Program Notes, 2010
by Durrell Bowman
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July 30 – Festival Fridays
Takemitsu – And then I knew 'twas wind
Schumann – Piano Trio No. 2 in F major
Dvořák – Quintet in A major for Piano and Strings
Tôru Takemitsu
Japanese composer Tôru Takemitsu (1930-96) combined aspects of Eastern and Western music to create an unusual body of work. He was largely self-taught, but was nonetheless influenced by such composers as Debussy, Messiaen, Webern, and Cage. Specific, ongoing influences included referencing the sounds of nature and incorporating silence. Takemitsu created a unique philosophical world-view and style, for which he used the phrase "sound as life." His music often involves improvisation and sometimes uses unconventional graphical forms of notation. He wrote about 130 concert works, plus more than 100 film scores. Takemitsu also wrote twenty books, mainly on aesthetics and music theory, but also including a detective novel. He first came to prominence after the formation of the anti-academic, mixed-media Experimental Workshop in Japan in 1951 and, internationally, with Stravinsky's enthusiasm for his Requiem, for strings (1957). The endorsement led to numerous commissions, including one from the Koussevitsky Foundation (Dorian Horizon, premiered by Aaron Copland and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, 1966) and one for the 125th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic (November Steps, premiered under Seiji Ozawa, 1967). The latter work is one of the composer's most successful in combining Eastern and Western elements. His film scores include the award-winning music for Akira Kurosawa's adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear—Ran (1985). Among additional honors, he also won the 1994 Grawemeyer Award for Fantasma/Cantos, for clarinet and orchestra (1991). His late chamber music includes And then I knew 'twas wind, for flute, viola, and harp (1992).
And then I knew 'twas wind (1992)
This work is a late example of Takemitsu's life-long interest in French music. It is calm and meditative, but it also features complex harmonies. The composer borrows the orchestration of Debussy's Sonata No. 2 for flute, viola, and harp. He also alludes to that work by borrowing a rising figure that is first presented in the viola. As in much of the music of Takemitsu's early hero, the work uses modal melodies and subtle changes in tone color. It also gives a good sense of the composer's interest in nature imagery. The work explores an aesthetic involving the "motionless," dream-like movement of water. More specifically, similarities are drawn between the effects of wind in nature and of the unconscious mind. The work's title is borrowed from a similarly-themed poem by Emily Dickinson. The composition features a continuous stream of interconnected episodes, with a smooth, rhythmically-varying flow that incorporates both sound and silence. Gradually, a gentle, seven-note pattern emerges. Eastern-influenced elements include the glissando (sliding) effect produced by the harp pedal being applied to an already-sounding note. Also, the harp sometimes plays chords that can only be heard once the same notes have faded away in the flute and viola parts.
Robert Schumann
German composer and music critic Robert Schumann (1810-56) was profoundly influenced by literature and by an arduous battle for the love of his life. However, he also increasingly suffered from mental problems, attempted suicide in his early forties, and spent his final years in an asylum. (Program notes for other concerts of this Festival provide additional information about Schumann's life and works. See the Table of Contents .)
From 1847 to 1849, Schumann wrote the:
- Three Romances for Oboe and Piano (performed on July 2)
- Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (July 9)
- Five Pieces in Folk Style (July 19)
- Piano Trio No. 2 in F major
Piano Trio No. 2 in F major (Op. 80, 1847)
This work is the middle of Schumann's three trios for violin, cello, and piano. It is also the most harmonically adventurous of them. The first movement ("Very lively") is in sonata form in a 6/8 time signature. The violin and cello together provide the uncertain quality of the first theme. D major and G major are heavily-emphasized key areas in this movement, but those are fairly distant from F major. The piano asserts itself more forcefully in the first part of the second theme group. However, the violin later takes the lead. The development is initially imitative, which contrasts the mainly chordal nature of the movement's opening theme groups. The second theme is, however, heavily featured. The second movement ("With heartfelt expression: with sentiment") includes layered melodic elements and simultaneous triplet and dotted rhythms. It begins in D-flat major but then moves into A major. Those two key areas are equally remote from F major and thus doubly distant from one another. The contrasting middle section ("Lively") is at first in a detached style. The third movement Scherzo ("In a moderate movement") is in a triple-beat time signature in another odd key area: B-flat minor. The texture includes brief canons ("rounds"), a sparsely-imitative trio section, and a hesitant coda. The fourth movement Finale ("Not too quickly") finally re-asserts F major. The piano part is especially complex and pervasive in this closing movement.
Antonín Dvořák
Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) had a flair for memorable tunes and orchestrations. He also succeeded in combining Western Classical forms with Bohemian nationalism and folk-like melodies. He is best known for his orchestral works (such as Symphony No. 9, "From the New World") and for other large-scale works (such as his Cello Concerto and Czech language operas). However, he also wrote a large number of chamber works, including fourteen string quartets, the String Quintet in G major (performed on July 7), the Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor ("Dumky," July 28), and the Quintet in A major for Piano and Strings. The son of a butcher, during his early career Dvořák earned some income as a violist and organist in Prague. He then won a prestigious government grant and, later in his career, taught at the University of Prague. By the time he visited the US in the early 1890s, Dvořák was already considered a major international composer.
Quintet in A major for Piano and Strings (Op. 81, 1887)
Dvořák initially attempted to revise his much earlier piano quintet in A major. However, he ended up writing an entirely new composition in the same genre and key. The resultant work is an excellent example of this composer's melodic abilities, combined with his interest in including influences from Eastern European folk music. The first movement ("Quickly, but not very") includes a compelling cello melody. However, the music quickly shifts away from this tune and ends up in an exuberant, loud, and memorable passage in C major. The movement, however, then mainly explores its minor-key second theme group. The second movement is in the form of a Ukrainian lament or "dumka" ("At a walking pace, with motion"). The composer explored this genre much more extensively in his Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor ("Dumky," July 28). The form of such a piece involves darker-sounding material being contrasted (usually twice) with positive, dance-like material. This example includes a reprise of its opening theme, featuring the viola and piano in canon, which is followed by a quite lively variation of the same material. The third movement Scherzo is marked as "Very lively." However, it is also marked as a "Furiant," which is a Bohemian dance type with shifting time signatures. Dvořák plays further with those contrasting rhythms in the movement's trio section by sometimes simultaneously stating them. The fourth movement Finale is a rondo ("Quickly") that begins with rhythmically-elaborate figurations and syncopations. The recurring refrain is also quite rhythmically active and somewhat folk-like.