No. 2059 Subscription (Program B)

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) was born in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic), then ruled by the Austrian Empire. As a boy, he received violin and vocal lessons before performing in the village band and church. After studying music in Prague, he made a living as a viola player while composing. 1875 marked a turning point in his life: the obscure musician in his mid-thirties in need won the Austrian State Grant for talented artists for five consecutive years starting then. On top of that, Brahms who served a jury spotted Dvořák’s originality. The former recommended his publisher issue works by this promising Czech man who, thanks to that, quickly earned fame throughout Europe with his printed Slavonic Dances (inspired by Brahms’s Hungarian Dances).
The Violin Concerto dates from Dvořák’s so-called Slavonic period when folkloric elements had a growing impact on his Austro-German-influenced compositions. He set to work on it in July 1879 for the Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (1831–1907), well-known today as Brahms’s lifelong friend. The Czech composer’s creativity was presumably ignited by Brahms’s Violin Concerto that Joachim had successfully premiered in January 1879. Dvořák’s concerto was not publicly heard until 1883 due to major and minor revisions he made following Joachim’s advice. For unknown reasons, the violinist didn’t give the first performance and likely never performed the work in public.
The Violin Concerto is cast in the classical three-movement structure, although its formal deviations from convention stand out. The first energetic movement in free sonata form skips the traditional orchestral exposition. It instead lets the soloist enter early in the opening few bars giving the first theme and then playing a brief cadenza-like passage. The recapitulation (an ending section where main themes are restated) and the soloist’s customary cadenza (improvisatory solo towards the end) are practically absent. More unexpectedly, the first movement turns smoothly without pause to the songful slow middle movement. The finale, a rondo, is highly folkloric: the joyful main section is a stylized furiant (a rapid Bohemian dance with frequent accent shifts), while a contrasting slower episode evokes dumka (a piece of Slavic music, usually pensive or melancholic).

[Kumiko Nishi]

“Neue Bahnen (New Paths)” was the title given by composer and critic Robert Schumann (1810–1856) in his October 1853 article to extol a Hamburg-born unknown named Johannes Brahms (1833–1897). It was the above-mentioned violinist and conductor Joseph Joachim who had introduced Brahms to Schumann the previous month. In this sensational text, Schumann foretold that if the twenty-year-old pianist-composer were to wave his magic wand so the power of the orchestra lends him its force, further wonderful glimpses into the mysteries of the spirit world would be revealed.
Schumann’s expectations started to be lived up to four years later—unfortunately, after his tragic death—when Brahms set to work on the Serenade No. 1 which was later to be his first work for orchestra. It was originally a chamber piece (for winds and strings) he wrote in Detmold where he served the court as conductor, pianist and music teacher every autumn from 1857 to 1859. Brahms first rewrote the piece for small orchestra, before the present version for full orchestra was premiered with Joachim conducting in Hanover in March 1860.
During the 18th century, a serenade was a suite of multiple, relatively light pieces for large instrumental ensemble. In general, it was written for the upper class to be performed outdoors on certain occasions or festivities, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) is particularly known for having brought its form to perfection. Brahms’s Serenade No. 1 is eloquent proof that he is a worthy successor to the First Viennese School trio Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). At the same time, Brahms blazed the trail of imaginative serenades as represented by Dvořák’s two works (1875 and 1878) and Tchaikovsky’s one (1880).
In accordance with the custom, the Serenade No. 1’s opening and final movements are in march rhythm, which is a remnant of traditional serenades where the musicians entered and exited while performing. The lively first movement has a Haydnesque pastoral beginning with French horn and clarinet solos over droning string chords. The serious second movement in D minor is a scherzo out of character, having the waltz-like trio (central) section in B-flat major. A climax of the work, the extended third movement is a slow sonata in B-flat major where the dignified atmosphere with dotted rhythms is alternated with expansive songfulness. The fourth movement in ternary form (Menuetto I in G major—Menuetto II in G minor—Menuetto I in G major) has a light chamber scoring. During the fifth movement, a scherzo in D major, French horns stand out suggesting a hunting scene where this instrument had been originally used. The finale in D major is in rondo-sonata form. The propulsive first theme in dotted rhythms will drive this serenade to a vigorous conclusion.

[Kumiko Nishi]