Haydn, Symphony No 94, "The Surprise"

Prince Nikolas Esterházy died in 1790. By that date, Franz Joseph Haydn had served him as the court composer for twenty-eight years. Nikolas was succeeded by his son Anton, who had little inclination for the arts, and who would reduce the small court orchestra to its minimum. Haydn, at almost sixty years of age, felt free for the first time. In Vienna, he would not lack offers. He did have several.

The most interesting came from the German violinist and concert organizer Johann Peter Salomon, who offered the maestro a substantial sum for presenting a series of concerts with new works in England.
Haydn disembarked in Dover on January 1, 1791. It was his first trip out of Austria.

A long stay
The reception was spectacular, and the stay was long and profitable. Haydn stayed in England for a year and a half, thus participating in two of the seasons programmed by Salomon. The maestro received innumerable courtesies and invitations almost daily, experiencing a life he had not imagined, at the antipodes of the reclusion, or almost, of Esterháza.

But there was also room for nostalgia and, perhaps, for anxiety. He writes: "...there are times when I wish I could fly to Vienna to be able to work in peace because the noise of the merchants in the streets is unbearable".

The premiere, the return, a new pupil
Symphony No. 94 was premiered in the second season, in the sixth concert of the twelve scheduled, on March 23, 1792, with Haydn conducting and Salomon as first violin. It was a success, as were all the concerts of that season and the preceding one. The season over, Haydn left London and England in early July. He promised to return in 1794. On his return, while passing through Bonn, he was introduced to a young 21-year-old musician, Ludwig van Beethoven. Haydn would be his tutor in Vienna.

Symphony No. 94 in G major
The work is the second of the so-called "London symphonies", the last ones composed by the composer between 1791 and 1795, those ranging from No. 93 to 104. As can be seen, upon Haydn's arrival in England, the master had composed no more nor less than 92 symphonies. Together with the rest of his work, they were requested for publication by the publishing houses of the great European capitals. Hence the reception and enthusiasm that the English public gave him.

Written in 1791 precisely in London, and structured in the usual four movements, the symphony owes its popular nickname to its justly famous second movement Andante, in the form of a theme and variations.

The "surprise"
The theme could not be more simple. As the sweet and naive melody unfolds, it becomes softer and softer and quieter, until it almost dissolves into silence. Just as the attentive listener's ears prick up as the melody escapes him, the full orchestra strikes a fortissimo chord. Then the music resumes its original candor as if nothing had happened.

The abrupt dynamic change is not marked in the original manuscript, and theories abound as to the master's reasons for including it later. Some propose that Haydn would have wanted to make the ladies jump out of their seats, just for the fun of it. Others, that he openly wished to awaken the "seniors" who, after an opulent dinner and a few too many drinks, abounded in the audience, falling asleep as soon as the music began.

Movements:
00:00  Adagio cantabile - Vivace assai
09:38  Andante (the longest movement; there are variations to suit all tastes; the "surprise" comes at minute 7:05, right after the introduction of the theme)
16:10  Menuetto: Allegro molto
21:45  Finale: Allegro di molto

Russian maestro Yuri Temirkanov conducts the St Petersburg Philharmonic.

Mozart, "The Magic Flute" Overture

Had he not died two months after the premiere of The Magic Flute, perhaps Mozart's life would have changed entirely as a result of its enormous success. Premiered on September 30, 1791, and Mozart died on December 5, the opera was therefore established as his last great finished work and one of the greatest works of operatic literature. The opera, sung in German, tells in two acts the story of Tamino, who, together with Papageno and with the help of his charming flute, tries to rescue Pamina from the clutches of her evil mother, the Queen of the Night.

The idea came from librettist, actor, and producer Emanuel Schikaneder, a well-known member of the Masonic lodges. Mozart, for his part, had "enlisted" no more than six years earlier. Hence Die Zauberflöte has often been described as a Masonic oratorio, a reflection of the libertarian ideas of its time, which, of course, it contemplates. But the opposite perspective points to it as a sublime fairy tale suitable for all audiences. What is not in dispute is that both "producers", Mozart and Schikaneder, were going through a lean period. Cash had to be made. And this is easier to do by appealing to a broad audience than to one with exquisite ideas.

The overture
Completed only a few days before the premiere, it is one of the few overtures of its time that does not make use of the thematic material of the rest of the work. In this precise case, nothing else could be expected. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart carried a musical idea in his head for ten years, which he had "borrowed" from a sonata by Muzio Clementi.

After clearly establishing the tonic (E flat) with a couple of chords, the allegro based on Clementi's theme begins, to which Mozart applies a fugato treatment that makes it more complex, making it not very recognizable. Even so, each time he published the sonata, Clementi took care to clarify that it had been composed ten years before the Magic Flute.

Sir Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. 
It lasts nearly seven minutes.

Beethoven, String Quartet No 14, in C♯ m

During his lifetime, Beethoven composed sixteen quartets for strings: the first six, before the age of thirty, grouped under Opus 18; the five culminating the series, finished during the last four years of his life when deafness had preyed on the master. Of course, the quartets are not the genre that keeps Beethoven in the high regard of the general public today, but, in the opinion of scholars, they represent the most valuable and profound part of Beethoven's thought. After the Ninth was finished in 1824, the master closed the grandiose cycle of his Symphonies and Sonatas, and turned to himself. His music would become more profound and conceptual.

Most notably, the penultimate in the series of sixteen, Quartet No. 14, from 1826, astonished his contemporaries, at least his musician contemporaries. "What remains for us to write after this?" noted Schubert. A few years later, Wagner would not lag behind and write about the quartet a thoughtful article, pondering its greatness. And Beethoven himself, of course, held it in high esteem, even though it was created at the request of a Russian prince, along with two other quartets that today bear Nos. 12 and 13.

The genesis
In November 1822, Prince Nikolas Galitzin asked Beethoven to compose "one, two, or three quartets" for his personal enjoyment. True, the master had not written a quartet in fourteen years at that point, so some academics credit the prince with inspiring Beethoven to pick up the form once more. However, it so happens that the master had contacted Leipzig publisher Peters months prior to Galitzin's request, informing him that he had a half-finished quartet.

50 ducats for each quartet
Beethoven thus received the prince's commission as if it were the perfect fit. In a letter from January 1823 in response to the prince, the maestro demonstrated genuine desire for the assignment and committed himself, optimistically, for "the end of February or, at the latest, the middle of March." He also stated his fee, fifty ducats for each quartet. In fact, it took him a little bit longer. And, from that point on until his passing, Beethoven won't produce another work of that stature. It has been noted that No. 14 in particular is the most ambitious piece he has ever tried.

String Quartet No 14 Op 131 in C♯ minor
The work was completed in May 1826, just under a year before the composer's death. It was published in 1827 but was not performed in public until 1835 although it is possible that the master heard it, privately, before his death.
Large dimensions work, it is unusually structured in seven sections, which are played without interruption. However, scholars consider it to be the usual four movements to which two brief interludes plus a fugal introduction have been added.

Movements:
00:00  Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
06:40  Allegro molto vivace
09:39  Allegro moderato (first interlude)
10:27  Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile (the longest movement, in the form of a theme and variations)
23:13  Presto
28:37  Adagio quasi un poco andante (second interlude)
30:00  Allegro

The performance is by the American String Quartet.

Joaquín Rodrigo, "Concierto Andaluz", for 4 guitars

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a joke spreading in Paris, a prank that Spanish people did not like at all. It was said that the best Spanish composers were French. The gossip, however, had some substance. In fact, in those years it was difficult to find anything more Spanish than the Andalusian dances of Bizet's Carmen, or Chabrier's rhapsody España, or even Ravel's Bolero. So when Joaquín Rodrigo arrived in Paris in 1927 to study composition with Paul Dukas, he had to redouble his commitment to music to put an end to such talk.

After finishing his studies, Rodrigo returned to Spain to devote himself entirely to composition. But fame was slow in coming. In 1940 he premiered in Barcelona the work that would give him universal recognition, the Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra, a work that definitively affirmed his musical personality. His contribution to the incorporation of the guitar as a concert instrument is invaluable: the Fantasía para un Gentilhombre, of 1954, composed on themes by the baroque composer Gaspar Sanz, crowned what the Concierto de Aranjuez had begun.

Los Romeros
In 1967, the already internationally acclaimed musician received a request from a famous quartet of Spanish guitarists, Los Romeros (Celedonio, the father, and three sons). On August 1 of the following year, a poetic evocation of Andalusia saw the light of day.
The Concierto Andaluz for four guitars and orchestra premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the collaboration of the famous quartet as soloists, accompanied by the city's Philharmonic. The sones, the color, and the Hispanic rhythms were back on stage, with honors.

Concierto Andaluz
The piece is in three movements, blending impressionistic Spanish music with baroque touches. A familiar, lively opening movement, bolero time, evokes popular dances, with strings and guitars imitating castanet percussion. It is followed by a high-flying, lyrical adagio, comparable to a similar movement in the Concierto de Aranjuez. The work closes with a vibrant and vigorous allegretto.

00:19  Tempo de Bolero 
09:09  Adagio-Allegro-Adagio
19:10  Allegretto-Allegro-Allegretto

The performance is by instrumentalists Nick and David Kvaratskhelia, Peter Ernst and Christopher Brandt, accompanied by the Merck Philharmonic Orchestra, which owes its name to ancestral pharmaceutical entrepreneurs, the Merck family, since the seventeenth century. Wolfgang Heinzel conducts.

Fanny Mendelssohn, piano suite Das Jahr (The Year)

Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix's older sister, was as talented and precocious a pianist and composer as her brother, if not more so. She enjoyed the same musical education and toured like him half of Europe under the generous patronage of Abraham Mendelssohn, the father, a banker. Saving some obstacles, she could have made a career as a concert pianist, choosing the destiny that Clara Schumann would later take, but she opted for composition. And composition, in those years, was almost exclusively a male domain.

Fanny Mendelssohn - Hensel
(1805 - 1847)

The younger brother's view
Her brother Felix was also not very enthusiastic in his support of Fanny's undisputed talents. Comfortably true to the times, in 1837 he wrote: "From what I know of Fanny, I would say that she has no vocation for composition, nor does she feel a natural inclination for it." Happily married for eight years, Fanny was a housewife, in the eyes of her brother: "...to publish her works would only add to her difficulties, and I cannot say that I would approve of that," he added.

Fanny, a real pianist
All in all, Felix agreed to publish several of Fanny's songs under his name. And he was never reluctant to listen to her advice and criticism. Not for nothing, comments of the time point out that Fanny was a better pianist than Felix. At the age of thirteen, she had greeted her father's birthday by playing the 24 Preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier by heart.

A single opus
In 1846, with the strong support of her husband, the painter Wilhelm Hensel, Fanny decided to publish a collection of songs, her Opus 1. The critics were favorable, but, very unfortunately, Fanny died the following year as a result of complications from a heart attack suffered while rehearsing works by her brother. Felix would follow her within six months, and for the same reasons.

Piano Suite "Das Jahr" - The Year
About 460 works survive from Fanny, mostly songs and works for solo piano. Among the latter, a novel piano suite, Das Jahr, a sort of musical diary of the year she spent with her family in Rome in 1841, stands out.
Begun that same year, it consists of twelve sections describing or representing each month of the year. In a letter to Felix from Rome, Fanny hastens to clarify that the titles are provisional, intimate, familiar nicknames, and that she will think of something else when she has to "interpret them in society". The latter will never happen.

The rendition is by the Canadian pianist Laurence Manning.