is, to point out the lively and joyful mood that marks this little piece of just three minutes, and which ends with a bit of fresh humor in the lowest part of the keyboard (in Beethoven's time).

The rendition is by Daniel Barenboim.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Guitar Conc. No 1

The composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was one of the most prolific Italian composers of the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Florence in 1895, he descended from a prominent family of bankers established in the Italian city since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
In his thirties, his work was in demand by performers of the stature of Jascha Heifetz and Andrés Segovia. So, everything seemed to indicate that there was a promising future ahead of him based on purely academic composition, following in the footsteps of his Florentine ancestors Lully or Cherubini. But the historical-social conditions – the reality, in a word –, would determine an unforeseen turn of events for the young Mario, who at the age of nineteen had graduated as a pianist.

Exile
In 1933 the Italian fascist government began to promote its particular vision of the arts, and even before the official promulgation of the Italian racist laws in 1938, Castelnuovo-Tedesco's extensive work, which by that time encompassed music of almost every genre – chamber, vocal and choral, opera, keyboard and orchestral – was banned from the radio and his performances were cancelled. The composer had to emigrate to the United States, where he was generously welcomed by his compatriot Arturo Toscanini, a few weeks after the outbreak of World War II.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
(1895 - 1968)

In California
Settled in California, he resumed his task by composing in the copious variety of genres he was accustomed to. But, from 1940 and for approximately fifteen years, he had to complement his career by writing music for the cinema, a domain in which he was extraordinarily productive. He would compose the soundtrack for around 250 films, although he did not reach the overwhelming success of his compatriot Nino Rota. Starting in 1946, he became a professor at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, with Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams among his students.

His work and the guitar
His music was influenced by various styles, including a brief flirtation with serialism, but in his later years he moved towards a kind of neo-romanticism, perhaps due to his ties with the film industry, according to some scholars.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco's greatest and most lasting contribution lies in his compositions for guitar. In 1932 he met Andrés Segovia, and in 1939 he composed for him his first Concierto for guitar and orchestra, premiered shortly after by the Spanish maestro in Montevideo. It will be followed by a second guitar concerto, one for two guitars and then about a hundred different compositions for the instrument.

Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra No. 1 in D major

Castelnuovo-Tedesco claimed to understand the guitar and therefore to be capable of correctly balance the delicate sound of the instrument and the weight of the accompanying orchestra. Despite all this, the video presented here shows that the soloist has disregarded the teacher's promise and opted to make use of a prosaic microphone. Of course, if it weren't, we wouldn't have audio.

Movements:
00:19  Allegretto - A sort of stately classical-style melody introduces the movement.
06:57  Andantino alla romanza - Peacefully melancholic, the movement is based on three Italian folk songs.
14:40  Ritmico e cavalleresco - A somewhat sardonic melody serves as the basis for its development.

The rendition is by the brilliant Italian guitarist Flavio Sala, accompanied by The Samara Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Mikhail Sherbakov. Performance in 2011, in Samara, Russia.

Chopin at Place d'Orleans, Ballade No 4

 
While living in Paris, Frédéric Chopin had nine different addresses. In 1842, upon returning from a brief stay in Nohant – the summer residence of his partner, George Sand – he and the novelist decided to leave Rue Pigalle, where they had lived since the previous year, and move to Place d'Orléans No. 9, where, in their style, they would live in different apartments or pavilions.

Little Athens
The decision was purely due to the desire for a change of scenery. Rue Pigalle had already bored them and they were seduced by the idea of living in a sort of "Fourierist" community (after the utopian socialist Fourier), where writers and artists could meet night after night.
Place d'Orléans meets these requirements. And indeed, the singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Alexandre Dumas, among others, populate this "little Athens".

In Sand's words, in little Athens:

"...we had only one large courtyard.... always clean, which we crossed to meet... sometimes at [a friend's] house, sometimes at mine, sometimes at Chopin's, when he was ready to play for us. We had decided to make a common pot and eat all together... Chopin rejoiced to have [there] a secluded salon where he could go to compose or dream. But he liked people and only took advantage of his sanctuary to give his lessons."

1838. A young George Sand,
pen name of Aurore Dupin 
(1804 - 1876)

Chopin certainly does not live there for free. The apartment costs him 625 francs, but he charges 20 francs an hour for lessons, giving up to five lessons a day. So he "gets by" without major difficulties.

1842, a productive year
And indeed, the composer only composes in Nohant. In that short summer of 1842 he wrote the Scherzo No. 4, the Ballade No. 4, the Polonaise in A-flat, the third Impromptu, and four mazurkas.
For a year, Chopin lives one of his most productive periods, which will last until 1847, when the relationship with his "partner" George Sand enters a regrettable misunderstanding that will lead to the definitive break.

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, op. 52
Before Chopin, the term "ballade" was applied exclusively to vocal pieces. So, the four ballades that Chopin wrote are the first instrumental ballades.
According to a contemporary scholar, anyone who tries to find the romantic or melodious or sweet Chopin in ballade No. 4 will look in vain. And he is right: the "intimacy" of the piece has made it difficult to access and less popular than the others. However, it turns out to be at the same time one of the most beautiful ballads, if we agree that we are not in the presence of a dreamy nocturne.

Composed in Nohant that summer and published in Paris the following year, it is dedicated to the Baroness de Rothschild, to whose daughter Chopin used to give lessons.

The rendition is by Kate Liu, a talented pianist born in Singapore.

Satie, Trois morceaux en forme de poire

The French composer Erik Satie, creator of an openly satirical if somewhat modest art according to some, left the Paris conservatory in 1886 after seven years of study without winning any awards. Indeed, a professor described him as a "talented but indolent student". However, two years later he composed his famous Gymnopedies, and the following year, the equally celebrated Gnossiennes. They are short piano pieces evoking a singular atmosphere through stylistic resources of surprising simplicity, although with an original harmonic treatment that caught the attention of his friend Debussy, whom he had met in a Parisian cabaret.

Pianist at the Le Chat Noir
Yes, because after leaving the conservatory, the young Satie decided to make a living as a cabaret pianist. At the age of 21, he started working at the Le Chat Noir cabaret, playing popular melodies and accompanying the singing of enthusiastic patrons, some of them famous or on their way to becoming so, such as Maupassant or Verlaine. But his temper worked against him and soon after he had to leave Le Chat Noir in an inelegant way. 

Erik Satie, in 1898
(1866 - 1925)

Pianist at L'auberge du clou
But he soon got a job in another cabaret, L'auberge du clou. There he stayed for several years and had the good fortune to meet Claude Debussy, four years his senior and already a musician of some renown. Debussy applauded the harmonies of this irreverent young man (and learned from them, so the story goes) but a few years later he will complain about Satie's carelessness in his treatment of musical forms.

"Trois morceaux en forme de poir"
Erik did not forget the suggestion and in 1903 he compiled pieces composed from 1890 until that year, to which he added a couple of recently created pages to form a suite for four-hand piano that he entitled Trois morceaux en forme de poir (Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear). Very much in line with his irreverence, the pieces are not three nor are they pear-shaped. It was one of his first delusional titles. Dissected embryos, from 1913, Things seen to the right and left (without glasses) from 1914, and Bureaucratic Sonatina, from 1917, to name a few, will come.

The rendition (audio only) is by the French pianist Robert Casadesus and his wife, Gaby. The paintings are by Paul Cezanne.

The work (which I recommend listening to with headphones) is made up of the following seven pieces:

00:00  Manière de commencement
03:07  Prolongement du même
03:59  Morceaux I  Lentement
05:20  Morceaux II  Enlève
07:49  Morceaux III  Brutal
10:28  En plus
12:22  Redite

Mozart, Divertimento in D major, K 136

 
In December 1771, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was back in Salzburg after his second four-month trip to Italy in the company of his father Leopold. The reception and the music commissioned were a success, but the main effort, aimed at securing a place for Amadeus at a respectable court, had not born fruit.

The last attempt had been nearly embarrassing, although the Mozart family never knew the details. Maria Theresa of Austria, mother of the first queen to meet the guillotine, Marie Antoinette, and of Archduke Ferdinand, governor of Lombardy, even jealously instructed the latter not to hire that family of musicians who were "rolling around the world like beggars".

As usual, Wolfgang was not deterred from his excellent willingness to work, and in the first months of 1772, he had already composed the three divertimentos K. 136-138, also known as the "Salzburg Symphonies", since Mozart set them up in three movements, typical of the "Italian" symphonies: fast - slow - fast.

Divertimenti: "Ambient Music" in the 18th Century

Divertimenti usually consisted of more than three movements, generally five, in some cases adding up to nine, as a remnant of the fading suite, the musical form from which the divertimenti appear to have originated.

Very popular in the 18th century, there are divertimenti for ensembles of three, four or five stringed or wind instruments, or some combination of them. Light in character, its purpose was no other than entertainment, a piece of pleasant background music while talking about state affairs, or blabbering about some petty palace intrigue.

Divertimento in D major

The work we are listening to is the Divertimento in D major K. 136, for string quartet or orchestra (or, "Salzburg Symphony No. 1"). It is the most popular of the three already mentioned. An essential piece in the modern chamber repertoire, a Russian conductor used to place it at the beginning of his concerts because "it is like offering a glass of champagne when the guests arrive".

The notation K. 136, according to Ludwig von Köchel's catalog (1862), states that this composition is preceded by no less than 135 opus numbers. These include about twelve operas and masses, and some twenty symphonies. Wolfgang Amadeus, at the time, was sixteen years old.

Movements: Allegro - Andante (4:17) - Presto (10:07).

The rendition is by the American chamber ensemble New York Classical Players, made up of young talents who use to give free concerts in the New York metropolitan area.