Beethoven, Sonata for cello and piano No 1 Yo-Yo Ma - Emanuel Ax

During May and July 1796, Beethoven was in Berlin during a concert tour in the company of Prince Lichnowsky (before they became disaffected after the prince asked Beethoven to play for his guests, French officers, in 1806).
There in Berlin, the maestro began the composition of several important works for cello and piano, among which stand out the Variations for cello and piano in G major on a work by Handel, and the valuable two Sonatas of Opus 5, dedicated to Frederick William II, King of Prussia, who apart from ruling Prussia and a few other territories, played the cello without disturbing anyone.

The "first cello"
For the time, the composition of sonatas for cello and piano had no precedent. There were no models from which to take inspiration, in the works of Haydn or Mozart. Only very recently had the instrument begun to free itself from its traditional role of basso continuo. So the court orchestra of Frederick William II, King of Prussia, had a cellist who played, quite appropriately, the role of "first cello." His name was Jean-Pierre Duport (1741 - 1818). He was Frederick William's teacher, and for him, for Jean-Pierre, the two Sonatas of Opus 5 were written, and premiered in Berlin in May or June 1796, with Beethoven at the piano.

The little snuff box
Both sonatas were published in Vienna in February 1797. As was his custom, the Bonn master sought to dedicate the work to an influential person who was in a position to repay him in some way for his work. On the occasion, the honor fell to Frederick William II, who rewarded Beethoven with a snuff box filled with gold Louis, each equivalent to twenty francs. (Thirty years later, Chopin would charge that amount for his lessons.) It remains to be seen how much gold Louis fit in the little box, but it seems to be not a stingy gift.

Sonata for cello and piano No. 1 in F major op. 5 - Movements
Cello and piano. For these instruments the sonatas are written, and in that order. That is, we understand that the soloist is the cello. However, the piano assumes here a voice of similar prominence; quite a novelty, but well, the author is a pianist.

Sonata No. 1 has only two movements, lasting approximately 25 minutes.

00:00  Adagio sostenuto - Allegro: A slow introduction, in the style of Haydn's symphonies, precedes the main theme, the allegro.

18:26  Rondo. Allegro vivace: A rondo in 6/8, much lighter in character than the first movement, with almost humorous passages, very appropriate for each performer to display his or her ease with the instrument.

On the cello, a young Yo-Yo Ma (a cellist born in Paris of Chinese descent).
At the piano, another young man, Maestro Emanuel Ax (American born in Ukraine).

Chopin, Mazurka in D major, op 33

As a respite from the great forms explored by Beethoven and his contemporaries, the first half of the 19th century witnessed the emergence of new musical forms with a more reserved, intimate character, usually destined for the fashionable instrument in the homes of the rising middle class, the piano. As never before, these miniatures allowed the exploration of an idea, a feeling, or an emotion in a short time of two or three minutes. Amidst preludes, nocturnes, and impromptus, Chopin's mazurkas, of Polish ancestry, also made their way, triumphant, into the Paris salons of the 1830s.

Three Polish folk dances merge in Chopin's mazurka: the obereck, the kujawiak, and the mazur, from which it takes its name. With a 3/4 rhythm, they can be sung, danced to, or sung while dancing, without neglecting that the accents will go on the weak beats of the measure, usually on the second, a requirement of the dance choreography. The themes are mostly his own, Chopin's own because even when the melodies are reminiscent of popular tunes, they respond mainly to the inventiveness of the Polish genius. Chopin brought popular dance to the salons but stylized and transformed into a new and unique genre.

The mazurkas of Opus 33
Throughout his life, Chopin wrote 57 mazurkas, the first at the age of fourteen, the last in the last year of his life. Four of them, in different keys, make up Opus 33, dedicated to Miss Róza Mostowska, probably a pupil, we do not know, but certainly, a lady belonging to the circles of exiled Polish aristocrats for whom literature, poetry, and music are matters of the utmost importance.

1838, the year Chopin was in danger
In one of these salons, in the late autumn of 1836, Chopin met George Sand. The master is still mourning Maria Wodzinska, but Sand is patient and wants nothing more than to come to understand with all her soul this pale and complex being, her Chopinski. In October 1838, she takes him to Majorca, on a curious "family" vacation. What will come of it all? Never mind, along with other pieces, the mazurkas of Opus 33 have just gone to press in Leipzig.

Mazurka in D major, Opus 33 No 2
According to scholars, an undeniable "Oberek". Marked "vivace", it is an elegant and impetuous piece, joyously rhythmic and joyful, an A-B-A scheme, with almost comically irregular accents, in its just under three minutes duration. A little gem, the most popular of the series.

The rendition, remarkable, is by the young American pianist Ruta Kuzmickas.

K. Szymanowski, Violin Concerto No 1

Karol Szymanowski was born in 1882 in Tymoszówka, then under the tutelage of the Russian Empire, but before that, part of the former kingdom of Poland. Throughout his life, the author strongly supported Polish music, and as a just recognition in 1926, he acceded to the post of director of the Warsaw Conservatory. However, in his last days, he complained bitterly about the neglect and isolation in which Polish cultural circles had kept him, most likely because of his sexual orientation. But, at the same time, he dared to predict that despite all this, his funeral should be magnificent.

The composer died of tuberculosis in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1937 and agreed to not one but two funerals. One in Warsaw, of a "republican" character, and the other in Krakow, where he was buried in a church in the sector destined for distinguished Poles.

Szymanowski was born into a golden cradle. His parents, wealthy landowners, maintained a family environment open to the artistic world. He received his first piano lessons from his father at the age of seven, while his brothers dabbled in painting and poetry. In 1901 he entered the Warsaw Conservatory to study composition. After publishing his first works, he traveled extensively in Europe and beyond, going as far as North Africa, gaining rich life and musical experiences. A brief stay in Paris helped to cement his admiration for Debussy and the French impressionist school. His name was becoming known. Everything was going wonderfully. Until the war came.

Karol Szymanowski
(1882 - 1937)

Working in bad times
The family – the composer included – was forced to remain isolated in their Tymoszówka estate during all those years. The war ended, but there was no respite because then the Bolshevik revolution broke out. The family had to sell their property under disadvantageous conditions, and resettle elsewhere, in a nearby town, which soon fell under Austrian occupation.

Against all odds, in addition to an enormous flow of short pieces, between 1914 and 1918 the composer produced his most important masterpieces, including his Third Symphony, several string quartets, and by the way, the First Violin Concerto.

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No 1, Opus 35
Dated 1916 but not premiered until 1922, the work lasts approximately 25 minutes, delivered in one unbroken breath. It is not a traditional work, certainly, and its single movement signals as much: a canvas of interwoven themes, perhaps in a new but equally fascinating way. It is commendable, indeed, that the author has been able to create such enchantment in dark and highly complex moments.

The performance is by the Scottish violinist Michael Foyle accompanied by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of the Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, on the occasion of a violin competition in Holland, where the performer was awarded the First Prize (the video includes the award ceremony).

Mozart, Symphony No 35, "Haffner"

The Mozart family had known the Haffner family for many years, ever since Sigmund Haffner, mayor of Salzburg, had supported the first European tours of the child prodigies Wolfgang and Nannerl. Years later, in 1776, the twenty-year-old Wolfgang thanked the prophetic gesture by writing a serenade for the marriage of one of Sigmund's daughters. Warmly received, the piece became famous as the Haffner Serenade. And that would have been the end of it, had it not been for the fact that in 1782 Sigmund Jr., a friend of Mozart's, was granted a noble title. Nothing better occurred to Leopold Mozart than asking his son, in Vienna at the time and about to marry, to compose a symphony to celebrate the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, Jr.

In mid-1782, Mozart was enjoying the success of his last opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and was busy writing an arrangement for a wind band "before someone else does it and takes my profits". He was also writing another serenade (in C minor for winds) and preparing for his marriage. He was very busy. But he accomplished everything. Or almost everything. Between July 20 and August 6, the maestro finished the arrangement, the serenade for winds, married Constanza, and sent her father the first movement of a Symphony, a movement that, apparently, arrived just in time for the celebration. The remaining movements arrived, one by one, in each mail.

Music for Lent
Six months later, Mozart was organizing a concert with his music for the Lenten days of 1783. Since the symphony intended for Haffner was probably known only in Salzburg, he asked his father to send him back the manuscripts. When he had them in hand, he wrote to him, "The new Haffner Symphony has pleasantly surprised me, because I had forgotten almost all the notes." However, the maestro decided to redesign the piece, which by then had six movements.

A new piece
He discarded one of the two minuets and the concluding march, then added a pair of flutes and a pair of clarinets to the first and fourth movements, and offered the Viennese a new piece on March 23, 1783, at the Burgtheater in Vienna.

The premiere
Under the leadership of the author, it turned out to be a great success. Wolfgang told his father:

"The theater could not have been more crowded and.... every seat was taken. But what pleased me most of all was that His Majesty the Emperor was present and, heavens! - How delighted he was and how he applauded me! He is in the habit of sending the money to the theater before he arrives. Otherwise, I would have been counting a larger amount. But his rejoicing exceeded all bounds. He sent 25 ducats."

A Hamburg magazine reviewed the concert, noting that the emperor, against his custom, "had attended the entire concert, as had the entire audience." ... The customs of those years.

A rather curious program
As was also the custom, the program of the evening seems to us today somewhat curious, to say the least. It began with the first three movements of the symphony. It was followed by arias, "scenes" from operas, a couple of movements from recent serenades, a piano concerto (K 175), variations on arias; Aloysia Weber (now Lange), Wolfgang's former love, sang one of his rondos, and then Wolfgang improvised a fugue, "because the emperor was present". In the end, the fourth movement of the Haffner Symphony was played. Finally. 

Following are the four movements, one after the other, in just under 20 minutes.

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K 385, "Haffner" - Movements
00:00  Allegro con spirito - Must be played fiercely, Wolfgang pointed out.
05:38  Andante - A respite, after the spirited allegro, soft and beautiful melodies.
10:08  Menuetto - Brilliant change of atmosphere.
13:10  Presto - As fiery as the first, it should be played as fast as possible, the composer pointed out.

The Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome, under the baton of the British conductor and pianist Sir Antonio Pappano.

Louis Spohr, Fantasy for harp, in C minor

In 1805, at twenty-one, the German violin virtuoso Louis Spohr became music director at the court of Gotha, a small town in central Germany. Soon after arriving, he heard a beautiful eighteen-year-old harpist girl, Dorette Scheidler, daughter of a court singer, play "a very demanding fantasia". Louis immediately decided to write a sonata for her, for harp and violin. The work presented some demands, so its preparation required many rehearsals. They ended up in love and married in February 1806.

That same year they began, as a duo, extensive tours of cities in the rest of Europe, to which they returned every year until 1822, when Dorette, a woman of her time, decided to abandon the tours, the duo and the harp, to be with her children who, now grown up, could not accompany the couple on their endless tours. But they were happy until Dorette's death 28 years later.

Violinist and conductor
Louis Spohr was also a fine painter and skilled chess player born in northern Germany in 1784. He showed an early talent for the violin. At 15, was already a member of the duke's orchestra in his hometown. He remained in Gotha until 1812. Later, he would be a prominent violinist and conductor at the courts of several German and Austrian cities until shortly before he died in Kassel in 1859

Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859)
Self-portrait

The works
Little of his music survives today in the standard repertoire, although the composer has to his credit about 300 works, covering all genres, including opera. He wrote nine symphonies (let us say, by the way, that he was a friend of Beethoven), eight violin concertos, four clarinet concertos, and extensive chamber music. Among the miscellaneous works, the pieces written for harp stand out, most of them composed in the first half of the author's career.

Fantasy for harp, in C minor
It was composed in 1807, while the author was at the court of Gotha, a year after marrying Dorette and, we suppose, to feed his wife's solo repertoire.

A little classical gem of ten minutes duration.

The performance is by German artist Serafina Jaffe, born in Berlin in 1998. The location is the Lichtenau Palace in Potsdam.

According to her own account, the video results from her participation in the German competition "Jugend Musiziert", where she won first prize.