OHLSSON PLAYS BRAHMS
PROGRAM NOTES
By Paula Maust
Johannes Brahms
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna, Austria
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 83 [ 1881 ]
Instrumentation: Two flutes( second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings in addition to the solo piano.
While it may be shocking for listeners today to imagine any works by Johannes Brahms flopping, the audience was particularly hostile at the 1859 Leipzig premiere of his First Piano Concerto. Brahms himself was surprised and disheartened when the crowd hissed in displeasure at the conclusion of the piece, and the critic Edward Bernsdorf declared that the work had“ nothing to offer but waste.” Although the piece’ s poor reception damaged Brahms’ s compositional reputation for several years, the experience spurred him to work harder at meticulously honing his craft. It was 22 years before Brahms, who was known to be a perfectionist, would write another piano concerto. By the time his Second Piano Concerto was completed in 1881, his compositional style had matured, and he had cemented his reputation as a celebrated master.
The Second Piano Concerto was especially successful. Even though he had long since retired from performing as a professional pianist, Brahms learned the incredibly difficult solo piano part and played it for the Budapest premiere. In the ensuing months, he performed the piece 22 times in different cities across Europe. Audiences at the time routinely leapt to their feet with roaring ovations at the end of the first and second movements, a stark contrast to the tepid applause, hisses, and unfavorable reviews from his first foray into the piano concerto genre two decades earlier. Brahms, too, must have been pleased with the Concerto, since it is the only one of his numerous piano works that he dedicated to his beloved teacher Eduard Marxsen.
The Second Piano Concerto is a true tour de force on many levels— the orchestration is powerful, the solo piano part is intensely virtuosic, and the sheer size of the piece is monumental. At the time, however, Brahms had taken to ironically describing his most substantial works as“ miniatures.” He mentioned in a letter to Clara Schumann that he was composing“ a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo.” Yet with its expanded structure of four movements instead of the standard three, the unusual interweaving of the orchestral parts with the solo piano part, and the inclusion of a scherzo, the Second Piano Concerto is more like the grand symphonies of the time than any other 19th-century concerto.
From the outset of the piece, Brahms sets listeners up to have their expectations defied. After a tender horn call at the beginning of the first movement, the pianist unexpectedly interrupts the orchestral exposition with a bold cadenza spanning nearly the full range of the piano. The entire first movement is a model of refined virtuosity, full of musical fireworks and technical complexity that never spin out of control. It was unheard of for a concerto at this time to include a scherzo, and this movement is particularly full of memorable turbulence. A scherzo is a musical joke, and Brahms utilizes syncopation( musical accents on weak beats), dynamic contrasts, and melodies with unexpected twists and turns to convey humor in this scherzo. The third movement opens with an exquisite cello solo, which Brahms also used as the melody in his song“ Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer”( Ever gentler grows my slumber). The final movement is sophisticated and poised and ends with a much-anticipated triumphant flourish.
Emilie Mayer
Born May 14, 1812 in Friedland, Germany Died April 10, 1883 in Berlin, Germany
FAUST OVERTURE, OP. 46 [ 1880 ]
Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.
At a time when many women composers primarily composed art songs and solo keyboard pieces, Emilie Mayer broke boundaries with her numerous large-scale orchestral works. Her impressive output includes a Singspiel, eight symphonies, seven orchestral overtures, nearly 130 songs, seven string quartets, 11 piano trios, and 22 instrumental sonatas. Although audiences in Berlin, Brussels, Lyons, Budapest, Dessau, Halle, Leipzig, and Munich warmly received Mayer’ s music during her lifetime, her works were unfortunately forgotten after her death and have only recently begun to be performed again.
Mayer’ s 1880 Faust Overture joins a number of other 19th-century musical works that were inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’ s tragic play Faust. In the play, the disillusioned scholar Faust has grown tired of seeking transcendent experiences and feeling unfulfilled. He makes a pact to serve the Devil for eternity if the demon Mephistopheles is able to grant him one truly satisfying earthly moment. Mephistopheles then manufactures a whirlwind romance between Faust and Margaret, a pious young woman. Pursuing the relationship ultimately results in the drowning of their newborn child and the murder of Margaret’ s family. Full of remorse, Margaret chooses to accept the punishment for her crimes rather than escape from prison with Faust, and she is sentenced to death. Near the end of the saga, voices from heaven proclaim that Margaret will be redeemed.
While Mayer’ s Faust Overture is inspired by the events in Goethe’ s play, the piece is not an explicit musical representation of the drama as a whole. Mayer’ s only specific reference to the story in the score is the indication“ She is saved,” which occurs near the end of the piece when the music dramatically shifts from minor to major.
Antonín Dvořák
Born September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Austrian Empire Died May 1, 1841 in Prague, Austria-Hungary
THE GOLDEN SPINNING WHEEL, OP. 109 [ 1896 ]
Instrumentation: Two flutes( first doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, triangle, suspended cymbal, cymbals( pair), harp, and strings.
Composers in the 19th century began writing orchestral works that could aurally evoke a poem, painting, or story without using words.
12 | OVERTURE | BSOmusic. org