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The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan", by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on 9 March 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto, K. 466. The concerto has three movements. The famous Andante, in the subdominant key of F major, is in three parts. The opening section is for orchestra only and features muted strings. The first violins play with a dreamlike melody over an accompaniment consisting of second violins and violas playing repeated-note triplets and the cellos and bass playing pizzicato arpeggios. All of the main melodic material of the movement is contained in this orchestral introduction, in either F major or F minor. The second section introduces the solo piano and starts off in F major. It is not a literal repeat, though, as after the first few phrases, new material is interjected which ventures off into different keys. When familiar material returns, the music is now in the dominant keys of C minor and C major. Then it modulates to G minor, then B-flat major, then F minor, which transitions to the third section of the movement. The third section begins with the dreamlike melody again, but this time in the relative key of F major's parallel key, A-flat major. Over the course of this final section, the music makes its way back to the tonic keys of F minor and then F major and a short coda concludes the movement. The second movement was featured in the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan". As a result, the piece has become widely known as the "Elvira Madigan concerto". Also Neil Diamond's song "Song Sung Blue" (1972) bases on a theme from the andante movement. (From Wikipedia, the Free Encyklopedia)

Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 19, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is considered as the most important Russian composer of the 19th century. The Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 19, were composed in 1873.

The French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The French Suites, BWV 812-817, are six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725. Although Suites Nos. 1 to 4 are typically dated to 1722, it is possible that the first was written somewhat earlier. The suites were later given the name "French" (first recorded usage by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg in 1762). Likewise, the English Suites received a later appellation. The name was popularised by Bach's biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who wrote in his 1802 biography of Bach, "One usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner." This claim, however, is inaccurate: like Bach's other suites, they follow a largely Italian convention. There is no surviving definitive manuscript of these suites, and ornamentation varies both in type and in degree across manuscripts. The courantes of the first (in D minor) and third (in B minor) suites are in the French style, the courantes of the other four suites are all in the Italian style. In any case, Bach also employed dance movements (such as the polonaise of the sixth suite) that are foreign to the French manner. Usually, the swift second movement after the allemande is named either courante (French style) or corrente (Italian style), but in all these suites the second movements are named courante, according to the Bach catalog listing, which supports the suggestion that these suites are "French". Some of the manuscripts that have come down to us are titled "Suites Pour Le Clavecin", which is what probably led to the tradition of calling them "French" Suites. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785. The first performance took place at the Mehlgrube Casino in Vienna on 11 February 1785, with the composer as the soloist. A few days after the first performance, the composer's father, Leopold, visiting in Vienna, wrote to his daughter Nannerl about her brother's recent success: "[I heard] an excellent new piano concerto by Wolfgang, on which the copyist was still at work when we got here, and your brother didn't even have time to play through the rondo because he had to oversee the copying operation." It is written in the key of D minor. Other works by the composer in that key include the Fantasia K. 397 for piano, the Requiem, a Kyrie, a mass, the aria "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from the opera "The Magic Flute" and parts of the opera "Don Giovanni". It is the first of two piano concertos written in a minor key (No. 24 in C minor being the other). The young Ludwig van Beethoven admired this concerto and kept it in his repertoire. Composers who wrote cadenzas for it include Beethoven (WoO 58), Charles-Valentin Alkan, Johannes Brahms (WoO 14), Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ferruccio Busoni, and Clara Schumann. One of Mozart's favorite pianos that he played while he was living in Vienna had a pedal-board that was operated with the feet, like that of an organ. This piano that Mozart owned is on display at Mozart House in Salzburg, but currently it has no pedal-board. The fact that Mozart had a piano with a pedal-board is reported in a letter written by his father, Leopold, who visited his son while he lived in Vienna. Among Mozart's piano works, none are explicitly written with a part for a pedal-board. However, according to Leopold's report, at the first performance of Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor (K. 466), Mozart, who was the soloist and conductor, used his own piano, equipped with a pedal-board. Presumably the pedal-board was used to reinforce the left-hand part, or add lower notes than the standard keyboard could play. Because Mozart was also an expert on the organ, operating a pedal-board with his feet was no harder than using only his hands. The concerto is scored for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (or simply "Joy") is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from a chorale setting of the cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147" ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. The same music on different stanzas of a chorale closes both parts of the cantata. A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet.[1] It is often performed slowly and reverently at wedding ceremonies, as well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter. Bach composed a four-part setting with independent orchestral accompaniment of two stanzas of the hymn "Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne", written by Martin Janus in 1661, which was sung to a melody by the violinist and composer Johann Schop, "Werde munter, mein Gemüthe". The movements conclude the two parts of the cantata. Bach scored the chorale movements (6 and 10) from "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" for choir, trumpet, violin, optionally oboe, viola, and basso continuo. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11, by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Chopin loves singing and as a singing poet of the piano, he inveigles into the universe of dreams. Chopin composed the piano concerto in e minor at the age of 20 during spring/summer of 1830 in Warsaw. It emerged shortly after his concerto in f minor and belongs to the standard repertoire of concert literature. In fall 1830, Chopin left Warsaw to go to Paris. This work is based mainly on polish dancing rhythms; especially prominent is the krakowiak in the last movement. Eventually, his work is characterized by its exceptional cantability. Chopin writes opera for the piano. He most likely performed this concerto himself in Warsaw in the same string casting it can be heard here. (Franz Vorraber)

8 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

The 8 Piano Pieces op. 76 by Johannes Brahms comprise four Capriccios and Intermezzi each. With this collection of character pieces, published in February 1879, Brahms came forward again after a long time with a work for solo piano, which was premiered by Hans von Bülow in Berlin on October 29, 1879. While he had already composed the first Capriccio in 1871, he wrote the remaining pieces in 1878 in Pörtschach on Lake Wörth. The collection, originally divided into two booklets, shows the influence of Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, whose complete editions published by Breitkopf & Härtel Brahms supervised at this time. In condensed form, the mostly three-part pieces already point to the internalized late style of Opera 116 to 119, whose characteristics include the multi-layered piano movement, chromaticism, and rhythmic refinements. The piano pieces appeared only after Brahms had not written any independent solo piano works for an extended period. After the Paganini Variations published in 1866, the Waltzes for piano four hands op. 39, which he held in high esteem, and the first part of the Hungarian Dances, initially also written for four hands, there was a long pause in publication in this field, which ended only in 1879. For Andrea Bonatta this shows how difficult it was for Brahms to find new expressive possibilities after the pianistic explorations of the virtuoso Handel and Paganini Variations. For the pianist, chamber musician and gifted sight-reading player, this phase did not mean that he would have completely abandoned the piano. In addition to the Waltzes and Hungarian Dances, he wrote the Sonata for Piano and Violoncello op 38, the Liebeslieder Waltzes op 52, the version for two pianos of his Haydn Variations op 56b, the Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor op 60 and the Neue Liebeslieder op 65 during this period. In 1878, he also began to work on his symphonic Second Piano Concerto in B flat major; the piano thus played an important role in chamber and later concertante music. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)

The 3 Mazurkas, Op. 50, by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Chopin's "Mazurkas" - he wrote at least 69 Mazurkas - are based on a traditional Polish folk dance in triple meter with an accent on the third or on the second beat, called "Mazurek". Chopin started composing his mazurkas in 1825, and continued composing them until 1849, the year of his death.

The Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major, K. 451, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Concerto No. 16 in D major, K. 451, is a concertante work for piano, or pianoforte, and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart composed the concerto for performance at a series of concerts at the Vienna venues of the Trattnerhof and the Burgtheater in the first quarter of 1784, where he was himself the soloist. Mozart noted this concerto as complete on 22 March 1784 in his catalog, and performed the work later that month. Cliff Eisen has postulated that this performance was on 31 March 1784. The work is orchestrated for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in A Minor by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata in A minor, D 784 (posthumously published as Op. 143), is one of Schubert's major compositions for the piano. Schubert composed the work in February 1823, perhaps as a response to his illness the year before. It was however not published until 1839, eleven years after his death. It was given the opus number 143 and a dedication to Felix Mendelssohn by its publishers. The D 784 sonata, Schubert's last to be in three movements, is seen by many to herald a new era in Schubert's output for the piano, and to be a profound and sometimes almost obsessively tragic work. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22, by Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

The Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 was composed by Robert Schumann from 1830 to 1838. It was his last full-length attempt at the sonata genre, the other completed ones being the Piano Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor (Op. 11) and the Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor (Op. 14); he later wrote Three Piano Sonatas for the Young Op. 118. Because it was published before the F minor sonata, it was given an earlier sequence number (No. 2) but still kept its later opus number (Op. 22). This has caused confusion, and recordings of the G minor Sonata have sometimes been published as "Sonata No. 3". There was also an earlier sonata in F minor, which Schumann abandoned; this is sometimes referred to as "Sonata No. 4". Among his sonatas, this one is very frequently performed and recorded. Because of its great variety and highly virtuosic demands, it is enjoyed both by audiences and performers alike. Clara Schumann claimed to be "endlessly looking forward to the second sonata", but nevertheless Robert revised it several times. At Clara Schumann's request, the original finale, marked Presto passionato was replaced with a less difficult movement in 1838. The Andantino of the sonata is based on Schumann's early song "Im Herbste"; Jensen describes the first movement as having "a concern with motivic structure". It is dedicated to Schumann's friend the pianist Henriette Voigt and was published in September 1839. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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he Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 was composed by Robert Schumann from 1830 to 1838. It was his last full-length attempt at the sonata genre, the other completed ones being the Piano Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor (Op. 11) and the Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor (Op. 14); he later wrote Three Piano Sonatas for the Young Op. 118. Because it was published before the F minor sonata, it was given an earlier sequence number (No. 2) but still kept its later opus number (Op. 22). This has caused confusion, and recordings of the G minor Sonata have sometimes been published as "Sonata No. 3". There was also an earlier sonata in F minor, which Schumann abandoned; this is sometimes referred to as "Sonata No. 4". Among his sonatas, this one is very frequently performed and recorded. Because of its great variety and highly virtuosic demands, it is enjoyed both by audiences and performers alike. Clara Schumann claimed to be "endlessly looking forward to the second sonata", but nevertheless Robert revised it several times. At Clara Schumann's request, the original finale, marked Presto passionato was replaced with a less difficult movement in 1838. The Andantino of the sonata is based on Schumann's early song "Im Herbste"; Jensen describes the first movement as having "a concern with motivic structure". It is dedicated to Schumann's friend the pianist Henriette Voigt and was published in September 1839.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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he French Suites, BWV 812-817, are six suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier (harpsichord or clavichord) between the years of 1722 and 1725. Although Suites Nos. 1 to 4 are typically dated to 1722, it is possible that the first was written somewhat earlier.The suites were later given the name "French" (first recorded usage by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg in 1762). Likewise, the English Suites received a later appellation. The name was popularised by Bach's biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who wrote in his 1802 biography of Bach, "One usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner." This claim, however, is inaccurate: like Bach's other suites, they follow a largely Italian convention. There is no surviving definitive manuscript of these suites, and ornamentation varies both in type and in degree across manuscripts. The courantes of the first (in D minor) and third (in B minor) suites are in the French style, the courantes of the other four suites are all in the Italian style. In any case, Bach also employed dance movements (such as the polonaise of the sixth suite) that are foreign to the French manner. Usually, the swift second movement after the allemande is named either courante (French style) or corrente (Italian style), but in all these suites the second movements are named courante, according to the Bach catalog listing, which supports the suggestion that these suites are "French". Some of the manuscripts that have come down to us are titled "Suites Pour Le Clavecin", which is what probably led to the tradition of calling them "French" Suites.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The "Italianate" Bach - Bach's music for harpsichord in Italian style

In the footsteps of the "Italian" Johann Sebastian Bach, we may at some point and somewhere on the Internet come across information that he arrived in Rome in September 1776 on a study trip, soon fell ill and that he died there two years later. Stop. Bach died in Rome? 1778? Of course not, never. But, about the traces of which Johann Sebastian Bach are we talking about here? It is actually known that Bach, unlike Handel, was never in Italy. But what is little known is that his grandson (a son of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach) who, at the time, in no unusual way, bore his grandfather's name, was actually in Italy. The young grandson of Bach was a painter and although it would certainly be extremely interesting to learn more about this Johann Sebastian Bach, and thus to learn a little more about Carl Philipp Emanuel's offspring, he is not the man we are dealing with in this program.

Johann Sebastian Bach, composer and virtuoso on harpsichord and organ. Actually, these names only make you think of the man who bears this name like a titan in the history of music; and who composed an incredible amount of good music, also for harpsichord. This Johann Sebastian Bach was never in Italy. But what would have happened if he had had the opportunity to experience Italy and the Italian musical landscape as closely as his grandson and Handel had done? And here, facts speak for themselves when it comes to such a hypothetical question that mobilizes a lot of imagination: he never was in Italy. Nevertheless, a great deal of Italian music in the form of sheet music and scores came into his hands. Especially as a young man, he absorbed the Italian style intensely through the arrangement of some of the concertos by Italian masters such as Vivaldi, Marcello and Torelli - and he had them in mind for a single instrument. He arranged them for harpsichord without any accompaniment (except Vivaldi's famous concerto from his Op.3 for four violins, strings and basso continuo in B minor, which Bach arranged for four harpsichords and strings). And not only his famous so-called "Italian Concerto in F major for harpsichord" is very clearly oriented towards concertante Italian models.

This recording features some harpsichord toccatas by the young virtuoso Bach, which also contain various Italian elements. Also included is Bach's arrangement of the Oboe Concerto in d by Alessandro Marcello for harpsichord, as well as a fugue on a theme by Giuseppe Torelli. Bach not only admired the Italian style, he obviously loved the Italian language. There is a piece by the young Bach, who wrote an elegant title in Italian for this purpose: Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratello dilettissimo (Capriccio on the departure of the very popular brother) in B flat major. This Capriccio is a musical description of Bach's feelings and worries when his brother left for Sweden, and thus Bach's feelings were lost.

In Bach's Capriccio, an Italianizing musical architecture is built into the work. This is undoubtedly Italian-influenced music, and yet it must be said that such an ornate manner, which Bach passes on here in some places, especially in the first two movements, appears particularly richly and very French-ornamented. We do not find this with an Italian master of the time. Could it be that Bach's later characteristic is already correctly evident here for the first time? Namely the characteristic of bringing French and Italian style together so organically? It is remarkable that Bach in his toccatas - even if they are partly Italian in style and have very concertante characteristics in some sections - begins to add French elements here and there early on. Examples of this are whole sections that are very richly, or rather much more, decorated than some other sections. One may wonder why these sections are decorated in such different ways. On the other hand, it must also be said that we do not have any transcriptions of Bach's toccatas from his own pen, but we are actually dealing here with the transcriptions from his circle of students. The question to which we have no clear answer is whether the authors of these transcriptions wrote down these ornaments more or less to Bach's taste, or whether they did so out of their own impulse. And it is a similar question as with the two movements in the Capriccio in B flat major mentioned above, which are rather French ornamented - and that in the middle of an Italian style. Whereby - here one should not think that Italian masters wanted to see their music unadorned! On the contrary, certainly generous ornamentation also plays a role in Italian music. So it is easily misleading to think that here in some places French style is present or even dominates. The accumulation of ornamentation in the Capriccio, however, is limited to only two movements out of a total of six. Since this work is about programmatic music - Bach has provided each movement with a "programmatic" text, and this is something rare in Bach's opus - it is rather the program that determines the striking ornamentation here. The first movement is about "Schmeichelung der Freunde" (Flattering Friends) and perhaps Bach wants to come closer to the program "Schmeichelung" with trills and mordants con grazia musically. In the second movement, the situation is different again: programmatically, the danger and disaster that may await the brother in the distance is to be expressed. And so the ornamentation in this movement is deeply embedded in the polyphonic, or rather imitative context. With the motif of the "casuum", which is saturated with ornamentation and repeated again and again by all the voices, the affect of nervousness is expressed very well.

Another aspect is added, namely that some toccatas have very strongly ornamented versions, as they appear extremely in the G major toccata and in the second section of the F sharp minor toccata in the transcription by J.G. Walter. One might therefore wonder whether Bach tried to achieve a fusion of the Italian and French styles in his early years. And the fusion of the two styles is what is understood by German style, exactly what Bach later established so completely. In some toccatas, such as the Toccatas in G major and F sharp minor and in the Capriccio in B flat major, we might find an answer: even if these ornate versions did not come directly from Bach, they could indicate that he himself obviously tried to mix the two most important styles of the Baroque - at least as far as ornamentation is concerned. But of course, only later, especially in the second part of his Piano Exercise, which appeared in 1735, does Bach make it clear how well he mastered these two styles and was happy to present them with a publication for comparison. As in a musical legacy, Bach wanted to reveal to the world his knowledge, but perhaps also his inclination to combine the two styles. And there we have his clear presentation of these styles: in the Italian Concerto in F major (Concerto to Italian taste) on the one hand, and the French Overture in B minor (Overture to French taste) on the other.

In the first movement of the Concerto in d, based on the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra by Alessandro Marcello, Bach works with tonal differences in texture, which is intended to differentiate solo and tutti here. In some places he suggests a strong tutti forte by adding full chords (interestingly, Bach also uses full chords, even in both hands at the same time, in the very concertante first part of the Toccata in G major, where the impression of a tutti is clearly intended). In the second movement of this concerto, in the sequence of bars 4 to 10, Bach takes over Marcello's rhythmically increasing and changing melody of these bars. The increase of the sequence introduced here thus ensures that the solo voice blossoms right at the beginning of the movement, just as in the original. Bach remains faithful to this through the increasingly fascinating ornamentation of the original voice in this movement. The third movement is in two parts. Here, balance and symmetry are in the foreground - perhaps the explanation for the fact that Bach (and how untypical for him) usually dispenses with animated embellishments of the solo voice here. Instead, however, he has clearly enriched the accompaniment with more activity. And I myself could not entirely do without some ornamentation of the solo voice here and there. The Toccata in E minor begins with an opening part that could be felt in two tempos at the same time. There is the stubborn bass on the one hand, which acts alone at the beginning and which appears again and again in the pause of the upper voice. It appears in a regular tempo, while the upper voice floats more vividly and freely each time after this strict bass. In the middle of measure 49 we have a surprise of Vivaldi's kind - a string tremor through a tremolo (it is like a short echo from Bach's never written "seasons", or as if from a more theatrical context). This toccata ends with a fugue that literally brings the musical material just mentioned by Benedetto Marcello for quite a while, before Bach continues this fugue in his own way. And at the end of this work we are blinded by a very wild and hasty moment, which could, however, be a quotation from the work of another Italian; the quasi Scarlatti elements in bars 136-139 are obviously inserted very strategically as a striking climax of the fugue at the end and as a successful surprise.

In Gerber's transcription we find a heading for Bach's Toccata in G major: "Toccata or Concerto". This is a good explanation by a Bach student that this toccata, and significantly more than all the other six toccatas, has the clear concept of a concerto. Divided into three movements (fast - slow - fast), this toccata shows a concertante design. In the first movement there are very clear alternations between solo and tutti. The solos are presented in a very Italian light and violin-like manner, while the tutti passages sometimes show some humorous traits, when, as mentioned above, the whole scales are repeatedly "hammered through" from top to bottom with full chords in both hands. Coincidence or not: Vivaldi, too, has sometimes incorporated an entire scale downwards in a tutti, both in his fast and slow movements, as a feature with a certain message. The second movement is the beautiful and vocal center of this toccata. Over a passacaglia bass, Bach ends this movement with the most beautiful expression of a farewell gesture; a gesture familiar from so many slow movements of the Italians. These filigree and complexly worked out last two bars of this movement are absolutely unique in their theatrical effect. It is like a farewell to oneself, or rather to the whole lyrical and intimate content of this movement, before the last movement continues cheerfully. The fugue at the end of this work, which could indeed be a fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, ends abruptly, with runs down and without a cadenza. With such a surprising ending, this fugue at the end seems like an "unfinished" fugue...

Bach ensures the listener's immediate attention at the beginning of the Toccata in D minor with a thoroughly plastic and very agile introduction. The whole thing is reinforced by the often repeated low D in the bass, as well as by an ostinato bass. Something that could very well be a quotation from Louis Couperin's Préludes and Johann Jakob Froberger's Toccatas is unmistakable - it is the emotive and fast run up and then a sudden and harsh fall to the diminished fifth (here diminished fifth over octave down: d1 - G sharp). And from measure 15 on, Bach remains in a certain sense on the traces of the Stylus Fantasticus of the 17th century. This section, which he surprisingly begins with a dissonant sound, leans on the durezze e ligature style of the Italian composers of the late 16th and 17th centuries, which is also wonderfully expressed in Frescobaldi, among others. The bass accompanying figures in the last section of this toccata (bars 244-246) are also interesting, because here we find the comparison to the second movement (Allegro) of Corelli's Sonata No. 10 from Op. 5. However, this is nothing unusual in itself; it is merely the chamber music gene from Corelli's music, but it is also a feature of some of Vivaldi's concertos.

The Fantasia in A minor with its effective chords that are to be arpeggiated is an extremely short, but in return particularly powerful and dazzling musical statement. We find similar arpeggiating sections in his famous Chromatic Fantasy and in other works by Bach and also by his son Wilhelm Friedemann. The fugue is a true moto perpetuo. This theme is by Torelli.

The Toccata in F sharp minor appears musically and technically as the most complex and extensive toccata of all seven. And with its forcefulness it reveals, in addition to his art of the fugue, the comprehensive and profound nature of the work like hardly any other work for harpsichord. The opening of the Toccata alone, with its harmonic and physical developments, seems so vivid and tangible. Harpsichordist Colin Tilney wrote the following about this piece in his own recording of these toccatas: "The exquisite arioso and the final 6/8 fugue are both built on the chromatic descending fourth, a staple of Baroque craftmanship, from the innumerable slow Italian passacaglia-based operatic arias to Bach's own Crucifixus in the B minor Mass". And indeed, the last fugue from this toccata has something "sacred" about it that is found in Italian works of the 17th and 18th century. It was apparently popular at that time, especially in sacred music, to use the penetrating and piercing chromaticism in the thematic head of the fugue. Through Bach's harmonics, such a chromatic fugue gets a very special tension. But there is also something almost "worldly" like in the middle of a sacred context of a famous Venetian.

The Sarabande in A major is indeed what one can call an "Italian simple Sarabande": simple, direct, full-voiced and with broad chords, without the gravitas of a typical French Sarabande (like the Bach Sarabande en Rondeau from the F minor Suite, BWV 823, or his Sarabande from English Suites and from the French Overture; or like the very prominent Sarabande from his second orchestral Suite in B minor).

My Prelude and Fugue (1996/1998) are composed for harpsichord and piano respectively. The Prelude is inspired by Bach's famous art of prelude and is oriented towards the certain "athletic" movement in shorter note values of the constantly moving - musical style, which is typical for many musical forms in the first half of the 18th century, and is particularly "striking" in Bach. The Prelude begins as if it were in the middle of a phrase and continues with a steady motor activity until measure 34. From measure 35 the piece seems to continue with a reprise. From bar 39 a quasi-cadenza is inserted. The last three bars are a return of the perpetuum mobile, which then suddenly ends the piece. These last bars bring the fugue subject in the left hand. In its freitonal characteristics, this piece makes use of further effects such as hand crossing, hidden organ points, latent sequence treatment and variety in working with chords. Fugue is a (winking) demonstration of a free approach to a theme. It contains all twelve chromatic tones and has a certain weight, so that the whole fugue appears extended and massive. And yet there are some quite virtuoso passages to be mastered here. The main elements of a strict fugue are only partially and only suggestively retained (such as exposition of the voices, interlude, theme phases, organ point, narrow lead-in).

The pianists of the world may still not play frequently enough all of these relatively little known compositions by Bach, which were originally composed for the harpsichord. But still, more and more of them are now integrating this music into their repertoires. And indeed, it is quite understandable that they do!

Slobodan Jovanović, 2019
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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he Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.
Clara Schumann (née Wieck) in 1838. Robert Schumann dedicated the piano quintet to Clara, and she performed the piano part in the work's first public performance in 1843.
Schumann composed his piano quintet in just a few weeks in September and October 1842, in the course of his so-called "Chamber Music Year". Prior to 1842, Schumann had completed no chamber music at all with the exception of an early piano quartet (in 1829). However, during his year-long concentration on chamber music he composed three string quartets, Op. 41; followed by the piano quintet, Op. 44; a piano quartet, Op. 47; and the Phantasiestücke for piano trio, Op. 88.
Schumann began his career primarily as a composer for the keyboard, and after his detour into writing for string quartet, according to Joan Chisell, his "reunion with the piano" in composing a piano quintet gave "his creative imagination ... a new lease on life".
John Daverio has argued that Schumann's piano quintet was influenced by Franz Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, a work Schumann admired. Both works are in the key of E-flat, feature a funeral march in the second movement, and conclude with finales that dramatically resurrect earlier thematic material.
Schumann dedicated the piano quintet to his wife, the great pianist Clara Schumann. She was due to perform the piano part for the first private performance of the quintet on 6 December 1842. However, she fell ill and Felix Mendelssohn stepped in, sight-reading the "fiendish" piano part. Mendelssohn's suggestions to Schumann after this performance led the composer to make revisions to the inner movements, including the addition of a second trio to the third movement.
Clara Schumann did play the piano part at the first public performance of the piano quintet on 8 January 1843, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Clara pronounced the work "splendid, full of vigor and freshness". She often performed the work throughout her life. On one occasion, however, Robert Schumann asked a male pianist to replace Clara in a performance of the quintet, remarking that "a man understands that better".
Schumann's piano quintet is scored for piano and string quartet (two violins, viola, and cello).
By pairing the piano with string quartet, Schumann "virtually invented" a new genre. Prior to Schumann, piano quintets were ordinarily composed for keyboard, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. (This is the instrumentation for Schubert's Trout Quintet, for example.)
Schumann's choice to deviate from this model and pair the piano with a standard string quartet lineup reflects the changing technical capabilities and cultural importance, respectively, of these instruments. By 1842, the string quartet had come to be regarded as the most significant and prestigious chamber music ensemble, while advances in the design of the piano had increased its power and dynamic range. Bringing the piano and string quartet together, Schumann's Piano Quintet takes full advantage of the expressive possibilities of these forces in combination, alternating conversational passages between the five instruments with concertante passages in which the combined forces of the strings are massed against the piano. At a time when chamber music was moving out of the salon and into public concert halls, Schumann reimagines the piano quintet as a musical genre "suspended between private and public spheres" alternating between "quasi-symphonic and more properly chamber-like elements".
[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

P

apa Haydn - nothing of the sort! The great musician always knew how to entertain people without using cheep templates filled with gaudy timbres or highly dramatic gestures. For him, joie de vivre is admissible, even desirable. Behind this rhythmic vitality and all the gestures, the master distinguishes and seduces people to superior thoughts, too. Little is known about the creation of the piano concerto in G major. Guaranteed is just a date of performance on April 28th, 1784 at the Concert spirituel in Paris with the blind Viennese pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, whom also Mozart composed for. The importance of Haydn as author of concertos is still underestimated in the history of music. This particular concerto is composed for a string quartet only, without wind instruments. It comprises a typical, classically built work full of surprises and embellishments. This extent of humor and playfulness was rarely accomplished by later born composers.

Franz Vorraber recalls his memento this way. His "Concerto classico" op. 37 refers, as it can be seen from the title, back to the classical structure and the motives in terms of Haydn. As customary habit at the time, rhythmic set phrases and harmonic collocations of today have been used and processed. In the theme of the first movement this can easily be noticed. Thus, the formal arrangement between tutti and solo is obliged to the classical model. Some surprising twists, especially the intensifying rhythm throughout the piece, combine typical formula of the First Viennese School with contemporary elements.The simple theme of the second movement is enriched with complex harmonic turns. Due to the interjections of the piano, a harmonically opposed dialogue is created. The piano's harmonics, conducted with whole tones and additionally colored by the fifths of the strings, comes finally to a quiet ending. After a virtuosic opening, the third movement is designed concerto-grossostyle. The tutti is dominating the string orchestra. It is interrupted by the piano's soloist tours with a rather "groovy" basso continuo. The contrabass is taking the bass line in the middle part to calm the ensemble. After a wild cadence of the piano, the strings return with momentum and vividly end the work with copious virtuous piano figures.

Chopin loves singing and as a singing poet of the piano, he inveigles into the universe of dreams. Chopin composed the piano concerto in e minor at the age of 20 during spring and summer of 1830 in Warsaw. It emerged shortly after his concerto in f minor and belongs to the standard repertoire of concert literature. In fall 1830, Chopin left Warsaw to go to Paris. This work is based mainly on polish dancing rhythms; especially prominent is the Krakowiak in the last movement. Eventually, his work is characterized by its exceptional cantability. Chopin writes operas for the piano. He most likely performed this concerto himself in Warsaw in the same string casting as it can be heard here.

Franz Vorraber

T

he Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor D. 845 (Op. 42) by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano, composed in May 1825. The first movement was featured in the 2016 film "The Age of Shadows". The first movement is in sonata form though with ambiguity over the material in the development and the beginning of the recapitulation. The second movement is in C major (relative key to A minor) variation form, with somewhat frequent forays into the parallel minor, C minor. The third movement is a scherzo in compound ternary form, where the main scherzo is essentially in sonata form. The main scherzo opens in A minor and soon switches to the second theme in C major without a transition. The development goes through F minor, A-flat major and A-flat minor, finally arriving on an imperfect cadence in A minor. After the development comes the opening theme in A minor, soon followed by the second theme in A major (also in which the main scherzo ends). The calmer and slower trio section is in F major, the submediant major to A minor (also the subdominant of the relative key to A minor). No extra coda is present after the recapitulated main scherzo. The fourth movement, in A minor, begins with a melancholic but light melody. This movement is in sonata rondo form with foreshortened recapitulation. The secondary subject in the exposition goes from E minor to E major, while that in the recapitulation goes from A minor to A major. This movement finally closes in A minor... [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

A vital aspect of Jürgen Budday's interpretation of George Frideric Handel's The Messiah, apart from matters of performance practice, is his focus on the work's dynamic conception. Dynamics are notated in the autograph manuscript, but Handel further annotated the Dublin score to mark the ripieno passages. By adding shifts in ensemble strength to the alternation of piano and forte, Handel evokes an ample measure of contrast and colour. Handel's dynamic indications in The Messiah go beyond the usual forte, piano and pianissimo to include mezzo piano and un poco piano, markings by which he intended an even finer differentiation. One would do well, when preparing a performance, to observe the ripieno indications in the Dublin score, as they are for the most part essential to Handel's dynamic conception. Examples in point include the arias Comfort ye (No. 2) and Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (No. 3); the choruses And the glory, the glory of the Lord (No. 4) and His yoke is easy, His burthen is light! (No. 18); as well as the beginning of the Hallelujah chorus (CD II, No. 16).
The Maulbronn interpretation takes this dynamic conception seriously and clearly differentiates solo and ripieno sections in the numbers just mentioned. This inevitably gives rise to novel and more subtle auditory impressions, for which the beginning of the Hallelujah chorus provides a clear example. Elsewhere, Handel's senza ripieno indications appear to have been motivated more by consideration of the technical inadequacies of his ripienisti, and therefore were not observed in the Maulbronn performance. The libretto and the music, each in itself and together as a whole, form a providential unity. The libretto, ascribed to Charles Jennens, is no mere compilation of Bible quotations, and Jennens made various changes to the wording of the selected text passages. In the course of successive performances, Handel composed variants of some of the arias to fit the immediate occasion or circumstances. For the Maulbronn performance, those variants were chosen that Handel himself is said to have preferred.
This live recording of Handel's The Messiah is part of a cycle of oratorios and masses, performed in the basilica of Maulbronn Abbey under the direction of Jürgen Budday. The series combines authentically performed oratorios and masses with the optimal acoustics and atmosphere of this unique monastic church. This ideal location demands the transparency of playing and the interpretive unveiling of the rhetoric intimations of the composition, which is especially aided by the historically informed performance. The music is exclusively performed on reconstructed historical instruments, which are tuned to the pitch customary in the composer's lifetimes (this performance is tuned in a' = 415 Hz).

The concert: "Baroque in Blue · A Crossover between Early Music & Jazz"

"Amazing, these blues notes; for me, a subject that never ceases to fascinate, those small, dirty inconsistencies that give Swing its grooviness time and time again.. Recently, I thought that it would really sound very interesting if these hallmarks of jazz were actually played on historical instruments. What really surprised me, however, was discovering - in the course of comparing the baroque compositions of old maters - that these stylistic tools of the musical revolution of the 20th century were in fact quite usual back in Bach's day or at the court of the French King. I wish you a most pleasant evening with this concert." (Josef-Stefan Kindler)
Established in 1988 by Friedemann Immer, the Friedemann Immer Trumpet Consort dedicates itself to the music played by the trumpet ensembles of the Baroque age The Consort's programmes exude the wonderfully resplendent sound typical of the music of that time. All the members of the ensemble are specialists in old music and, accordingly, the trumpeters play baroque trumpets that have no valves. In doing so, they are treading in the footsteps of a profession that was highly regarded at a time when powdered wigs and buckled shoes were de rigueur. The trumpet players employed at the courts and in the towns, who provided the necessary musical accompaniment at coronations, weddings, tournaments and other festive occasions, banded together in guilds of their own that had extremely strict rules and regulations. The ensembles were made up of three to eight trumpeters and timpanists, supplemented by strings, woodwinds and continuo instruments. In its "normal" line-up, the Friedemann Immer Trumpet Consort is accompanied by timpani and organ - so that the magnificent sound of the trumpet stays firmly in the forefront of things. In some works, the organ takes over the string part - an arrangement that is totally in keeping with the practice of the times. The ensemble's repertoire encompasses all of Baroque music. The line-up is unusually large for a standing ensemble of Baroque trumpets and allows a lot of different options in the way of variations. So the Consort not only performs works for one to six trumpets with accompaniment, it also presents - along with outstanding song soloists - cantatas and arias with all the original parts being performed. In many a project, strings are also brought in. And, as what can be done musically and sound-wise on the Baroque trumpet differs quite considerably from anything that its present-day "daughter" with all its valves can do, the ensemble has also turned to interpreting modern works on the Baroque trumpet - and they are probably totally alone in this. The repertoire of the Trumpet Consort not only includes original works by Benjamin Britten, for instance, but quite a large range of jazz pieces as well. Since its formation, the ensemble has been giving concerts both at home and abroad. They have played at many different festivals, examples being the Arolsen Baroque Festival, the Styriarte in Graz and the Kokutopia Festival in Tokyo as well as the International Trumpet Guild Conference and the Historic Brass Symposium in the USA.

The concert: "Hosanna in excelsis · Music & Poetry in the Middle Ages"

"Play and pleasure are necessary to the sustenance of human life. However, all services useful to human sustenance must be regarded as permissible. Therefore, the services of menestrels, which are intended to provide cheer, are not a forbidden thing, provided that they are not in a state of sin, and they exercise moderation in their playing - namely that they use no hateful words and do not begin playing during work or at forbidden times. And those who support the menestrels are not committing sin! Rather, they deal justly when they give them for their services that which is their due." ("As stated above..." from: Summa II, quaestio 168, Article 3, Thomas Aquinas, c.1225-1274)
Texts and music from the spiritual world of the European Middle Ages form the subject matter of this programme, which the Les Menestrels Ensemble has put together specially for this performance held in the monastery church at Maulbronn. One is astonished by the abundant variety of language and subject matter on offer here. Yet perhaps even more astonishing is the widespread, cross-border dissemination of a body of religious and cultural thought that flourished outside church walls. In today's monotonous popular culture, shaped as it is by the dogma that what sells is what matters, cultural and human values no longer enjoy pride of place. Linguistic standardisation is pursued aggressively, and dialects, expressions and cultural resonances travel beyond regional borders in only the rarest of cases. In the song as cultivated in the Middle Ages, however, we find a linguistically multifaceted culture; one that is, in this sense, truly more European. Modern media have wrought little improvement. On the contrary, inquisitorial surveillance has found its match in the uniformity-enforcing filter of a profit-oriented business management "culture." The Church may well have imposed strict guidelines, as Klaus Walter describes in the notes below, but at least the themes that were the focus of artistic creation were those by which human beings are moved, and wit and subtlety challenged the human intellect. (Josef-Stefan Kindler)

The concert: "Musica Sacra · De Maria Virgine"

The Moscow State Academic Choir is one of the oldest and most famous of Russian choruses. The choir was founded in 1956 by the venerated conductor Vladislav Sokolov, a winner of the Glinka State Prize of the Russian Federation, and a People's Artist of the USSR. Already in 1957, the chorus took first prize at the 6th World Youth and Students Festival in Russia, and has maintained a high profile ever since. The chorus has toured regularly not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe and Asia. A great number of choral works by Russian composers were given their debut by the Moscow State Academic Choir, including Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible and Kabalevsky's Requiem. Within its broad repertory is a large number of Russian spiritual and patriotic works, the great choral scenes from various Russian operas, and choral versions of Russian and other folk melodies. In 1988, the baton of the Moscow State Choir was passed to Andrey Kozhevnikov, who had been Sokolov's assistant since 1970. Kozhevnikov, a People's Artist of the Russian Federation, and winner of several international competitions, was trained at the Moscow State Choir School and then at the Moscow Conservatory - studying with S.Kazansky and A.Sveshnikov. Under Kozhevnikov's leadership, the Moscow State Choir has resurrected a number of early Russian works, including Degtyarev's patriotic oratorio, Minin and Pozharsky - the first such Russian work, written on the eve of the Patriotic War of 1812; it is among the works featured here at the Classical Archives.

The Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Sonata No. 12 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was written at the same time as the Piano Sonata, K. 330, and Piano Sonata, K. 331 ("Alla turca"), Mozart numbering them as a set from one to three. They were once believed to have been written in the late 1770s in Paris, but it is now thought more likely that they date from 1783, by which time Mozart had moved to Vienna. Some believe that Mozart wrote this and the other sonatas during a summer 1783 visit to Salzburg made for the purpose of introducing his wife, Constanze to his father, Leopold. All three sonatas were published in Vienna in 1784... [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

The Piano Sonata No. 16 in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845 by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

The Piano Sonata No. 16 by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano, composed in May 1825. The first movement was featured in the 2016 film "The Age of Shadows". The first movement is in sonata form though with ambiguity over the material in the development and the beginning of the recapitulation. The second movement is in C major (relative key to A minor) variation form, with somewhat frequent forays into the parallel minor, C minor. The third movement is a scherzo in compound ternary form, where the main scherzo is essentially in sonata form. The main scherzo opens in A minor and soon switches to the second theme in C major without a transition. The development goes through F minor, A-flat major and A-flat minor, finally arriving on an imperfect cadence in A minor. After the development comes the opening theme in A minor, soon followed by the second theme in A major (also in which the main scherzo ends). The calmer and slower trio section is in F major, the submediant major to A minor (also the subdominant of the relative key to A minor). No extra coda is present after the recapitulated main scherzo. The fourth movement, in A minor, begins with a melancholic but light melody. This movement is in sonata rondo form with foreshortened recapitulation. The secondary subject in the exposition goes from E minor to E major, while that in the recapitulation goes from A minor to A major. This movement finally closes in A minor... [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Carnaval for Piano, Op. 9 "Little Scenes on Four Notes", by Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Carnaval, Op. 9, is a work by Robert Schumann for piano solo, written in 1834-1835, and subtitled "Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes" (Little Scenes on Four Notes). It consists of 21 short pieces representing masked revelers at Carnival, a festival before Lent. Schumann gives musical expression to himself, his friends and colleagues, and characters from improvised Italian comedy (commedia dell'arte). He dedicated the work to the violinist Karol Lipinski. Carnaval had its origin in a set of variations on a "Sehnsuchtswalzer" by Franz Schubert, whose music Schumann had only discovered in 1827. The catalyst for writing the variations may have been a work for piano and orchestra by Schumann's close friend Ludwig Schuncke, a set of variations on the same Schubert theme. Schumann felt that Schuncke's heroic treatment was an inappropriate reflection of the tender nature of the Schubert piece, so he set out to approach his variations in a more intimate way, and worked on them in 1833 and 1834. The work was never completed, however, and Schuncke died in December 1834, but Schumann did re-use the opening 24 measures for the opening of Carnaval. Pianist Andreas Boyde has since reconstructed the original set of variations from Schumann's manuscript (published by Hofmeister Musikverlag), premiered this reconstruction in New York and recorded it for Athene Records... [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan", by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed on 9 March 1785 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, four weeks after the completion of the previous D minor concerto, K. 466. The second movement was featured in the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan". As a result, the piece has become widely known as the "Elvira Madigan concerto". Neil Diamond's 1972 song "Song Sung Blue" was based on a theme from the andante movement of the concerto. [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

The Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537 "Coronation", by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and completed on 24 February 1788. It is generally known as the "Coronation" concerto. The traditional name associated with this work is not Mozart's own, nor was the work written on the occasion for which posterity has named it. Mozart remarked in a letter to his wife in April 1789 that he had just performed this concerto at court. But the nickname "Coronation" is derived from his playing of the work at the time of the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor in October 1790 in Frankfurt am Main. At the same concert, Mozart also played the Piano Concerto No. 19, K. 459. We know this because when Johann André of Offenbach published the first editions of both concertos in 1794, he identified them on their title pages as being performed on the occasion of Leopold's coronation. Alan Tyson in his introduction to Dover Publications' facsimile of the autograph score (which today is at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York) comments that "Although K. 459 has at times been called a 'Coronation' concerto, this title has nearly always been applied to K. 537". [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

The Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425 "Linz", by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425, (known as the "Linz Symphony") was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during a stopover in the Austrian town of Linz on his and his wife's way back home to Vienna from Salzburg in late 1783. The entire symphony was written in four days to accommodate the local count's announcement, upon hearing of the Mozarts' arrival in Linz, of a concert. The première in Linz took place on 4 November 1783. The composition was also premièred in Vienna on 1 April 1784. The autograph score of the "Linz Symphony" was not preserved. [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

The concert: "The Art of Pan · Concert for Pan Flute & Organ"

The panflutist Ulrich Herkenhoff was born in 1966 in Osnabrueck, Germany. He had his first piano lesson at the age of six and, at 14, he first saw the pan flute in a concert given by the Rumanian, Gheorghe Zamfir. This inspired him to intensively study the instrument allowing him to eventually achieve the reputation as "the best non-Rumanian pan flute virtuoso". After studying the flute at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich and subsequently the pan flute in an advanced class with Prof. Jochen Gaertner, Ulrich Herkenhoff rapidly become an internationally renowned soloist. He received special assistance from Georghe Zamfir's discoverer, the Swiss music ethnologist and publisher, Marcel Cellier, to study and promote Rumanian folklore. In 1990, he recorded his first CD of Rumanian improvisations with Cellier on the organ. With his interpretations of "classical" works, Ulrich Herkenhoff has inspired many contemporary composers to pen original compositions for the the pan flute. The Art of Pan is his ambitious project to see the pan flute established as a serious concert instrument. In 1992, he was honored with the Gastieg culture circle's recognition and, in 1996, with the Bavarian state's prize for young artists. In 2000, the German Phonographic Academy awarded him a much coveted Echo, the classic prize as soloist of the year. Herkenhoff has also become in demand for film music. Among the many films he has been involved with is the Oscar winning Lord of the Rings. His latest contribution was in 2004. in Budapest, performing Ennio Morricone's music for the film version of Imre Kertsz's book Fateless. Herkenhoff is also dedicated to the academic advancement of the pan flute, having published many works for the pan flute. He has made all the instruments he plays himself. Ulrich Herkenhoff has had a long term musical relationship with the organist and pianist, Matthias Keller. Born in 1956, Keller studied piano, church organ and music education at Munich's Music Conservatory. In addition to his artistic activities, he is also author and producer for various Radio networks (Bavaria, Hessen, North Germany etc.). As a music journalist he has been published in the Süddeutschen Zeitung, Fono Forum, Klassik Heute, Opernwelt, Münchner Abendzeitung and the Berner Zeitung. Keller teaches the History and Aesthetics of Film Music in the Munich Conservatory. Regular seminars and workshops for German television, the Goethe Institute and others have led him to such exotic places as Ghana. His personal contacts to such leading film composers as Angelo Badalamenti, John Barry, Bruce Broughton, Patrick Doyle, Elliot Goldenthal, James Newton, Howard Shore, David Raksin, Ennio Morricone, Laurence Rosenthal, Enjott Schneider, Hans Zimmer, Don Davis, John Debney, Mark Mancina, among others, has enabled him to become the best informed journalist in this area. He also has a broad knowledge in vocal, crossover and improvisational music as well as piano and organ literature. Matthias Keller is editor of the contemporary composer lexicon and jury member for the German record critics' film music prize. As of April 2000, he is a producer for Bavarian radio's classic program. Just to round off the spectrum of his musical activities, he is also an arranger and composer.

Saul by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

In July 1738 Handel began to compose the monumental and heroic story of "Saul". The libretto had been put together by Charles Jennens, a very wealthy literary dilettante with many pretensions, but some talent. He played to Handel's strengths, and gave the composer many dramatic opportunities in the libretto. Handel had a difficult time finishing this oratorio, interrupting it to compose the opera Imeneo. The story of David and Saul has always been a popular one, and on the English stage it is represented by a magnificent operatic scena by Henry Purcell. The tragedy of Saul is stark, and concerns his derangement, his moral failings, and his heroism. The drama is given a spiritual and magical element with the Witch of Endor and the ghost of Samuel as intermediaries into the next world. The dramatic chorus, again used as a chorus might be used in a classic Greek tragedy, moves the drama along, creates the moods, and influences the action. It is a chorus of Saul's people, who are heavily involved in his fate, and in the results of his actions. Handel composed for bass voice, tenor, and countertenor, and refrained from introducing into the score a virtuosic castrato as was common in his day. The somberness of the story required natural male voices whose depth adds to the gravity and weight of the outcome. The tragedy of Saul is filled with high drama, and although the chorus again proves the flexibility of the oratorio form, the characterizations and solo music are filled with passion, and vigor.
The first part opens with the first scene in the Israelitish camp, where the people join in a song of Triumph over Goliath and the Philistines. It is made up of a chorus ("How excellent Thy Name, O Lord!"), which is a stirring tribute of praise; an aria ("An Infant raised by Thy Command"), describing the meeting of David and Goliath; a trio, in which the giant is pictured as the "monster atheist," striding along to the vigorous and expressive music; and three closing choruses ("The Youth inspired by Thee"), ("How excellent Thy Name"), and a jubilant ("Hallelujah"), ending in plain but massive harmony. The second scene is in Saul's tent. Two bars of recitative prelude an aria by Michal, Saul's daughter, who reveals her love for David ("O god-like Youth!"). Abner presents David to Saul, and a dialogue ensues between them, in which the conqueror announces his origin, and Saul pleads with him to remain, offering the hand of his daughter Merab as an inducement. David, whose part is sung by a contralto, replies in a beautiful aria, in which he attributes his success to the help of the Lord alone. In the next four numbers the friendship of Jonathan and David is cemented, which is followed by a three-verse hymn ("While yet Thy Tide of Blood runs high") of a stately character, sung by the High Priest. In a few bars of recitative Saul betroths his daughter Merab to David; but the girl replies in a vigorous aria ("My Soul rejects the Thought with Scorn"), in which she declares her intention of frustrating the scheme to unite a plebeian with the royal line. It is followed by a plaintive but vigorous aria ("See with what a scornful Air"), sung by Michal, who again gives expression to her love for David. The next scene is entitled "Before an Israelitish City," and is prefaced with a short symphony of a jubilant character. A brief recitative introduces the maidens of the land singing and dancing in praise of the victor, leading up to one of Handel's finest choruses ("Welcome, welcome, mighty King") -- a fresh, a vigorous semi-chorus accompanied by the carillons, in which Saul's jealousy is aroused by the superiority of prowess attributed to David. It is followed by a furious aria ("With Rage I shall burst, his Praises to hear"). Jonathan laments the imprudence of the women in making comparisons, and Michal suggests to David that it is an old malady which may be assuaged by music, and in an aria ("Fell Rage and black Despair") expresses her belief that the monarch can be cured by David's persuasive lyre." The next scene is in the King's house. David sings an aria ("O Lord whose Mercies numberless"), followed by a harp solo; but in vain. Jonathan is in despair, and Saul, in an aria ("A Serpent in my Bosom warmed"), gives vent to his fury and hurls his javelin at David. The latter escapes; and in furious recitative Saul charges his son to destroy him. The next number is an aria of Merab ("Capricious Man, in Humor lost"), lamenting Saul's temper; and Jonathan follows with a dramatic recitative and aria, in which he refuses to obey his father's behest. The High Priest appeals to Heaven ("O Lord, whose Providence") to protect David, and the first part closes with a powerful chorus ("Preserve him for the Glory of Thy Name").
The second part is laid in the place, and opens with a powerfully descriptive chorus ("Envy, eldest-born of Hell!"). In the noble song ("But sooner Jordan's Stream, I swear") Jonathan assures David he will never injure him. In a colloquy between them David is informed that Saul has bestowed the hand of the haughty Merab on Adriel, and Jonathan pleads the cause of the lovely Michal. Saul approaches, and David retires. Saul inquires of Jonathan whether he has obeyed his commands, and in a simple sweet, and flowing melody ("Sin not, O King, against the Youth") he seems to overcome the wrath of the monarch, who dissembles and welcomes David, bidding him to repel to the insults of the Philistines, and offering him his daughter Michal as a proof of his sincerity. In the second scene Michal declares her love for David, and they join in a raptorous duet ("O fairest of ten thousand fair"), which is followed by a chorus in simple harmony ("Is there a Man who all his Ways"). A long symphony follows, preparing the way for the attempt on David's Life. After an agitated duet with Michal ("At Persecution I can laugh"), David makes his escape just as Doeg, the messenger, enters with instructions to bring David to the King's chamber. He is shown the image in David's bed, which he says will only enrage the King still more. Michal sings an exultant aria ("No, let the Guilty tremble"), and even Merab, won over by David's qualities, pleads for him in a beautiful aria ("Author of Peace"). Another symphony intervenes, preluding the celebration of the feast of the new moon in the place, to which David has been invited. Jonathan again interposes with an effort to save David's life, whereupon Saul, in a fresh outburst of indignation, hurls his javelin at his son, and the chorus bursts out in horror ("Oh, fatal Consequence of Rage!").
The third part opens with the intensely dramatic scene with the Witch of Endor, the interview being preluded by the powerful recitative ("Wretch that I am!"). The second scene is laid in the Witch's abode, where the incantation is practised that brings up the apparition of Samuel. This scene closes with an elegy foreboding the coming tragedy. The third scene opens with the interview between David and the Amalekite who brings the tidings of the death of Saul and Jonathan. It is followed by that magnificent dirge, the "Dead March," whose simply yet solemn and majestic strains are familiar to every one. The trumpets and trombones with their sonorous pomp and the wailing oboes and clarinets make an instrumental pageant which is the very apotheosis of grief. The effect of the march is all the more remarkable when it is considered that, in contradistinction to all other dirges, it is written in the major key. The chorus ("Mourn, Israel, mourn thy Beauty lost"), and the three arias of lament sung by David, which follow, are all characterized by feelings of the deepest gloom. A short chorus ("Eagles were not so swift as they") follows, and then David gives voice to his lament over Jonathan in an aria of exquisite tenderness ("In sweetest Harmony they lived"), at the close of which he joins with the chorus in an obligato of sorrowful grandeur ("Oh, fatal Day, how long the Mighty Lie!"). In an exultant strain Abner bids the "men of Judah weep no more," and the animated martial chorus ("Gird on thy Sword, thou Man of Might") closes this great dramatic oratorio.
This live recording of "Saul" is part of a cycle of oratorios and masses, performed in the basilica of Maulbronn Abbey under the direction of Jürgen Budday. The series combines authentically performed oratorios and masses with the optimal acoustics and atmosphere of this unique monastic church. This ideal location demands the transparency of playing and the interpretive unveiling of the rhetoric intimations of the composition, which is especially aided by the historically informed performance. The music is exclusively performed on reconstructed historical instruments, which are tuned to the pitch customary in the composer's lifetimes (this performance is tuned in a' = 415 Hz).

Messa di gloria by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Imagine you are living in 19th century Italy, you're 22 years old and studying music at the Conservatory in Lucca. In just a few weeks you will submit your first big musical composition to the Conservatory's Board of Directors: your final year project for your degree, the highlight of your young life... As I see it, Giacomo Puccini's "Messa di Gloria" represents a high point in his creative work - because can you really say this is "only" one of his early works? True, you sense the brilliance, the rapture and, indeed, a little of the lack of respect typical of youth - but in actual fact, this composition is simply too beautiful for a mass back in those days. It reflects the young artist's total passion and dedication. Unlike many people who see the "Gloria" as the climax of this composition, I personally feel that the real climax is the "Agnus Dei". And the fact that it reappears later - and almost unchanged - in the opera "Manon Lescaut" is surely no coincidence. (Josef-Stefan Kindler)
Although music scholars have been aware of the "Messa di Gloria" by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) for a considerable time, the piece only began to appear in concert programmes relatively recently. The score was in fact not published until 1951. Since then the work has been known generally as the "Messa di Gloria". It was first performed on July 12th, 1880 at the Festival of San Paolino, the patron saint of bells, who is particularly revered in this part of Tuscany. This public performance brought the young composer general recognition. Puccini incorporated two other pieces of church music into the score of the Messa - a motet and a Credo that he had composed for the same festival in 1878. The entire composition had originally been conceived as a large choral work, but the final version is for two solo voices, a four-part choir and a large orchestra. The Messa is thus the first comprehensive work by Puccini to follow the solid musical traditions of his family and deliberately use the "modern" methods of expression in vogue at the time. Puccini used his expertise in festive choral music and in adhering to the strictest conventions of counterpoint, and combined it with his own personal concept of a style for church and an innate feeling for melody that was present in him from the start. There is also a certain style to the sound that foreshadows the extraordinary mastery of orchestration apparent in his late works. Puccini was particularly fond of this early composition, proof that he attached particular importance to it. Echoes of the "Messa" reappear later in Puccini's operas, particularly in "Edgar" and "Manon Lescaut". In fact, the "Madrigale" in Act 2 of Manon contains almost the entire "Agnus Dei", with only very few structural changes. Bearing all this in mind, it is no wonder that Puccini's Messa is so highly appreciated today.

The concert: "Musique baroque à la Cour Royale"

The Wolfgang Bauer Consort was founded in 1994. Its primary occupation is the performance of authentic Baroque chamber music pieces. The English Baroque term "Consort" accurately describes an ensemble comprising one or two soloists and a continuo of cello and harpsichord. The Consort's open structure provides the fundament for the comprehensive array and musical diversity of this performance in the monastery church, whose outstanding acoustics and atmosphere are able to document the complete range of Baroque virtuosity. An addition is the Sanssouci Trio, a work written by Bernhard Krol especially for the Wolfgang Bauer Consort. The piece underlines the flexibility and power of musical expression of this traditional ensemble in many genres, up to and including contemporary compositions. Wolfgang Bauer, the winner of, among others, the Munich ARD competition, is one of the leading international trumpet soloists. He is a professor at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts and has had consecutive engagements as solo trumpeter with the Munich Philharmoniker, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio's Symphony Orchestra.

The Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453 and the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The "Vienna piano concertos" between 1782 and 1786 are seen as the most eminent instrumental compositions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart´s life work. He created a new musical form through the use of comprehensive musical ideas in reference of the themes, the originality and the equality of the interaction between soloist and orchestra. That is an extraordinary achievement of Mozart particularly in this part of his life - maybe as a result of his failed opera plans before - in view of the many concerts he played as one of the most asked pianists of Vienna and the multitude of students he taught during this period. It is documented, for example, that Mozart performed in the genesis year of the g major concerto (1784) at least 23 concerts during a period of 46 days. He also composed 6 piano-concertos and taught a stately quantity of students during the same year... Therefore these two works are carried by love of life cause of this outer success - profound but life-affirmatively, sometimes melancholic, yes even tragic, however by no means resigning. Exactly these disputes with the intellectual density and psychological dimension of Mozart's works make Christoph Soldan's interpretations uniquely. Soldan studied with Prof. Eliza Hansen as well as Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg music university and attained his international success through a concert tour with Leonard Bernstein in the summer 1989. Since than he performs concerts as soloist of various renowned orchestras in Europe, the USA, Mexico and Japan. In addition to technical perfection, it is his concentration on the depth of the interpretation and the atmospheric transparency, which makes Soldan´s concerts very valuable. Christoph Soldan combines a long-standing cooperation with the Polish conductor Pawel Przytocki. Przytocki works since 1999 as a constant guest conductor of the radio symphony orchestra Krakau and perfomed with the Budapest Concert Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica de Xalapa in Mexico, the Real Philharmonia de Galicia in Spain and the Cappella Istropolitana. The Capella Istropolitana with his transparent string sound in accordance with the historical performance practice is virtually predestined for these concerti. This orchestra is seen as one of the most prestigious ensembles for historical music and look back to more than 70 cd-productions - two these releases were honored with platinum.

The concert: "Es sol claro y luciente" ("He is the brilliant and luminous sun")
with South American Christmas choral-music from the baroque era

Except for specialists, very little is known about the musical aspects of colonial Latin America. Following the arrival of conquerors and colonizers, an extremely important cultural symbiosis slowly begins to take shape. This process extends all the way to the end of the 18th century and, in some regions, it lasts up to the early 19th century along with the wars of independence. This period witness the development of a large and rich heritage in architecture, painting, sculpture, and literature. The Cuzco paintings or the works of Aleijadinho in Brazil, suffice to recognize important peculitarities. A similar process takes place with the music. Just as the University of Salamanca was the model for New World institutions of higher learning, the Music Chapel of Seville Cathedral became the paradigm for those to be established in the key cities of viceroyalities overseas. They received important musicians, printed music or manuscript copies, instruments and theoretical writings. Nearly the entire corpus of this music can be found in ecclesiastical repositories and are associated with the church and its celebrations. However, few examples of profane works remain. Several researchers have devoted themselves to explore these centuries. At the same time they have started a search for documents of the period: data written down by priests in church-books, listings of church expenditures which includes singers and interpreters, instruments acquired an celebrations in which they took part. Their study and analysis, as well as the chronicles of priests and travellers, teach us about the norms that ruled music in American Chapels, their composers and the bulk of their repertoire. In Mexico. Lima, Sucre or Cuzco, the Chapel Master guided his "schola", controlling its daily practices while, at the same time, composing new works for successive festivities. We should recall that most choral singers, singing and dancing choir boys and interpreters as well as composers were indigenous, and in Brazil, mulattos. The repertoire included a variety of sources: books printed in and regularly received from Europe, the works of resident maestros, often of great value, and later on, works of native composers formed in Latin America. We can identify three key musical periods. The first period in Mexico, with "a capella" polyphony which recalls Spanish Renaissance. there we can find Liturgical works and Christmas carols, as well as toys, melodies and pitaresque ballads.

The Piano Trio No. 1 in D Major, Op. 35, by Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)

A work by the Spanish pianist and composer Joaquin Turina from the year 1926 - a piece previously unrecorded by the Trio Fontenay. Together with Manuel de Falla, Turina is held as the most outstanding representative of the modern Spanish school, which was motivated by French Impressionism, but in its melody, however, is attached to the folk music of Andalusia.

The Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Carl Czerny, composer and student of Beethoven, says of this work, "this trio is no less great or original than its successor (Trio D-major, op 70 No. 1), but it is of a very different, less serious character." The trio in e-flat major was composed during the summer of 1808 immediately after the Sixth Symphony, and applies foreseen traits to Romanticism. Beethoven expands his realm of expression here in two somewhat converse directions: both in a seemingly romantically tonal colourfulness, and towards the inclusion of classic style elements by means of a stricter introduction.

The String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 "Rasumovsky Quartet No. 2" by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

This String Quartet was the second of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" period. He published it in 1808. It is in four movements: I. Allegro - II. Molto adagio (Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento) - III. Allegretto (with the second section marked Maggiore - Theme russe) - IV. Finale. Presto. According to Carl Czerny, the second movement of the quartet occurred to Beethoven as he contemplated the starry sky and thought of the music of the spheres (Thayer, Life of Beethoven); it has a hymnlike quality reminiscent of a much later devotion, the "Heiliger Dankgesang" hymn to the Divine in the Quartet Op. 132. The scherzo movement of the quartet, the third movement (allegretto), uses a Russian theme also used by Modest Mussorgsky in Boris Godunov, by Anton Arensky in his String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, and by Sergei Rachmaninoff in his 6 Morceaux for Piano Duet, Op. 11. The original song, "Glory to the Sun", was recorded by Nikolay Lvov and Jan Prac; sheet music was published in 1790 (second edition 1806), verses in the 1770s. However, Beethoven used it in an ungentle way. According to Kerman, "It sounds as though Count Razumovsky had been tactless enough to hand Beethoven the tune, and Beethoven is pile-driving it into the ground by way of revenge." In an extremely unusual example of melodic setting prior to the 20th century, portions of the tune with strong tonic harmonic leanings are harmonized with the dominant, and vice versa; the harmonic clash is harsh, and many listeners have found this portion of the quartet to be quite amusing, especially as contrasted with the prosaic, almost "exercise-book" counterpoint which precedes it (another example of Beethoven parodying a student counterpoint exercise can be found in the scherzo of the Quartet No. 10, opus 74). (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce.
The concerto in C-Major K. 415 is the most splendid one. The second movement Mozart first planned in C-Minor, but he gave up this intention in favor of a light, jaunty movement in F-major. Nevertheless, there is a slight reminiscence to this original minor movement in the concerto's last movement: the vivid six-quaver beat with his appeal to the Papageno-motif is interrupted two times by a melancholic insertion in c-minor. The concerto in E-Flat-Major K. 449 is the first composition registered by Mozart in his own catalogue of works that he started in February 1784. It belongs to the most accomplished works of Mozart's music, with his latent, but dramatic dynamic and its depth that goes beyond the diverging antagonism of musical forces.
The piano concertos of Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce.
The piano concertos by Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce.
The piano concertos by Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan