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Historic Musical Bits: Isaac Stern – Edouard Lalo – Symphonie Espagnole, Op.21


Édouard Lalo

Édouard Lalo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Isaac Stern – Edouard Lalo – Symphonie Espagnole, Op.21

Published on Oct 24, 2012

Eugene Ormandy conducting Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Scherzando
III. Intermezzo
IV. Andante
V. Rondo

*****************************************************************************

The Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21, is a work for violin and orchestra by Édouard Lalo.

History

The work was written in 1874 for violinist Pablo de Sarasate, and premiered in Paris in February 1875.

Although called a “Spanish Symphony” (see also Sinfonia concertante), it is considered a violin concerto by musicians today. The piece has Spanish motifs throughout, and launched a period when Spanish-themed music came into vogue. (Georges Bizet‘s opera Carmen premiered a month after the Symphonie espagnole.)

The Symphonie espagnole is one of Lalo’s two most often played works, the other being his Cello Concerto. His “official” Violin Concerto in F, and his Symphony in G minor, written thirteen years later, are neither performed nor recorded as often.[citation needed]

Structure

  1. Allegro non troppo
  2. Scherzando: Allegro molto
  3. Intermezzo: Allegro non troppo
  4. Andante
  5. Rondo: Allegro

A typical performance runs just over one-half hour. One of the shorter recordings, conductor Eugene Ormandy’s 1967 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra, featuring violinist Isaac Stern, runs 32 minutes and 43 seconds.[1]

Influence on Tchaikovsky

The Symphonie espagnole had some influence on the genesis of Tchaikovsky‘s Violin Concerto in D major. In March 1878, Tchaikovsky was staying at Nadezhda von Meck‘s estate at Clarens, Switzerland, while recovering from the breakdown of his disastrous marriage and his subsequent suicide attempt. His favourite pupil (and possibly his lover), the violinist Iosif Kotek, shortly arrived from Berlin with a lot of new music for violin. These included the Symphonie espagnole, which he and Tchaikovsky played through to great delight. This gave Tchaikovsky the idea of writing a violin concerto, and he immediately set aside his current work on a piano sonata and started on the concerto on 17 March.[2] With Kotek’s technical help, the concerto was finished by 11 April.

References

 

 

 

Historic Musical Bits: Wilhelm Kempff plays Robert Schumann – Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischem Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik)


Robert Schumann – Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Wilhelm Kempff, piano
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischem Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik

Movements:

Allegro affettuoso (A minor) 00:00:00
Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso (F major) 00:15:43
Allegro vivace (A major) 00:21:27
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, is a Romantic concerto by Robert Schumann, completed in 1845. The work premiered in Leipzig on 1 January 1846 with Clara Schumann playing the solo part. Ferdinand Hiller, the work’s dedicatee, conducted.

History

Schumann had earlier worked on several piano concerti: he began one in E-flat major in 1828, from 1829–31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839, he wrote one movement of a concerto in D minor. None of these works were completed.

In 1841, Schumann wrote a fantasy for piano and orchestra, his Phantasie. His pianist wife Clara urged him to expand this piece into a full piano concerto. In 1845 he added the intermezzo and finale to complete the work. It was the only piano concerto that Schumann completed.

The work may have been used as a model by Edvard Grieg in composing his own Piano Concerto, also in A minor. Grieg’s concerto, like Schumann’s, employs a single powerful orchestral chord at its introduction before the piano’s entrance with a similar descending flourish. Rachmaninov also used the work as a model for his first Piano Concerto.

After this concerto, Schumann wrote two other pieces for piano and orchestra: the Introduction and Allegro Appassionato in G major (Op. 92), and the Introduction and Allegro Concertante in D minor (Op. 134).

Instrumentation

The concerto is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo piano.

Structure

The piece, as marked in the score, is in three movements:

  1. Allegro affettuoso (A minor)

  2. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso (F major)

  3. Allegro vivace (A major)

There is no break between these last two movements (attacca subito).

Schumann preferred that the movements be listed in concert programs as only two movements:[citation needed]

  1. Allegro affettuoso
  2. Andantino and Rondo

The three movement listing is the more common form used.

Allegro affettuoso

The piece starts with an energetic strike by strings and timpani, followed by a fierce, descending attack by the piano. The first theme is introduced by the oboe along with wind instruments. The theme is then given to the soloist. Schumann provides great variety with this theme. He first offers it in the A minor key of the piece, then we hear it again in major, and we can also hear small snatches of the tune in a very slow, A flat section. The clarinet is often used against the piano in this movement. Toward the end of the movement, the piano launches into a long cadenza before the orchestra joins in with one more melody and builds for the exciting finish.

Intermezzo

This movement is keyed in F major. The piano and strings open up the piece with a small, delicate tune, which is heard throughout the movement before the cellos and later the other strings finally take the main theme, with the piano mainly used as accompaniment. The movement closes with small glimpses of the first movement’s theme before moving straight into the third movement.

Allegro vivace

The movement opens with a huge run up the strings while the piano takes the main, A major theme. Schumann shows great color and variety in this movement. The tune is regal, and the strings are noble. Though it is in 3/4 timing, Schumann manipulates it so that the time signature is often ambiguous. The piece finishes with a restating of the previous material before finally launching into an exciting finale, and ending with a long timpani roll and a huge chord from the orchestra.

Further reading

 

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55
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