ROMANTIC MUSIC FOR VIOLA AND PIANO SCHUBERT - BRAHMS SCHUMANN
KAZUHIDE ISOMURA, viola JEFFREY KAHANE, piano
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (“Arpeggione") I Alegro Moderato (1 1:31) 2 II Adagio (4:10) 3 II Allegretto (8:48) SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Märchenbilder, Op. I13 (Fairy Tales) 4 I Nicht Schnell (2:55) 5 II Lebhaft (3:44) 6 III Rasch (2:15) 7 IV Langsam, mit melancholischen Ausdruck (5:42) BRAHMS (1833-1897) Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120, No.1 8 I Allegro Appassiogionato (7:33) 9 II Andante un poco Adagio (5:03) 10 III Allegretto Grazioso (4:02) 11 IV Vivace (4:59) Kazuhide lsomura, Viola Jeffrey Kahane, Piano
The three beautiful, and oft-performed. works heard in this recital are all staples in the repertory for solo viola, and rightly so. Thus it may come as a surprise to learn that only One of them-the Schumann Märchenbilder ("Pictures from Fairyland" was originally conceived for that instrument. Schumann's many lovely character pieces are traditionally shared by many instrumental voices. Music lovers are accustomed to performances of his Oboe Romances on flute or clarinet (not to mention Fritz Kreisler's inimitable old recording of Romance No. 2 with it sui generis shift in the opening phrase!), and cello versions of the Op. 73 Fantasy Pieces for clarinet and the Op. 70 Adagio and Allegro, originally for French horn. Although an alternative version of Op. 113 does indeed exist for violin, the Märchenbilder shows that Schumann, in company with the Mozart of the Kegelstadt Tro, K. 498, was not only one of the earliest creators to write soloistically for the Cinderella of stringed instruments, but also one of the most daring. Compare his adventurous use of the viola's full register in these four superlatively well written bilder with the safely conventioral demands Brahms makes in his arrangements of his two Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, composed nearly a half century later. and you will, I am sure, agree that my point is well taken. I am not implying, mind you, that the Brahms arrangements are in any way inept, or even that they sound less convincing than the original wood wind incarnations but, rather, that his octave downward transpositions are safely conventional whereas Schumann's demands were altogether bolder and visionary.
Composed in 1851, opening movement Nicht schnell) is a somber piece in the key of D minor. The Märchenbilder project a whimsical but unmistakably brooding and intense persona. The second (Lebhaft), in F major, is one of Schumann's typical march forms inspired by the second movement of Beethoven's Op, 101 piano sonata. Aiding the music's springy character are the many leaping figurations and rhythmic intricacies (32nd notes against 16th, and the germinal interplay of threes and fours) The third piece (Rasch, Mit sprinendem Bogen) is the most demonic and intense. This move ment, which strikingly resembles "n der Nacht" (based on the Hero and Leander legend) from the earlier set of Fantasy Pieces for solo piano. never really settles down despite a brief respite in the B maior trio section. The two protagonists, viola and piano, alternate with a running moto perpetuo, and when the viola has it, the keyboard punctuates with explosive fortissimo chords. Schumann's sophisticated choice of a restrained slow movement (Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck) to conclude the Märchenbilder is subtly valid. This epilogue has a glazed, tragic aura that reminds me of the Gefror'ne Tränen (Frozen Tears) of Schubert's Die Winterreise. And since it moves from D major to F major and back again, this final piece can be said to recapitulate the tonality pattern (D-F-D) of the three previous movements. The Brahms F minor Sonata, like Schumann's Märchenbilder, comes from the last years of its composer's creativity. In fact, Brahms had, several years previously, announced his "retirement," and it was only his fortuitous meeting with the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld in 1891 during a visit to Meiningen that happily changed his mind. This sonata, and its
companion in E flat major, were initially conceived for clarinet (or, as Brahms himself put it. "for Piano and Mühlfeld) but both works transfer well to the viola. In fact, the F minor Sonata becomes more darkly passionate when played by the alto stringed instrument. The work is typical of late Brahms in its intricate structural mastery, and the entire composition, in fact, makes use of the motivic germ cell set forth in the opening measure of its first movement. The four movements, Allegro appassionato, Andante un poco adagio, Allegretto grazioso and Vivace, gradually move away from the black pessimism of the first through the consoling second, to the lilting waltz-like third, to the sportive, ebullient Finale. This last section, incidentally, has a leit motif of its own--three repeated notes that percolate from instrument to instrument. and from register to register, from start to finish. In the early 1820s, one Johann Georg Staufer invented a curious instrument which called the Arpeggione: a hybrid, it had six strings and was fretted like a quitar, but was played with a cello bow. It gained an advocate in Vincenz Schuster, who brought it to Vienna. persuaded Diabelli to publish an instruction manual and commissioned a lovely sonata from Schubert. Presumably, the Arpeggione Sonata. D. 821 received a few performances from Schuster during Schubert's lifetime, but by the time its manuscript was rediscovered by Sir George Grove in 1867, the Arpeggione had passed into a well-deserved oblivion. Schubert's orphaned sonata was eagerly taken up by violists and cellists, and today, thanks to a
few enterprising performers, the work is also some times heard from flutists, violinists, clarinetists and, on occasion, even on the double bass. For this listener's taste, the music is best suited to the viola--which has much of the cello's tonal warmth, but less of its sometimes unwieldy heft; and the elegant passage work can be negotiated with a sense of airborne freedom not always within the reach of most cellists. The sonata, composed in 1824, is a product of Schubert's full maturity. It is contemporaneous with the D minor String Quartet ("Death and the Maiden"), the song cycle, Die Schöne Müllerin and the Octet. Its basic mood, however, most closely resembles that of the A minor --or "Rosamunde"--string quartet, D. 804, also a product of analogous vintage: inwardly lyrical, but permeated with an aura of brooding intensity, even angst. The opening movement (Allegro moderato) is in sonata form. Its opening theme is first stated by the piano alone, much in the way of prologues to some of the lieder, but is immediately restated by the two instruments together. The maggiore second subject is more skittery--frivolous even, thus reversing the dichotomy usually encountered in textbook sonata structures. The Adagio, in E major, is really an extended introduction to the third movement (Allegretto), a Rondo whose first episode has a distinctly Russian flavor (which made one wag want to hear the piece played on the balalaika!l). Harris Goldsmith
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