ABOUT THE ARTISTS 12 LAGUNA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES SPONSORED BY SAM AND LYNDIE ERSAN PROGRAM NOTES This program pairs each of Beethoven’s three early piano sonatas from Op. 2 with a lighter “appetizer” piece that contrasts and complements the larger-scale work that follows. Of all of Beethoven’s works to go “viral,” the delicate, moody, and inward F Fü ür r E El li is se e (“For Elise”) is an odd candidate. Beethoven did not even publish the work in his lifetime—it was discovered as a manuscript in 1867, 40 years after Beethoven’s death, by German musicologist Ludwig Nohl. Whether or not the work was even a real Beethoven composition, and not a fabrication by Nohl, still remains up for debate—but modern Beethoven scholars and handwriting analysts have largely vouched for the manuscript’s authentici- ty. Dedicating short and sentimental piano pieces to students and patrons was also a common practice in the early 19th century, so composing this type of per- sonalized, unpublished work would not have been out of character for Beethoven. The manuscript listed 1810 as the date of composi- tion. Assuming Beethoven’s authorship, who was Elise? One contender is Therese Malfatti, one of Beethoven’s students to whom he proposed (unsuc- cessfully) in 1810; Beethoven’s F-sharp major piano sonata op. 78 (1809) was dedicated to her, and nick- named “Für Therese.” Perhaps it’s possible that Nohl mixed up the name on the manuscript all those years later! Other options for the identity of “Elise” include Elisabeth Röckel, a soprano who had her career breakthrough in 1810 and was likely another love interest for Beethoven; or the then-13-year-old (LISA MARIE MAZZUCCO) Although rare, all dates, times, artists, programs and prices are subject to change. Photographing or recording this performance without permission is prohibited. Kindly disable pagers, cellular phones and other audible devices. B Ba ag ga at te el ll le e N No o. . 2 25 5 i in n A A m mi in no or r, , L Lu ud dw wi ig g v va an n B BE EE ET TH HO OV VE EN N W Wo oO O 5 59 9, , “ “F Fu ü r r E El li is se e” ” (1770-1827) P Pi ia an no o S So on na at ta a N No o. . 2 2 i in n A A m ma aj jo or r, , O Op p. . 2 2, , N No o. . 2 2 Allegro vivace Largo appassionato Scherzo: Allegretto Rondo: Grazioso S Si ix x v va ar ri ia at ti io on ns s o on n a an n o or ri ig gi in na al l t th he em me e f fo or r p pi ia an no o i in n F F m ma aj jo or r, , O Op p. . 3 34 4 P Pi ia an no o S So on na at ta a N No o. . 1 1 i in n F F m mi in no or r, , O Op p. . 2 2, , N No o. . 1 1 Allegro vivace Largo appassio I I N NT TE ER RM MI I S S S S I I O ON N F Fi iv ve e v va ar ri ia at ti io on ns s f fo or r p pi ia an no o o on n “ “R Ru ul le e, , B Br ri it ta an nn ni ia a! !” ”, , W Wo oO O 7 79 9 P Pi ia an no o S So on na at ta a N No o. . 3 3 i in n C C m ma aj jo or r, , O Op p. . 2 2, , N No o. . 3 3 Allegro con brio Adagio Scherzo: Allegro Allegro assai Steinway Piano Exclusive Management: Opus 3 Artists 470 Park Avenue South, 9th Floor North New York, NY 10016 TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020, 8PM Segerstrom Center for the Arts Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Pre-concert by Brian Lauritzen, 7pm EMANUEL AX, PIANO SPONSORED BY THE DONNA L. KENDALL FOUNDATION BEETHOVEN @250 SPONSORED BY THE SEGERSTROM FOUNDATION
Transcript
ABOUTTH
EARTIST
S
12
LAGUNA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIESSPONSORED BY
SAM AND LYNDIE ERSAN
ABOUT
ARTIST
S
12
LAGUNA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIESSPONSORED BY
SAM AND LYNDIE ERSAN
PROGRAM NOTESThis program pairs each of Beethoven’s three earlypiano sonatas from Op. 2 with a lighter “appetizer”piece that contrasts and complements the larger-scalework that follows.
Of all of Beethoven’s works to go “viral,” the delicate,moody, and inward FFüürr EElliissee (“For Elise”) is an oddcandidate. Beethoven did not even publish the workin his lifetime—it was discovered as a manuscript in1867, 40 years after Beethoven’s death, by Germanmusicologist LudwigNohl.Whether or not the workwas even a real Beethoven composition, and not afabrication by Nohl, still remains up for debate—butmodern Beethoven scholars and handwriting analystshave largely vouched for the manuscript’s authentici-ty. Dedicating short and sentimental piano pieces tostudents and patrons was also a common practice inthe early 19th century, so composing this type of per-sonalized, unpublished work would not have beenout of character for Beethoven.
The manuscript listed 1810 as the date of composi-tion. Assuming Beethoven’s authorship, who wasElise? One contender is Therese Malfatti, one ofBeethoven’s students to whom he proposed (unsuc-cessfully) in 1810; Beethoven’s F-sharp major pianosonata op. 78 (1809) was dedicated to her, and nick-named “Für Therese.” Perhaps it’s possible that Nohlmixed up the name on the manuscript all those yearslater! Other options for the identity of “Elise” includeElisabeth Röckel, a soprano who had her careerbreakthrough in 1810 and was likely another loveinterest for Beethoven; or the then-13-year-old
(LISA MARIE MAZZUCCO)
Although rare, all dates, times, artists, programs and prices are subject to change.Photographing or recording this performance without permission is prohibited.
Kindly disable pagers, cellular phones and other audible devices.
prodigy Elise Barensfeld, who had recently movedto Vienna to study with Antonio Salieri.
Für Elise is a bagatelle (literally, a “trifle”) in rondoform. The famous opening section centers on thepitch “E” (for Elise?), which oscillates hauntinglywith its lower chromatic neighbor note of D-sharp.A contrasting episode features a broad cantabilemelody that bursts into sudden toccata-like effer-vescence; a second episode ventures further afieldinto chromaticism, fantasia, and drama, beforereturning to a final statement of that singularlyuncanny opening theme.
Beethoven published his three Op. 2 piano sonatasin 1796, when he was 25 years old and living inVienna as a student of Joseph Haydn. The relation-ship between the young upstart composer and theestablished older master had been contentious attimes (Beethoven bristled defiantly when Haydnoffered a mild critique of his Op. 1 piano trios) butthe Op. 2 piano sonatas seem to have been anattempt at reconciliation: Beethoven dedicatedthem to his teacher. Still, Beethoven would notidentify himself on the score as “... pupil of Haydn,”as his mentor had requested.
Anxieties of influence aside, the Op. 2 piano sonatasdemonstrate Beethoven’s thorough assimilation ofHaydn’s techniques (form, counterpoint, phrasestructure, rhetoric) and aesthetics (wit, grace,pathos, rusticity, fleetness). But Beethoven’sassertive personality comes through in the striking-ly ambitious scope of the sonatas, and also in hisoften boisterous or propulsive musical gestures. Asa piano-literature professor once remarked, “Haydnpokes you gently and chuckles; Beethoven more jabsyou with a stick and then laughs your expense.”
The Sonata Op. 2 No. 2 in A major is perhaps theleast “stick-jabby” (as it were) of the set, espousing ageneral mode of ebullient dexterity in all move-ments save the deeply spiritual Largo. The openingtheme of the first movement sounds spontaneous,extemporized, almost like a keyboardist testing outan unfamiliar instrument with a few dashed-offoctaves and runs. This unassuming motive quicklybecome structural, though—Beethoven sequencesthe idea and catapults it into a series of dazzlinglyacrobatic scale figures. Two other musical ideasespecially stand out in the first movement: a sudden
tangle of canonic writing in the development sec-tion, and a joyous closing theme that rings out inpeals of laughter.
The sonata’s slow movement departs from playful-ness and jocularity, reaching instead for the sublime.String-quartet textures abound—listen for the con-tinuous “cello pizzicatos” of the left hand.Beethoven returns us to levity with an impish scher-zo-and-trio movement (here Haydn would havesupplied a statelier minuet, but Beethoven pio-neered and standardized the practice of inserting aliteral “joke” movement into the genres of sonata,chamber music, and symphony). The rondo-finaleof Op. 2 No. 2, marked grazioso (gracious), is one ofBeethoven’s most elegant creations, featuring a flu-ent, unhurried main theme that the composer sub-tly embellishes in each successive iteration. In themidst of all of this filigree, a minor-mode episodestomps in with muddy boots and exits just asabruptly. It’s downright rude.
The theme-and-variations form and the more gen-eral musical process of variation were integral tolate-eighteenth-century composition. Beethovenfrequently incorporated substantial theme-and-variations movements into his piano sonatas (espe-cially the late ones) and some of his free-standingsets of variations, like the “Eroica” and the“Diabelli,” are towering compositions, odes to theprinciple of transformation.
Beethoven’s Variations on an Original Theme,Op. 34, may lack the scope and gravitas of theaforementioned examples, but are quietly revolu-tionary. Beethoven composed the set in 1802, rightaround the time that he was beginning to grasp theextent of his hearing loss. This crisis had presentedBeethoven with a seemingly binary choice: “Do Iend my life, or do I persist and make art in a fearlessnew direction?” In our universe, he went with thelatter.
A typical theme-and-variations paradigm wouldplace a series of clearly demarcated variations in thesame key as the theme, and keep the contours of theoriginal melody somewhat intact; Beethoven throwsthese conventions out the window, instead offeringa cyclical work where each variation is set in a key athird lower than its predecessor (so eventually wearrive back at the original F major). Beethoven
draws on multiple styles, from a lofty adagio to aspry minuet to a funeral march. At some point, thesense of discrete “variation” units seems to dissolvecompletely, in favor of continuous discourse andexpressive freedom. The cyclicism and stylisticdiversity of Op. 34 looks far ahead to the characterpieces of Schumann and Brahms.
Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in F minor isslightly more modest in scale than the other twomembers of the set, but its economy in no way hin-ders its dramatic thrust. Speaking of thrust, theupward-launching motive that opens the first move-ment is representative of an earlier stylistic conven-tion known as the “Mannheim Rocket”—a rapid,rising arpeggiated figure that mid-18th-centurycomposers of the Mannheim Court Orchestra, likeJohann Stamitz, frequently employed to dramaticeffect. Mozart, an admirer of the MannheimSchool, kept some rockets in his pockets (see: the Cminor piano sonata, the finale of the SymphonyNo. 40 in G minor). Beethoven, an admirer ofMozart, absorbed the style in turn. In the firstmovement of Op. 2 No. 2, Beethoven contrasts theabruptness of the “rocketeering” with a more lyricalsecond theme, yet a sense of brooding agitation stillunderlies the proceedings.
The F major slow movement offers pure operaticbliss, a singing line over a transparent texture; a fewforays into chromaticism and the minor mode addsome complexity without weighing down the over-all mood. The minuet movement that follows seemsaustere and restrained at first, but abruptly expandsits register, texture, and rhythmic activity. Still,Beethoven waits until the prestissimo finale tounleash his full potential energy. Words like “tem-pest,” “fury,” “thunder,” “gallop,” “uncompromis-ing,” and “relentless” come to mind—quintessen-tially “Beethovenian” descriptors. As radically as thecomposer’s style would evolve over his career, someessential qualities seem to have been there from thestart.
If Beethoven’s Op. 34 probed the outer limits of thetheme-and-variations prototype, the Variations on“Rule, Britannia!”, WoO 79 (1803) demonstrate aslightly more conventional approach to the genre—a theme is presented, then sequentially elaboratedand decorated but not exactly “transfigured.”Beethoven had composed a variations set on “God
Save the Queen” the year prior, and would engagewith more British, Irish, and Scottish melodies inthe next two decades of his career.
Like his later “Diabelli” variations, Beethoven’s“Rule, Britannia!” set seems to slyly poke fun at abare-bones theme that is a bit basic or crude. Here,Beethoven does not exactly turn a sow’s ear into asilk purse, but there’s a sense of mischievous one-upmanship in his systematic disassembly andreassembly of the theme.
Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in C major is atour de force, the biggest of the Opus 2’s, a concer-to without orchestra, and a work of staggering tech-nical difficulty. Nowadays the roles of “composer”and “performer” have been largely decoupled, but in1796 Beethoven was striving to make his mark as acomposer and virtuoso pianist in equal measure.The Op. 2 sonatas were his star vehicle.
Right off the bat, Op. 2 No. 3 begins with a bur-bling double-third figure that is meant to be tossedoff as a witticism, but that requires considerabletechnique to conceal the effort at hand. More chal-lenges follow—cascades of rapid arpeggios, brokenoctaves, unison trills between the hands. Beethoveneven includes a fully-realized cadenza, a showoffyimprovisatory passage usually reserved for the con-certo genre. This profusion of flashy material mightstart to seem a bit empty were the movement notpure fun, a full opera buffa replete with jabberingarguments, slapstick, and moments of reconcilia-tion.
As in the case of Op. 2 No. 2, the Adagio of thissonata provides a heartfelt, inward-looking counter-balance to the bold and performative extroversion ofthe opening movement. Here Beethoven alternatesa plain-spoken, entreating chorale theme with fan-tasia-like hand-crossing episodes. The scherzodelights in quick flashes of counterpoint; the move-ment’s trio, which we might expect to be morerelaxed than the exterior sections, in fact ups theante with roiling, keyboard-spanning arpeggios (abit like a Chopin etude ahead of its time).
Beethoven’s rondo-finale is buoyant throughout,full of skipping-stone parallel chords and lilting pas-sagework and double-trills and triple-trills, andsome excellent subversions of harmonic expecta-
tion. An especially fabulous fake-out occurs rightbefore the end—this program note remains a spoil-er-free zone, but suffice it to say that Beethoven getsto jab us with his stick one last gleeful time.
EMANUEL AX
Born in modern day Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Axmoved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family whenhe was a young boy. Mr. Ax made his New Yorkdebut in the Young Concert Artists Series, and in1974 won the first Arthur Rubinstein InternationalPiano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won theMichaels Award of Young Concert Artists followedfour years later by tme Avery Fisher Prize.
Highlights of the 2019-20 season include aEuropean summer festivals tour with the ViennaPhilharmonic and long-time collaborative partnerBernard Haitink, an Asian tour with the LondonSymphony and Sir Simon Rattle, U.S. concertswith the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Lahav Shaniin addition to three concerts with regular partnersLeonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hallin March 2020. Further participation in CarnegieHall’s celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthdaywill culminate in a solo recital in May preceded byrecitals inMadison, Santa Barbara, Orange County,
Washington, Las Vegas and Colorado Springs.With orchestras he can be heard in Houston,Baltimore, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, LosAngeles, New York, Montreal, Philadelphia,Cincinnati and Indianapolis. In Europe he can beheard with orchestras in London, Frankfurt, Berlin,Rome, Zurich, Rotterdam and Tel Aviv.
Mr. Ax has been a Sony Classical exclusive record-ing artist since 1987. He has received GRAMMY®Awards for the second and third volumes of hiscycle of Haydn’s piano sonatas. He has also made aseries of Grammy-winning recordings with cellistYo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatasfor cello and piano. In the 2004-05 season Mr. Axcontributed to an International EMMY® Award-Winning BBC documentary commemorating theHolocaust that aired on the 60th anniversary of theliberation of Auschwitz. In 2013, Mr. Ax's record-ing Variations received the Echo Klassik Award forSolo Recording of the Year (19th centurymusic/Piano).
Mr. Ax is a Fellow of the American Academy ofArts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates ofmusic from Skidmore College, Yale University, andColumbia University.
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