Hereford
	String
	Orchestra

RECENT CONCERT

Shire Hall Hereford, 3^rd April 2004

 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Born in Bonn of Flemish descent, Beethoven deserves to be called the "Shakespeare of music" more than any other composer. He reaches to the heights and plumbs the depths of the human spirit, as no other composer does. He had the power to feel both passionately and tenderly, and the musical mastery to express his feelings in the most direct and vivid way.

He was the son and grandson of musicians in the service of the Elector of Cologne. By 1783 he was harpsichordist in the court orchestra, and was already publishing piano sonatas as well as playing organ and viola. In 1787 he visited Vienna to study with Mozart; he returned in 1792 to be a pupil of Haydn, Schenk and Salieri. His first public appearance as pianist and composer was in 1795, after which he lived by playing, teaching and publishing his many works.

Beethoven refused to accept employment under the usual system of patronage, but he did receive support from a number of the aristocracy. The shadow of deafness threatened him from as early as 1795; this gradually increased until, by 1819, he was totally deaf, unable to communicate except in writing. The tragedy of his later life lead to mood swings and almost suicidal despair, but this in no way diminished his musical output.

As an artist he stands supreme in many fields, producing the finest of symphonies, overtures, piano sonatas, string quartets and choral-orchestral settings as well as a single opera, Fidelio.

Beethoven caught an infection in 1826 from which he never recovered, dying the following year.

 

Overture: Coriolan Overture, Op 62

The first performance of Heinrich von Collin's tragedy Coriolan was given late in the year 1802 with incidental music arranged by Stadler from Mozart's Idomeneo. Although Beethoven was almost certainly acquainted with Shakespeare's Coriolanus, it was for the play by Collin that this overture was written. The music seems to follow the spirit of Collin's plot more closely than that of Shakespeare, for the scurrying quavers in the strings show us an indecisive Coriolanus whose triumphal return as conqueror, no doubt portrayed in the opening bars, is so soon to be followed by his banishment from Rome. It is not without difficulty that the ambassadors who are later sent from the city succeed in overcoming his pride. This scene is surely described by the spacious tune presented by the first violins and later taken up by other parts of the orchestra. The overture, which began with a unison fortissimo from the strings, draws quietly to its close, to end on a unison C once more from the strings, but this time pizzicato and pianissimo.

Programme note by David Harding

 

Piano Concerto No 1 in C, Op 15

Allegro con brio

Largo

Rondo (Allegro)

We are delighted to welcome Charles Owen tonight to play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 1 in C.

The Piano Concerto No 1 in C was written in 1797, two years after the B flat concerto, which Beethoven revised in 1798 and which is now known as No 2. Both concertos belong to Beethoven's period of young mastery, when for the first time he was a successful musician, much sought after as a pianist in Vienna. The music of these early concertos is straightforward, direct and free from oppressive thought; it has the confident air of youthful eagerness and shows an affinity with the style of Mozart's concertos. The solo parts, written with himself in mind as performer, are technically demanding but never merely showy.

The first movement opens with a subject of outstanding vigour and self-assurance. The more melodic second subject is first heard in the surprising key of E flat, but the opening tutti returns to the home key with a third, brief theme of martial character in which the horns are prominent. The piano enters quietly on its own and is soon involved in conversation with the orchestra, with many touches of witty and graceful comment.

In the second movement, the tension is now relaxed and drama gives way to a gentle style of expressiveness, in which all the piano's lyrical qualities are brought into play.

The third movement is a rondo, dominated by a main theme of playful vigour. Between each return of this rondo theme are episodes of contrasting and colourful character. The argument is convincingly worked out until the piano insists on a brief cadenza; after which the movement is swiftly brought to its conclusion.

 

Symphony No 3 in E flat, Op. 55 "Eroica"

Allegro con brio

Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Finale (Theme & Variations): Allegro molto - Poco andante - Presto

On the original title page of the Third Symphony, Beethoven wrote: "Heroic Symphony composed to celebrate the memory of a great man". The man he had in mind was Napoleon Bonaparte. When Napoleon declared himself emperor, however, Beethoven tore the title page from the manuscript, saying "Now he too will trample on the rights of man and indulge only his ambition."

The work was composed in 1803 and was the first large-scale piece in which Beethoven established his symphonic style, freed from the influence of Haydn and others. It was first performed in 1805 under the composer's direction.

Its influence on later musical development has been profound: the key of E flat major has, many would say, become synonymous with "heroic" music. Works like Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, which employs the E flat arpeggio to portray the hero, and Elgar's Second Symphony, whose first movement is in this exalted key, follow Beethoven's example.

Two peremptory chords open the movement. Then comes the dignified first theme, heard on the cellos and continued by the violins before being expanded by the full orchestra. There is an important subsidiary idea on the woodwind before the second theme makes its appearance, following a descending fortissimo passage. This is developed and leads to a codetta, closing the exposition. The subsequent development section is elaborate, culminating in the notorious passage in which the solo horn plays the first four notes of the principal theme while the violins play B flat and A flat against it. Not realising that Beethoven had written the dissonance deliberately, at the symphony's first performance his pupil Ferdinand Ries called out "The damned horn player has come in wrong. That sounds abominably false." The recapitulation follows the normal course until Beethoven introduces a second development, after which the movement closes with a long and elaborate coda.

The introduction of a funeral march into a symphony was an innovation, and in this case there is a direct link with Napoleon. On Napoleon's death in 1821 Beethoven is reputed to have said that he had composed the music for that catastrophe seventeen years earlier. The infinitely sad first theme, with its halting rhythm, is given out by the strings and echoed by the oboe. The second theme in E flat major breaks through like a shaft of sunlight, and the gloom is dispelled as the two themes are developed. Two episodes, the first a trio section to the march and the second the march theme treated as a fugue, make up the development. Towards the close of the movement a tranquil melody is heard on the violins and then the coda reintroduces the halting rhythm of the opening.

Six bars of pianissimo introduction on the strings precede the theme on the oboe and the first violins which then burst forth in a vigorous tutti with strong syncopations. Most of the material of the Scherzo is based on this exposition. The Trio provides a contrast, with a theme on three horns alternating with a passage for woodwind echoed by strings. The Scherzo returns in a modified form and a brief coda ends the movement.

The Finale begins with an impetuous nourish on the strings, brought suddenly to a halt on the dominant chord. The outline of the movement's theme is then presented pizzicato on the strings before it is given in its entirety. Beethoven also used this theme in the finale of his Prometheus ballet music, in his Piano Variations in E flat, and in the seventh of his twelve Kontretanze. In the first variation the theme is discussed by the strings, while in the fourth it is treated fugally. The penultimate variation is an andante, richly harmonised and providing a tranquil interlude before the majestic return of the theme on the horns in the closing section.

Programme note by Finchley Chamber Orchestra

These notes were supplied through the Programme Note Bank of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies.