![Edvard Grieg - 4 Norwegian Dances, op. 35 [With score] @DamonJHK](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k7hH14ycSTo/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
-Composer: Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907)
-Performers (Piano 4-hands): The Cologne Piano Duo
-Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
-Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud
4 Norwegian Dances for 4-hands or Orchestra (orchestrated by Hans Sitt), op. 35, written in 1880
Piano 4-hands
00:00 - I. Allegro marcato
05:29 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
07:37 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
10:18 - IV. Allegro molto
Orchestra
15:04 - I. Allegro marcato
20:42 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
23:22 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
27:08 - IV. Allegro molto
The Norwegian Dances (4), Op. 35, (1883) of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1845-1907) are for the most part based on tunes he found in Ludvig Mathias Lindemans' folk song collection Mountain Melodies Old and New. Like many sets of national dances from the nineteenth century -- Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Dvorák's Slavonic Dances, for example -- Grieg's Norwegian Dances were originally scored for piano duet to satisfy demand for music to be played in the home. They were later orchestrated by the Czech-born conductor Hans Sitt and it is in this guise that they are best known to later audiences.
All four of the dances are in simple ternary form. Three of the four -- the first, third, and fourth -- have quick outer sections and slower inner sections while the second reverses this order. Taken as a whole, the Norwegian Dances are in symphonic form, that is, the first and fourth dances (Allegro marcato and Allegro molto) are more expansive and more developed while the two central dances are like the Intermezzo's central movements of Brahms' symphonies with the second (Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso) taking the place of a slow movement and the third (Allegro moderato alla Marcia) serving as a march-like Scherzo à la the later march-scherzos of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.
Like all of Grieg's best music, the Norwegian Dances are filled with achingly beautiful tunes set to supple chromatic harmonies, joyously festive tunes above cheerful rhythms, and the occasional faux-frightening tunes with skittering harmonies. At least two sections of the dances -- the cheerful opening of the first dance and insouciant opening of the second -- are nearly as well-known as the first Peer Gynt Suite or the Holberg Suite.
-Composer: Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907)
-Performers (Piano 4-hands): The Cologne Piano Duo
-Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
-Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud
4 Norwegian Dances for 4-hands or Orchestra (orchestrated by Hans Sitt), op. 35, written in 1880
Piano 4-hands
00:00 - I. Allegro marcato
05:29 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
07:37 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
10:18 - IV. Allegro molto
Orchestra
15:04 - I. Allegro marcato
20:42 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
23:22 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
27:08 - IV. Allegro molto
The Norwegian Dances (4), Op. 35, (1883) of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1845-1907) are for the most part based on tunes he found in Ludvig Mathias Lindemans' folk song collection Mountain Melodies Old and New. Like many sets of national dances from the nineteenth century -- Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Dvorák's Slavonic Dances, for example -- Grieg's Norwegian Dances were originally scored for piano duet to satisfy demand for music to be played in the home. They were later orchestrated by the Czech-born conductor Hans Sitt and it is in this guise that they are best known to later audiences.
All four of the dances are in simple ternary form. Three of the four -- the first, third, and fourth -- have quick outer sections and slower inner sections while the second reverses this order. Taken as a whole, the Norwegian Dances are in symphonic form, that is, the first and fourth dances (Allegro marcato and Allegro molto) are more expansive and more developed while the two central dances are like the Intermezzo's central movements of Brahms' symphonies with the second (Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso) taking the place of a slow movement and the third (Allegro moderato alla Marcia) serving as a march-like Scherzo à la the later march-scherzos of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.
Like all of Grieg's best music, the Norwegian Dances are filled with achingly beautiful tunes set to supple chromatic harmonies, joyously festive tunes above cheerful rhythms, and the occasional faux-frightening tunes with skittering harmonies. At least two sections of the dances -- the cheerful opening of the first dance and insouciant opening of the second -- are nearly as well-known as the first Peer Gynt Suite or the Holberg Suite.
![Edvard Grieg - 4 Norwegian Dances, op. 35 [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k7hH14ycSTo/mqdefault.jpg "Edvard Grieg - 4 Norwegian Dances, op. 35 [With score]
-Composer: Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907)
-Performers (Piano 4-hands): The Cologne Piano Duo
-Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
-Conductor: Ole Kristian Ruud
4 Norwegian Dances for 4-hands or Orchestra (orchestrated by Hans Sitt), op. 35, written in 1880
Piano 4-hands
00:00 - I. Allegro marcato
05:29 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
07:37 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
10:18 - IV. Allegro molto
Orchestra
15:04 - I. Allegro marcato
20:42 - II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso
23:22 - III. Allegro moderato alla marcia
27:08 - IV. Allegro molto
The Norwegian Dances (4), Op. 35, (1883) of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1845-1907) are for the most part based on tunes he found in Ludvig Mathias Lindemans folk song collection Mountain Melodies Old and New. Like many sets of national dances from the nineteenth century Brahms Hungarian Dances and Dvoráks Slavonic Dances, for example Griegs Norwegian Dances were originally scored for piano duet to satisfy demand for music to be played in the home. They were later orchestrated by the Czech-born conductor Hans Sitt and it is in this guise that they are best known to later audiences.
All four of the dances are in simple ternary form. Three of the four the first, third, and fourth have quick outer sections and slower inner sections while the second reverses this order. Taken as a whole, the Norwegian Dances are in symphonic form, that is, the first and fourth dances (Allegro marcato and Allegro molto) are more expansive and more developed while the two central dances are like the Intermezzos central movements of Brahms symphonies with the second (Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso) taking the place of a slow movement and the third (Allegro moderato alla Marcia) serving as a march-like Scherzo à la the later march-scherzos of Tchaikovskys Symphony No. 6.
Like all of Griegs best music, the Norwegian Dances are filled with achingly beautiful tunes set to supple chromatic harmonies, joyously festive tunes above cheerful rhythms, and the occasional faux-frightening tunes with skittering harmonies. At least two sections of the dances the cheerful opening of the first dance and insouciant opening of the second are nearly as well-known as the first Peer Gynt Suite or the Holberg Suite.")
![Edvard Grieg - 12 Melodies (Vinje-Songs), op. 33 [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kEyHrhf6Lgk/mqdefault.jpg "Edvard Grieg - 12 Melodies (Vinje-Songs), op. 33 [With score]
-Composer: Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907)
-Performers (Songs except No. 2): Monica Groop (Voice), Roger Vignoles (Piano)
-Performers (Song No. 2): Anne Sofie von Otter (Voice), Bengt Forsberg (Piano)
12 Melodies after Poems by A. O. Vinje for Voice and Piano, op. 33, written in 1873-80
00:00 - I. Guten {The youth}
03:00 - II. Våren {Spring}
08:23 - III. Den Særde {The wounded heart}
10:42 - IV. Tyteberet {The whortleberry}
12:22 - V. Langs ei Å {Beside the stream}
14:05 - VI. Eit Syn {A vision}
15:54 - VII. Gamle Mor {Old mother}
17:47 - VIII. Det Förste {The first thing}
20:09 - IX. Ved Rundarne {At Rundarne}
22:28 - X. Et Vennestykke {A broken friendship}
24:03 - XI. Trudom {Faith}
26:40 - XII. Fyremål {The goal}
In April 1880, Grieg began composing again after a long period of travel and performing. He was inspired by the poetry of Aasmund Olafsson Vinje. Vinje (1818-1870) was truly a poet of the nineteenth century, his Romanticism following in the footsteps of Heine, Byron, and Goethe, and with a nationalistic feeling not only for subject matter, but also for language, using a country version of Norwegian. This suited Griegs desire to use Norwegian folk idioms in his music, and these songs are considered his first genuinely Norwegian songs. Grieg initially set 15 poems, but published only ten of these in Op. 33, adding two others that he had composed earlier. The songs were published in two books, in multiple languages. Grieg worked closely with the translators, hoping to accurately capture the feel of the original texts, but not always succeeding, even with that close relative of Norwegian, Danish. This helps explain why the songs are much better known in Norway than anywhere else. From the simplicity of a description of nature in Langs ei Å to the breathless dance of the fleeting vision in Eit Syn, and the dissonance of bitterness in Eit vennestykke (A Broken Friendship), the music is determined by the text in each song; the mood and words of the poem determine the mood and harmonies of the music. Most of the songs are strophic, all are representative of Griegs gift for melody, and even if the folk music idioms are not obvious, the songs are unmistakably Griegs. The set begins with Guten (The Youth), a warning to a restless youth. This is followed by what is probably Griegs best-known song (other than Solveigs Song), Våren (Spring), later orchestrated along with the third song, Den sårede (The Wounded Heart). Langs ei Å (Beside the Stream), the fifth song, was written in 1877, while the seventh, Gamle Mor (The Old Mother), was written in 1873, but neither is out of place with the later songs. No. 6, Eit Syn (A Vision), is one of the more popular of the 12, as are No. 9, Ved Rundarne (At Rondane), and the final song, Fyremål (The Goal). In that final song, the bitterness inherent in much of the others is resolved through Vinjes hopeful text and Griegs strong-minded, melodious opening and lyrical middle section of his setting.
[allmusic.com]")
![Francis Poulenc - Le bal masqué [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kTqC28EKFFs/mqdefault.jpg "Francis Poulenc - Le bal masqué [With score]
-Composer: Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963)
-Text: Max Jacob (2 July 1876 – 5 March 1944)
-Conductor: Antonio Plotino
-Performers: Nicolas Rivenq (Baritone), Alberto Negroni (Oboe), Giampiero Sobrino (Clarinet), Rino Vernizzi (Bassoon), Francesco Tamiati (Piston), Enrico Calini (Percussion), Massimiliano Damerini (Piano), Giulio Plotino (Violin), Alfredo Persichilli (Cello)
Le bal masqué, Cantate profane sur des poèmes de Max Jacob pour baryton et orchestre de chambre, FP 60 (1932)
00:00 - I. Prèambule et air de bravoure
03:47 - II. Intermède
06:11 - III. Malvina
08:06 - IV. Bagatelle
10:13 - V. La dame aveugle
12:58 - VI. Finale
Francis Poulenc was introduced at an early age into the Parisian cultural circles in which prominent figures like Cocteau and Satie moved, and his early compositions (that is, those that came before his religious awakening in the mid-1930s) reflect the decidedly effervescent aesthetic values that Poulenc and the other members of Les Six, in response to the emotional viscosity and heavy handedness of the Austro-German musical establishment, came to represent. Among Poulencs contributions to this early Parisian style was an approach to musical development and continuity that neither developed or continued: themes didnt grow out of each other organically, they appeared pell-mell, piled on top of each other, strung along with carnivalesque variety; harmonic progressions bypassed modulation in favor of bootlegger turns and chromatic acrobatics. Fittingly, Poulenc was very fond of the surreal, shape-changing images and incongruous plots that filled the poems of Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), and set many of them to music. Among these are the four poems appearing in Poulencs Profane Cantata, Le Bal Masqué (The Masked Ball).
The work came as the result of a commission from the Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Noailles to compose a work for a 1932 concert at the Théâtre de Hyères. The poems, taken from Jacobs 1921 anthology, Laboratoire central, held for Poulenc a kind of odd Bradbury-esque nostalgia, and many of Jacobs images evoked faint fragments of memories. The song cycle reaches our ears, too, as a grab bag of unsorted, mismatched textual and musical remembrances. Poulencs score calls for a solo baritone (or mezzo), oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, piano, violin, cello, and percussion. This ensemble offers a broad timbral array, which allows the composer to be as playful with register and orchestration as he is with melody and harmony. His menagerie of melodies is passed from instrument to instrument, treating his clever lines with skillfully idiomatic charm and humor.
The cycle is structured in such a way that the four songs are separated by instrumental passages either autonomous movements, such as the Interlude between the first and second songs, and the Bagatelle that separates the third and fourth; or extended instrumental prefaces, such as the Caprice that precedes the Finale, or, for that matter, the long introduction to the first song. The Preamble begins with an infectiously peppy romp, bringing to mind the Darwinian cocktail party from Milhauds Création du Monde. The baritone enters, singing of a mysterious Madame la Dauphine, Chinese Peasants, and cannons made of goose fat. The most readily identifiable connections between this strange collection of observations are phonetic ones, which Poulenc makes abundantly clear through incessant repetition (Madame la Dauphine-fine-fine-fine-fine.... a peasant from Chine-chine-chine-chine... you get the idea). Elsewhere, the text is treated even more clownishly. A maudlin thirty-second note run introduces the overly-rhapsodic benediction that closes Malvina. Worse yet, the closing lines of the last poem in the cycle the singer, following the composers instructions très violent and exagérément articulé, tries to achieve an ever-climactic conclusion, repeating the last words an inexcusable number of times; and just when we think he might be finished, he leaps saucily into his falsetto range for a delightfully ridiculous finish.
Poulenc eventually sobered up a bit, and in his middle years he composed a large body of rather reverent sacred works. Still, pieces like the Laudamus Te from the Gloria, and the finale of his swansong, the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, demonstrate the youthful and invigorating wit of his earlier works.
[allmusic.com]")
![Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 Dissonance, K. 465 [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kcfDxgfHs64/mqdefault.jpg "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 Dissonance, K. 465 [With score]
-Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791)
-Performers: Quatuor Mosaïques
String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465, written in 1785 [Haydn Quartet VI]
00:06 - I. Adagio - Allegro
14:08 - II. Andante cantabile
22:18 - III. Menuetto. Allegro
28:36 - IV. Allegro molto
The last of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn, K. 465 is officially in the sunny key of C major, but it owes its Dissonant nickname to its slow, tense introduction, full of unresolved harmonies over a throbbing cello line. Soon enough, this disorienting Adagio gives way to the first movements bright, Allegro main matter. The first violin sings out the short-phrased principal theme, which the other instruments soon pick up in contrapuntal imitation. A second, more jittery melody and a third in triplets all become fodder for a brief development section, although its the first theme, now with a minor cast, that dominates the proceedings until the recapitulation soothes the troubled quartet the exposition returning, of course, without the baggage of the dissonant introduction.
The second movement, Andante cantabile, wraps itself in warm F major, with all four instruments exploring a variety of highly lyrical thematic passages. Third comes a witty, Haydn-esque Minuet (and one that would influence Beethoven), full of sudden dynamic contrasts and pitting various combinations of instruments against each other. The brief Trio section dips into C minor for an episode of agitated pathos. As it begins, the finale (Allegro) has every indication of being a conventional if quick rondo, but the music continually veers into unexpected harmonic territory, skidding into the minor and fragmenting the themes; this is perhaps a sonata-allegro movement, with the development section split among the episodes of a rondo. Performers may play this as either comedy or drama, but the music is really a bold melding of the two.
[allmusic.com]")
![Igor Stravinsky - Ebony Concerto [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/klQY_X1clMs/mqdefault.jpg "Igor Stravinsky - Ebony Concerto [With score]
Composer: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June 1882 6 April 1971)
Clarinet: Michel Arrignon
Ensemble: Ensemble InterContemporain
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Ebony Concerto for clarinet and jazz band, written in 1945
00:00 - I. Allegro moderato
03:00 - II. Andante
05:33 - III. Moderato - Con moto - Moderato
Stravinsky wrote his Ebony Concerto for jazz bandleader Woody Herman, who premiered it with his ensemble the Thundering Herd in March 1946. It is modeled on the Baroque concerto grosso and obviously incorporates jazz styles popular during the wartime era. Cast in three very short movements the whole work lasting about nine minutes it is scored for clarinet and jazz band.
Ebony Concerto opens with a lively Allegro moderato, where the themes are rhythmic and quite jerky in their unpredictability. Everything sounds Stravinskyan, though, the jazz elements fusing naturally with the composers neo-Classical style. The most lyrical-sounding theme comes on clarinet and trombone, recalling a theme in ragtime from the composers Lhistoire du soldat. A reprise of the main material makes up the second half of the first movement.
The middle panel is a bluesy Andante, an almost funereal piece in its lazy, dark mists and lower-range writing for the clarinet. The brief middle section is perky and playful, but the main theme returns in all its delicious gloom to close out the movement. The finale, marked Moderato Con moto Moderato Vivo, begins slowly and darkly then turns lively when a cool, bluesy theme is played by clarinet. The music from the opening returns before the playful Vivo section is presented. The work ends slowly, with the kind of tranquil mood, if not the sound of the first movements close from the composers contemporary Symphony in 3 Movements.
[allmusic.com]
Original Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccwFZ6-COec")
![Benjamin Britten - Phantasy Quartet [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ksdSIBBGtnI/mqdefault.jpg "Benjamin Britten - Phantasy Quartet [With score]
-Composer: Edward Benjamin Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976)
-Performers: Gernot Schmalfuß (oboe), Andreas Krecher (violin), Niklas Schwarz (viola), Armin Fromm (violoncello)
Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and String Trio, op. 2, written in 1932
Brittens fondness for the oboe shows in his orchestral writing. Time and again, he used the high, clear sound of the oboe to pierce through the general sound, often using it as if a single voice against the world.
The first third of the twentieth century is marked by works by many British composers in the form of chamber music named Fantasy. This is simply because of the periodic issuing by a wealthy patron of a commissioning prize for such works. Britten composed this Phantasy Quartet for the great British oboist Leon Goossens. It brought him national and international attention, being performed on the BBC in 1933 and at the annual International Society of Contemporary Music Festival in 1934, an extraordinary occurrence for the work of a composer who was still, at time of composition, a teenager.
The work also exhibits a formal procedure which Britten was to use numerous times throughout his career, that of framing a composition in one way or another. In this case, the work begins and ends with a legato oboe song over a string accompaniment consisting of one of Brittens typical disjunct march ideas. Britten builds the work in an arch form comprising, within the frame of the arch, a sonata form of development and recapitulation, a development section (in a very slow tempo) occupying the central position of the arch. It is an uncommonly inventive form, executed with considerable technical skill. Within all this technique, the music is uncommonly expressive.
Britten does not attempt to deny the oboe its natural tendency to predominate in this ensemble, so that work stands or falls on the artistry of the soloist on that instrument. In return, Britten gave the soloist an extraordinarily interesting and engaging piece of music.")
![Rebecca Clarke - Viola Sonata [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kyhWWyDHIfM/mqdefault.jpg "Rebecca Clarke - Viola Sonata [With score]
-Composer: Rebecca Clarke (27 August 1886 – 13 October 1979)
-Performers: Antoine Tamestit (viola), Ying-Chien Lin (piano)
00:00 – I. Impetuoso
07:20 – II. Vivace
11:09 – III. Adagio
Rebecca Clarkes Sonata for Viola and Piano is first known of in 1919, when the composer was 33 years old. Clarke had moved to the United States in 1916, after being disowned by her father. She had been supporting herself with some success as a soloist.
The first reference to the Viola Sonata was upon its submission to a composition competition sponsored by Clarkes neighbor, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Out of 72 entries, Clarkes Sonata tied for first with a piece by the Swiss composer, Ernest Bloch. In the end Bloch was declared the winner, despite all the judges favoring Clarke—it was decided that declaring Clarke the winner would smack of favoritism on Coolidges part. It was also suspected by some that the name Rebecca Clarke was a pen-name of a male composer, as few imagined the possibility of a competent female writing such music. The piece had its première at the Berkshire Music Festival in 1919, and was well received. It, along with the Piano Trio of 1921 and the Rhapsody for cello and piano of 1923, represent the zenith of her compositional career, though afterwards Clarke wrote hardly any more music. The sonata was first published in 1921 by Chester Music.
Clarke gives us an incipit on the first page of the sonata, a quote from La Nuit de mai (1835) by the French poet Alfred de Musset:
Poète, prends ton luth; le vin de la jeunesse
Fermente cette nuit dans les veines de Dieu.
Poet, take up your lute; the wine of youth
this night is fermenting in the veins of God.
The sonata is cast in three movements. The first movement, marked Impetuoso, begins with a vibrant fanfare from the viola, before moving on into a melodic and harmonic language reminiscent of Achille-Claude Debussy and Ralph Vaughan Williams, two important influences on Clarkes music. Her language is at times very chromatic and shows the invention of Debussy in the use of modes and the whole-tone scale. The second movement, marked Vivace, makes use of many interesting special effects like harmonics and pizzicato. The final movement, Adagio, is both pensive and sensual in its language. However, Clarke works in a special surprise: a segue into a restatement of themes from the first movement. The sonata ends in a lush and brilliant pyrotechnical display, showing off the full range of the viola, as well as the piano (whose part is of equal difficulty.) Because of the many different obstacles the piece presents, as well as its highly idiomatic writing, it is becoming more and more a staple of the violists repertoire.
[Wikipedia.org]")
![Francis Poulenc - Sonata for two Pianos [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kzmlskID3pc/mqdefault.jpg "Francis Poulenc - Sonata for two Pianos [With score]
-Composer: Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963)
-Performers: Pascal Rogé and Jean-Philippe Collard
Sonata for two Pianos FP 156, written in 1952-53
00:00 - I. Prologue. Extremement lent et calme
05:59 - II. Allegro molto. Très rythmé
11:06 - III. Andante lyrico. Lentement
17:23 - IV. Epilogue. Allegro giocoso
While extensive, Francis Poulencs catalogue of music for the piano consists largely of miniatures and character pieces, both singly and in sets. Poulencs Sonata for Piano Duo is one of the composers most ambitious and substantial works for the instrument; as such, it has emerged as one of the standards of the two-piano repertoire.
Though Poulenc had written a Sonata for Piano Duet (that is, for two players at one instrument) in 1918, it wasnt until late in his career that he began to produce works for two pianos. He dedicated the Sonata for Piano Duo, completed in 1953, to the piano duo of Gold and Fizdale, who had long championed the composers Concerto for Two Pianos (1932). While the Sonata is a serious and demanding work for audiences and performers alike, Poulencs essential qualities as a composer are evident throughout; at no time does his musical language lapse into arcana.
The contrast between bustling movement and extraordinary calm is one of the hallmarks of the Sonata. The work contains a number of allusions to church bells not the clangorous peals of Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition, but evocations of a gentler sort, more like the suggestion of a village church. The first movement, marked Prologue, is assertive and passionate, almost Schumannesque. The central section provides a moment of quiet contrast, while a tolling effect in the coda brings the movement to its end. The Allegro Molto is a scherzo characterized by jaunty, agitated themes. The Trio starts dramatically, ultimately receding into ethereal quiet. The Andante Lyrico opens with a chorale that summons forth the sound of a carillon; this simple beginning builds with an ever-increasing weight. The sprightly, playful Epilogue rounds out the work with the kind of exuberant finish that is characteristic of Poulencs multimovement works. The mood darkens as the movement pushes forward to a tragic climax; the gravity is dissipated, however, with a spirited burst at the conclusion.
[allmusic.com]")
![Robert Schumann - Romanzen und Balladen I, op. 45 [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l9i003cc53M/mqdefault.jpg "Robert Schumann - Romanzen und Balladen I, op. 45 [With score]
-Composer: Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856)
-Performers: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Bariton), Gerald Moore (Piano; I and II), Jörg Demus (Piano; III)
Romanzen und Balladen I, 3 Songs for Voice and Piano, op. 45, written in 1840
00:00 - I. Der Schatzgräber {The Treasure-Seeker}
03:15 - II. Frühlingsfahrt {A Spring Journey}
06:17 - III. Abends am Strand {Evening by the Sea}
Schumann wrote these three songs during 1840, one of his most prolific and happy periods. However, the first song, Abends am Strand (which is third in the collection), was written in April, to a Heine poem, and the second two were written in October to Eichendorff poems, but they are still somewhat unified by a theme, if not as tightly as a song cycle; each concerns a search, the first, an obsessive search for treasure, the second, the varying searches of two friends for accomplishments, the last, the search for other lands.
Only one of these searches is unambiguously successful. The first begins with ominous, heavy minor descending passages from the piano, depicting the frenzied digging and also the eventual rock fall. There is a moment of melodious contrast with the angels song, and an almost mockingly light touch as the rocks and debris crush the treasure hunter, and his search ends with his death.
In the second, the assured, almost strutting marching theme that opens the song and the happiness of one man, with his wife and children and home (written with such a warmth and tenderness the listener can imagine Schumann is reflecting his own seemingly assured future happiness with Clara), are a vivid contrast to the more adventuresome melodiousness of the one who went further afield in his searches, and was drawn by seductive sirens. Whether this is a sad contrast or not is up to the interpreters.
Though the piano paints a clear picture of the rising mists and rippling waters, Schumann also carefully preserved the ambiguity of the last poem, which makes it unclear whether the sailor is enjoying rest after his voyages or wishes to be upon the boat disappearing over the horizon. The music describing the strange lands is compelling, but so is the tranquility of the music depicting the night, without any overt cry of longing for those lands.
[allmusic.com]")
![Claude Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lc7h0BLCBQk/mqdefault.jpg "Claude Debussy - Pelléas et Mélisande [With score]
-Composer: Claude-Achille Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918)
-Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker
-Conductor: Claudio Abbado
-Soloists: Maria Ewing (Mélisande), Francois Le Roux (Pelléas), José van Dam (Golaud), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Arkel; Un Berger), Christa Ludwig (Geneviève), Patrizia Pace (Yniold), Rudolf Mazzola (Le Médecin)
-Choir: Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor
Pelléas et Mélisande, opera in 5 acts, L. 88, written in 1893-1902
Act I
00:00:08 - Scène 1 - Une forêt [A forest]
00:12:32 - Scène 2 - Un appartement dans le château [A room in the castle]
00:21:32 - Scène 3 - Devant le château [Before the castle]
Act II
00:28:09 - Scène 1 - Une fontaine dans le parc [A well in the park]
00:38:00 - Scène 2 - Un appartement dans le château [A room in the castle]
00:51:04 - Scène 3 - Devant une grotte [Before a cave]
Act III
00:55:51 - Scène 1 - Une des tours du château [One of the towers of the castle]
01:09:36 - Scène 2 - Les souterrains du château [The vaults of the castle]
01:13:26 - Scène 3 - Une terasse au sortir des souterrains [A terrace at the entrance of the vaults]
01:18:01 - Scène 4 - Devant le château [Before the castle]
Act IV
01:27:37 - Scène 1 - Un appartement dans le château [A room in the castle]
01:30:24 - Scène 2 - (The same)
01:46:23 - Scène 3 - Une fontaine dans le parc [A well in the park]
01:50:17 - Scène 4 - (The same)
Act V
02:03:35 - Une chambre dans le château [A room in the castle]
Claude Debussys sole completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande (he worked, to little avail, on several during his younger days), is based on the Maurice Maeterlinck play that also inspired works by both Schoenberg and Jean Sibelius. Debussy began the first sketches of the opera as early as 1889, though the work did not take its final form until shortly before its Paris premiere in 1902. It was the composers intention to produce a kind of opera in which the music served the subtleties of text far better (he felt) than the dominant opera style of his day (i.e., the work of Wagner and his immediate successors) did. Thus, while the techniques of Pelléas are frequently Wagnerian in origin, they serve so radically different a purpose as to render the resemblance barely recognizable.
Debussy exploits the utter simplicity of Maeterlincks allegorical plot and allows the music to assume a texture of thoroughgoing delicacy. It is this fragility, sustained with consummate skill throughout the five-act opera, that, more than any other single feature, draws the most powerful response from both audiences and musicians involved in productions of the work. Subtle musical suggestion is the key to Debussys magic in Pelléas. Wagners celebrated leitmotif techniques are modified to make them less of a visiting card technique, as Debussy himself once described the German composers method, and more of a way to draw vague musical shapes that represent characters psychological conditions. Maeterlincks pessimistic denial of free will finds expression in the uncertain, intentionally non-directional nature of much of Debussys music (many of the musical motifs themselves seem to have trouble deciding which direction to turn next, so to speak, and undergo a certain amount of internal repetition before finally shooting off in a new direction). Debussys setting of French texts was never less than superb, and in Pelléas he achieves wonders the instrumental/vocal balance is such that few listeners will ever be aware of just how dense the orchestration is, while the psychological nature of the play (and its lack of stage action) allows the relationship between music and text to unfold in a spacious way that affords each character plenty of time to explore the depths of his or her individual experience. Although it is safe to say that few twentieth century operas could feasibly exist in their present forms had Debussy not found time to complete Pelléas et Mélisande, the work has never achieved the public adulation bestowed upon many of its dependents. Perhaps it is the very qualities that make the work so uniquely powerful its emotional vagueness, the way its apparently simple plot and undramatic (in a Wagnerian sense) music disguise a wealth of textual and musical complexities that are to blame for its general neglect. In many ways, however, Pelléas is a profoundly intimate work, and one wonders whether it is not better kept so.
[allmusic.com]")
![Dmitri Shostakovich - Viola Sonata [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lycYG6oJcvU/mqdefault.jpg "Dmitri Shostakovich - Viola Sonata [With score]
Composer: Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 - 9 August 1975)
Performers: Yuri Bashmet (viola), Sviatoslav Richter (piano)
Year of recording: 1985
Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, written in 1975
00:00 - I. Moderato
11:47 - II. Allegretto
18:48 - III. Adagio
This was Shostakovichs last work, completed about a month before his death. Because of his advanced and painful arthritis, as well as his unsteady hand and bad eyesight, the composer showed an increasing tendency to write sparsely scored orchestral compositions (Symphonies No. 14 and No. 15, for example) and many chamber pieces in his last years, finding their reduced scoring easier to manage. Shostakovich died on August 9, 1975, of heart failure, compounded by advanced cancer of the lungs. He was also aware that he was going blind. For all the suffering he was enduring in his last days, the composer did not invest his Sonata for viola with nearly the morbid and gloomy moods found in most of the late quartets. He himself spoke about the work, calling the first two movements merely a novella, and scherzo, respectively. He was a trifle more detailed about the finale, however, describing it as an adagio in memory of Beethoven. He also summed up the music in general as bright and clear. This last characterization of the work is misleading, as there is a feeling of resignation throughout, even if it is, to an extent, counterbalanced by a strong sense of serenity. In the end, the work seems to be an expression of the composer coming to terms with his ineluctable and unhappy fate.
The first movement, marked Moderato, is mournful, if serene, featuring sparse textures in the piano writing. The central panel (Allegretto) is actually playful in places, though one also finds a healthy dose of acid, typical of so many of the composers later chamber pieces. There is a Russian, slightly exotic flavor to the music here, as well. The finale is the longest and most substantive of the three movements. Its Adagio marking was a favorite of the composer at this time indeed, his Quartet No. 15 (1974) featured six consecutive Adagios. The mood in the finale is less gloomy than in that dark work, and the composer makes a brief reference to Beethovens Moonlight Sonata.
While much of the work is subdued and uncomplicated, it does offer considerable challenges to the performers. The sonata was premiered privately on September 26, 1975, and publicly on October 1. A typical performance of the Sonata for viola lasts between 35 and 40 minutes.
[allmusic.com]
Original Audio: https://youtu.be/haX77rYmw9g")
![Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quintet op. 29 [With score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/m42FQho6PWo/mqdefault.jpg "Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quintet op. 29 [With score]
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827)
Performers: Ensemble Hausmusik (Monica Huggett, Pavlo Beznosiuk (Violins), Roger Chase, Simon Whistler (Violas), Richard Lester (Cello))
String Quintet in C major (Storm), Op. 29, written in 1801
00:03 - I. Allegro moderato
10:10 - II. Adagio molto espressivo
18:47 - III. Scherzo: Allegro
22:55 - IV. Presto
This quintet is generally regarded as a transitional composition in the output of Beethoven transitional in that it contains elements from his early style, as well as from his second period. It can even be heard as a piece that augurs stylistic traits from his final years. Thus, this work is quite an interesting one in the study of Beethovens compositional evolution, but more importantly it rates high in pure artistic merit, apart from any musicological significance.
What might strike some as curious about the work, considering its generally optimistic moods, is that it comes from the period when Beethoven was growing acutely aware of the onset of his deafness. What is of interest in this regard then, is that the first two movements seem to reflect a geniality and good-naturedness in their flowing expression, while the last two take on a sterner, more energetic and driving manner that seems to come from a different, more disquieting world. Perhaps the composer had begun to experience the anxiety and depression associated with his condition midway through the composition of the work. But the slight darkening of the mood is only one important aspect Beethoven, here foreshadowing his more mature style, also seems to achieve a higher level of art than he attained in the first two movements.
The work opens with an Allegro, whose fluency and calm demeanor never seem threatened by anything in the development section. There is more energy in the first subject, more repose in the second. If there seems a Mozartean air about the music, it never appears to cross over, or even approach, the line to pure imitation. Beethoven is masterful throughout the movement, providing a compelling development section and reprise.
The ensuing Adagio molto espressione features a lovely main theme and a charming middle-section, that again call the world of Mozart to mind. In this movement Beethovens contrapuntal writing is brilliant and helps to impart an atmosphere of great warmth. This and the first movement are the longest two in the work, each lasting nearly ten minutes.
While the mood of the Scherzo, marked Allegro, does not radically break from the more easy-going demeanor of the preceding two movements, it is more robust, more neurotically insistent. Its main theme, all of one measure in length, is repeated throughout the movement, the music turning obsessive and overwhelming. This Scherzo clearly looks toward the later ones, foreshadowing even that in the great Ninth Symphony.
If the third movement sounds advanced for its time, the finale surpasses it at least in its subtle and innovative use of counterpoint. The sometimes hesitant, sometimes start-and-stop character of this Presto clearly comes from a more mature Beethoven. The structure here is quite unusual, consisting of three themes and a short coda at the end of the exposition. There follows a development section, out of which emerges a fourth theme. The work closes with a brilliant coda. Without doubt this is music on a level of profundity rarely found in Beethovens scores up to that time.
This work was first published in Leipzig in 1802 and dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries. A typical performance of the Quintet lasts between thirty and thirty-three minutes.
[allmusic.com]")
