POETIC FIRE: FROM HAMLET TO DON JUAN
the fullest, Don Juan says( in Donald Francis Tovey’ s somewhat antiquated prose translation):“ Fain would I run the circle, immeasurably wide, of beautiful women’ s manifold charms, in full tempest of enjoyment, to die of a kiss at the mouth of the last one.” Late in the poem, when his appetite for life has changed into disgust and a longing for death:“ Beautiful was the storm that urged me on; it has spent its rage, and silence now remains.… Perhaps a thunderbolt from the heights … struck fatally at my power of love, and suddenly my world became a desert and darkened. And perhaps not— the fuel is all consumed and the hearth is cold and dark.”
The trajectory outlined by these two quotations is the substance of Strauss’ tone poem. Don Juan’ s impetuous spirit is immediately introduced by the bold explosion that opens the work and the virile leaping theme for the violins that follows. After this subsides, the solo violin ushers in the first of two love episodes. This boasts an ardent, luxuriant theme for the strings: music of sensuous passion inspired by Wagner’ s Tristan und Isolde. After another burst of his opening theme, Don Juan takes off to seek new loves. Cellos and violas introduce the second love episode, in which the solo oboe sings a haunting love song of genuine tenderness.
But even this cannot detain him for long. The horns call out a heroic new theme, as he rushes off to a masked ball, glittering with glockenspiel. At the height of the festivities, the orchestra suddenly plunges into a dark abyss. Don Juan’ s zest for life has vanished. With a huge effort, he summons his energies again in a recapitulation of his violin and horn themes. But as he fights a duel, the will to live expires, and the music comes to an abrupt halt. Over shuddering strings, his opponent runs him through. Only“ silence now remains.”
Instrumentation: Three flutes including piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings.
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN D MINOR
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Born in Oneg, Russia, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, CA, March 28, 1943
In 1909, Sergei Rachmaninoff signed a contract to undertake his first American tour. Eight years before the Russian Revolution, he could not have guessed he would one day be a U. S. resident, but he did know he wanted to make a strong impression in the lucrative American market. And he decided a new concerto was required.
His Third Piano Concerto was composed the summer before the tour at his country estate. Rachmaninoff claimed it was“ more comfortable” to play than his Second Concerto, but then he possessed unique physical characteristics and digital facility: at 6 ' 5 " in height, he had extraordinarily long-fingered hands that could span an octave and a fifth at the keyboard.
Although the Third Concerto scored a success at its premiere on November 28, 1909 with the New York Symphony( now the New York Philharmonic), it was slow to win the mystique it possesses today. It was Vladimir Horowitz who began to build the Third’ s legend as the ultimate virtuoso vehicle, and Van Cliburn who cemented it after his Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.
Is this really the most difficult of all piano concertos to play? Yes, it is highly demanding technically, requiring the utmost facility in executing very fast and intricately written passages and in encompassing extremely brawny chords. It also demands stamina, for during its nearly 40-minute length, the pianist receives little rest. But“ Rach 3,” as it’ s known in the business, is a complete test for the pianist not for these reasons alone. It also requires a broad, expressive range, from imposing drama to quicksilver wit to songful lyricism. If the pianist cannot meet these interpretative tests, then a brilliant technique will not save him.
For a concerto with such a virtuosic reputation, the Third opens with surprising simplicity. Over a rocking accompaniment, the pianist launches an expressive song, played in bare octaves between the two hands. Its stepwise motion, pivoting around the tonic note of D, and its narrow range both suggest Russian Orthodox chant. The movement’ s second theme appears first as a choppy rhythmic idea passed between orchestra and piano before the soloist smooths it into a lovely melody over rippling arpeggios.
A return of the opening music launches the development section, giving the pianist many opportunities to display his virtuoso skills. It ranges from high drama to eerie nocturnal passages before slipping into a big solo cadenza. Rachmaninoff wrote two: the first, longer and showier, which most pianists play today; the second, shorter and slightly more understated, which Rachmaninoff himself preferred.
In the second movement, though the mode shifts from minor to major, the tone actually darkens. The piano sings a melancholy song, ebbing and flowing in intensity. Midway through comes a fast, feathery dance led by the piano; listen to the woodwind solos that accompany it, for they are singing a cleverly altered version of movement one’ s chant theme. The pianist abruptly dismisses the dark mood and, with a burst of virtuosity, sails directly into the finale.
Rachmaninoff loved the sound of Russian church bells, and we hear them ringing in the piano as this last movement opens. As in movement one, the second theme is presented rhythmically— this time in thick, aggressively syncopated piano chords. Then it is transformed into the big, soaring tune we wait for in every Rachmaninoff work. A series of variations on the bell theme takes the place of a development section. The concerto’ s final drive begins with a roaring march for the piano, spurred on by low strings. Rachmaninoff piles excitement upon excitement to captivate his first American audience and all those to follow.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings.
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2017
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