middle voices from brahms’ golden period March 5, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentI just came home from a rehearsal (with Jennifer Gill, mezzo-soprano and Janet Coleman, piano) of the Two Songs, Op 91 of Johannes Brahms. What a great gem of the repertoire these two songs are! The two songs are Gestillte Sehnsucht (Satisfied Longing) and Geistliches Wiegenlied (Heavenly Cradle Song).
As a set, they cover polar opposites of love (both lower- and uppercase): earthly or physical love and heavenly or divine Love.
The first song is in ABA (song) form, with the agitated ‘B’ section corresponding to the second verse which refers to the stirrings of the narrator’s physical urges.
The second song is in a modified song form, roughly AAABA, with the gently rocking 6/8 meter giving way to an inexorable 3/4 meter when the verse refers to a fierce, cold wind. In each song, the viola is heard first, performing the introductory role that would normally be taken up by the piano.
In both of the songs, there is much interplay between the two leading voices, with the viola punctuating the beginning and end of each phrase, sometimes commenting on or interacting with the vocal line elsewhere. The piano’s role is relegated to the background, though it provides nearly constant rhythmic tension against both voices. These two songs are fully mature works, written around 1884, in the same highly-prolific period as the Third Symphony, op. 90, the Fourth Symphony, op. 98, the Double Concerto for violin and cello, op. 102, the two String Quintets, opp. 88 & 111, C-minor Piano Trio, op. 101, Clarinet Quintet, op. 115 and the Clarinet Trio, op. 114! All this - works any one of which would by themselves be the magnum opus of any lesser composer - written between 1882 and 1891!
If your interest has been piqued, the three of us will be performing these songs, along with works of Falla, Reynaldo Hahn, and others, on Jennifer Gill’s recital at the Old Church (1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland), Wednesday, March 7th at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door.
Gestillte Sehnsucht (Satisfied Longing)
Steeped in a golden evening glow,
how solemnly the forests stand!
In gentle voices the little birds breathe
into the soft fluttering of evening breezes.
What does the wind whisper, and the little birds?
They whisper the world into slumber.You, my desires, that stir
in my heart without rest or peace!
You longings that move my heart,
When will you rest, when will you sleep?
By the whispering of the wind, and of the little birds?
You yearning desires, when will you fall asleep?Alas, when no longer into the golden distance
does my spirit hurry on dream-wings,
when no more on the eternally distant stars
does my longing gaze rest;
Then the wind and the little birds
will whisper away my longing, along with my life.
– Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866); translated by Emily Ezust.
Geistliches Wiegenlied (Heavenly Cradle Song)
You who hover
Around these palms
In night and wind,
You holy angels,
Silence the treetops,
My child is sleeping.You palms of Bethlehem
In the roaring wind,
How can you today
Bluster so angrily!
O roar not so!
Be still, bow
Softly and gently;
Silence the treetops!
My child is sleeping.The child of heaven
Endures the discomfort,
Oh, how tired he has become
Of earthly sorrow.
Oh, now in sleep,
Gently softened,
His pain fades,
Silence the treetops!
My child is sleeping.Fierce cold
Comes rushing,
How shall I cover
The little child’s limbs?
O all you angels,
You winged ones
Wandering in the wind.
Silence the treetops!
My child is sleeping.
– Emanuel von Geibel (1815-1844); translated by Lena and Daniel Platt.
inside the string quartet March 4, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentI happened upon this wonderful article by Edward Dusinberre, the first violinist of the Takacs Quartet. It describes wonderfully the give and take of a great string quartet - and others that are less than great. Quartets of all levels pretty much function in this way, but only if they have four compatible members. Enjoy!
the end of an era March 2, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentI received word this afternoon that my old viola has found a new owner. Some people like to name their instruments, I never got into that. Now that I’ve learned of the sale of my first viola, I wish I had named her (for lack of a name, I’ll settle at least on the nautical convention of the female pronoun). We went through a lot together.
She was my first - I started on the violin and went from 4th grade until my sophomore year of college as a violinist. The dusky-eyed beauty that is the viola seduced me the spring before I transferred to the University of Puget Sound (UPS). Up to this point I was intent on some sort of business-oriented degree, perhaps international relations/business or something of that sort. I was taking part in a chamber music summer session at UPS and word came down that there was a shortage of violists, and there was need for one to play one of the Mozart flute quartets. I took up a borrowed instrument, and the rest was history.
The crush hit hard, and I traded my violin in for a viola by the same maker, William Watson, who was also my private violin teacher through high school. She was a large instrument - a full 17 and 5/8 inches length along the body (average is 16 to 16.5 inches), modeled on a great tenor viola made by the early Brescian maker Gasparo da Salo (1542-1609) and housed in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I did a lot with her, here are some highlights:
- Performed concertos or works with orchestra by Bach, Britten, Bruch, Castaldo, Hindemith, Mozart, and Walton.
- Played in masterclasses and/or coachings for Joseph dePaquale, Donald McInnes, Kim Kashkashian, Karen Tuttle, Phil Setzer, the Takacs Quartet, the Guarneri Quartet, and the Peabody Trio.
- Won my job with the Oregon Symphony.
- Premiered half a dozen new works for viola.
- Played three summers with the National Orchestral Institute, and three summers as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.
- Played two years with the Ethos Quartet.
I’m sure that I’m leaving a lot of stuff out due to lack of recall, but you get the idea.
I’m glad that she’ll be played by someone who has fallen under her spell, and that it will be a long and fruitful collaboration. It’s a bittersweet occasion, as I’ll miss her sound and feel, and since her maker passed away last fall. It marks the closing of a real door with my youth, and a time when everything was new.
whither the vienna philharmonic in the 21st century? March 1, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentFrom Justin Davidson of Newsday.com:
In the symphonic music world, the Vienna Philharmonic defines prestige. It performs annually at Carnegie Hall, its concerts are almost always sold out, its New Year’s celebration in Vienna is broadcast around the world, and having stood on its podium is a conductor’s equivalent of Olympic gold. The Philharmonic is Austria’s preeminent purveyor of Austria’s most visible export: classical music. But it is more: To many people around the world, and in its own corporate estimation, it embodies the quintessence of the Western musical tradition.
I have heard and written about the orchestra many times, but I will not be attending Friday’s Carnegie Hall performances - or Saturday’s, or Sunday’s - and it may be years before I review it again. A decade after it supposedly committed itself to entering the 21st century, I believe that the Vienna Philharmonic has relinquished its claim to serious consideration as a dynamic cultural organization.
Read more here.
marvin gaye played viola? March 1, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentFrom the Daily Telegraph: violists are the sex fiends of the orchestra.
As to the survey itself, there are a few startling results. Viola players, it seems, are “most likely to have sex on a first date”, “most likely to have had sex three or more times in the last week” and “most likely to have had 10 or more sexual partners” (presumably not all at once).
You heard it here first…
