Schumann's Cello Concerto

FOCUS: Clara, Robert, Johannes

2023-09-14 20:00 2023-09-14 23:00 60 Canada/Eastern 🎟 NAC: Schumann's Cello Concerto

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/33721

In-person event

Join us for a free pre-concert talk at Peter Herrndorf Place in the NAC, featuring Brahms biographer Jan Swafford and musicologist Hannah Chan-Hartley. *** Our season-opening festival FOCUS: Clara, Robert, Johannes​ celebrates the abiding friendship between Clara and Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms who encouraged and inspired each other through lives of prolific creativity, troubling uncertainty, and perhaps even unrequited love. Clara Wieck Schumann gave her first performance...

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Southam Hall,1 Elgin Street,Ottawa,Canada
Thu, September 14, 2023
Thu, September 14, 2023

Last updated: October 17, 2023

Program

CLARA SCHUMANN (8 min)

“An einem lichten Morgen” (“On a clear morning”), Op. 23, No. 2
“Geheimes Flüstern hier und dort” (“Secret whisperings here and there”), Op. 23, No. 3
“Liebeszauber” (“Love’s magic”), Op. 13, No. 3

ROBERT SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 (26 min)

I. Nicht zu schnell –
II. Langsam –
III. Sehr lebhaft

INTERMISSION

JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (45 min)

I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro
II. Andante sostenuto
III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso
IV. Adagio – Allegro non troppo ma con brio

Clara Schumann Lieder – Texts and Translations

An einem lichten Morgen 
German source: Hermann Rollett 

An einem lichten Morgen, 
Da klingt es hell im Tal: 
Wach’ auf, du liebe Blume, 
Ich bin der Sonnenstrahl! 

Erschließe mit Vertrauen 
Dein Blütenkämmerlein 
Und laß die heiße Liebe 
In’s Heiligtum hinein.  

Ich will ja nichts verlangen 
Als liegen dir im Schoß 
Und deine Blüte küssen, 
Eh’ sie verwelkt im Moos.  

Ich will ja nichts begehren 
Als ruh’n an deiner Brust 
Und dich dafür verklären 
Mit sonnenheller Lust. 

Geheimes Flüstern hier und dort  
German source: Hermann Rollett 

Geheimes Flüstern hier und dort, 
Verborg’nes Quellenrauschen, 
O Wald, o Wald, geweihter Ort, 
Laß mich des Liebens reinstes Wort, 
in Zweig und Blatt belauschen! 

Und schreit’ ich in den Wald hinaus, 
Da grüßen mich die Bäume, 
Du liebes, freies Gotteshaus, 
Du schließest mich mit Sturmgebraus 
In deine kühlen Räume!  

Was leise mich umschwebt, umklingt, 
Ich will es treu bewahren, 
Und was mir tief zum Herzen dringt, 
Will ich, vom Geist der Lieb’ beschwingt, 
In Liedern offenbaren! 

Liebeszauber  
German source: Emanuel Geibel 

Die Liebe saß als Nachtigall 
Im Rosenbusch und sang; 
Es flog der wundersüße Schall 
Den grünen Wald entlang.  

Und wie er klang, - da stieg im Kreis 
Aus tausend Kelchen Duft, 
Und alle Wipfel rauschten leis’, 
Und leiser ging die Luft;  

Die Bäche schwiegen, die noch kaum 
Geplätschert von den Höh’n, 
Die Rehlein standen wie im Traum 
Und lauschten dem Getön.  

Und hell und immer heller floß 
Der Sonne Glanz herein, 
Um Blumen, Wald und Schlucht ergoß 
Sich goldig roter Schein.  

Ich aber zog den Wald entlang 
Und hörte auch den Schall. 
Ach! was seit jener Stund’ ich sang, 
War nur sein Widerhall. 

https://oxfordsong.org/song/liebeszauberhttps://oxfordsong.org/song/liebeszauber

Repertoire

CLARA SCHUMANN

“An einem lichten Morgen” (“On a clear morning”), Op. 23, No. 2

“Geheimes Flüstern hier und dort” (“Secret whisperings here and there”), Op. 23, No. 3

“Liebeszauber” (“Love’s magic”), Op. 13, No. 3

Clara Schumann (1819–1896) covers many poetic themes in her 28 extant Lieder (songs for voice and piano)—of which many more were lost—but the splendors of nature hold a special place. Nature imagery is a typical Romantic trait, intended to represent human emotions, and Schumann’s writing for voice and piano conjures up musical, emotional landscapes that enhance the impact of the poems she chooses. For example, “An einem lichten Morgen,” Op. 23, No. 2 (“On a clear morning,” composed in 1853) is a passionate, almost carnal, ode to love awash with botanical metaphors—the sun dreams of kissing a flower and resting on its bosom. This passion is conveyed through a lively tempo, a vocal part that progressively rises to a climax at the end of the Lied and a piano part driven by rapid-fire arpeggios.

Similarly, “Geheimes flüstern hier und dort,” Op. 23, No. 3 ("Secret whisperings here and there," 1853) uses a poem from Hermann Rollett’s novel Jucunde, but here passion makes way for deep serenity. In this Lied, a forest is a consecrated place for spiritual transcendence where one can hear in the foliage “life’s most pure word.” The tempo is slow and very soft, and the piano’s descending arpeggios whisper under a tranquil vocal melody. The final strophe evokes art’s power to transform pain into music—a theme that may have resonated with Schumann personally, as in 1853 Robert’s health was declining more and more.

Meanwhile, “Liebeszauber,” Op. 13, No. 3 (“Love’s magic,” 1842) dates back to the early years of Clara and Robert’s marriage. In this vibrant and youthful Lied, nature falls silent to listen to love’s song, which rings out in bubbling triplets on piano and spirited vocal runs. This constant movement slows down only as the Lied draws to an end, as the narrator realizes that they can only echo love’s song.

Program note by Julie Pedneault-Deslauriers (translated from the French)

ROBERT SCHUMANN

Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129

I. Nicht zu schnell –
II. Langsam –
III. Sehr lebhaft

Robert Schumann’s (1810–1856) preoccupation with the future direction of orchestral music post-Beethoven encompassed not only the symphony but also the concerto. Following failed earlier attempts to write his own piano concerto, and after years of reviewing those by his contemporaries (for his journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik), Schumann began to develop his own creative ideas about the evolution of the three-movement genre. In 1839, he articulated in an article what this might look like:

We must come up with a genre [of one-movement concerto pieces] that consists of a longer movement in a moderate tempo, in which the preliminary section would take the place of a first Allegro, the cantabile section, that of the Adagio, and a brilliant ending, that of the Rondo.

He first attempted to fulfill his vision with the experimental 1841 Phantasie for Piano and Orchestra, but this later became the first movement of his Piano Concerto (1845). This concerto was almost in the three-in-one-movement plan he advocated, with the second and third movements linked by an innovative transition that looks back to the first movement and anticipates the third. It wasn’t until nearly a decade later when he composed the Cello Concerto, with its three movements all connected, that he came closest to achieving what he wished.

Schumann completed a draft of his Cello Concerto (which he initially called Konzertstück, or concert piece) in September 1850. After struggling to find a publisher and unable to persuade cellists to perform it, he arranged it for violin and sent it to Joseph Joachim. (Joachim, however, never played it; the arrangement was only rediscovered in the 1980s.) In 1853, after his removal to the asylum in Endenich, Robert managed to finish correcting the proofs to the original and sent it off for publication. Still, the Concerto didn’t receive its first public performance until June 1860, four years after Schumann’s death, and for the rest of the 19th century, it got only a smattering of presentations. Its established place in the concert repertoire today is due to the championing efforts of 20th-century cellists such as Pablo Casals, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Jacqueline du Pré.

With its emphasis on lyricism rather than dazzling virtuosity, Schumann’s Cello Concerto is unusual for the genre (perhaps a reason it didn’t immediately appeal to cellists). As musicologist Joseph Kerman has observed, the cello part is “driven by song” right from the opening pathos-tinged melody it plays, which shifts with “an emotional crescendo from fervour, to passion, to transport.” The second movement is like a Lied (German art song), with nostalgia as the primary mood; here, Schumann uses the novel device of having the solo cello’s voice tracked by another solo cello in the orchestra, thereby giving the song a distinctive richness. It seems that overall, in this work, Schumann wanted to revel in the interplay of sonorities between soloist and orchestra. Indeed, this what he felt a concerto should be—that is, “a mannerly battle between the solo and the separate orchestral voices,” as he once described it.

To connect the movements together as he desired, and to imbue the Concerto with a kind of emotional trajectory, Schumann eschewed some of the customary formal conventions of the genre. For example, there’s no cadenza in the first movement; instead, the cello sings an impassioned line that gradually unravels directly into the slow movement. The transition into the third movement, however, is a mini drama unto itself. After the close of the second movement’s song, the flute and clarinet recall the first phrase of the cello melody in the opening movement. This provokes an intense recitative-like outpouring from the cello, which then accelerates into the finale. The third movement, for the most part, is an energetic dance, robust and quite serious. At last, near the end, we get a cadenza, but it’s more fiery melodrama than flashy display. A rather extraordinary passage follows, with the orchestra creeping in while the cello continues its musings, out of which it finds its way and makes a final sprint to the end.

Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD

JOHANNES BRAHMS

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro
II. Andante sostenuto
III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso
IV. Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo ma con brio

Brahms (1833–1897) began sketching his First Symphony in 1855, when he was 22, but did not complete it until 1876, when he was 43—so prestigious and intimidating was the legacy of Beethoven’s nine symphonies. (“You don’t know what it’s like to be dogged by his footsteps,” he remarked.) Brahms’s First earned much acclaim, and, coming late in a century dominated by radicals like Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, was a coup for those who defended the validity of the old forms. (Hans von Bülow proclaimed it “the Tenth.”) Yet, despite its bows to Classical models (like the four-movement plan), it was a deeply personal work founded on an original kind of symphonic technique: the forging of a dense, unified structure through intensive development of short, germinal melodic and rhythmic motifs. Arnold Schoenberg coined the term “developing variation” for this practice, and insisted that the purportedly “academic” Brahms was in fact the most progressive composer of his day.

The mighty slow introduction establishes the serious, even tragic tone of the first movement, and the subsequent Allegro, with its Beethovenian rhythmic drive, has the character of a dark, anguished scherzo (minor keys are unusually prominent). In the slow movement, which follows like sunshine after a storm, several themes are given out in sequence, so seamlessly that the music unfolds as a single outpouring of melody, growing ever more intense and passionate and finally attaining real pathos. For the third movement, in place of a minuet or scherzo, Brahms wrote one of those gentle, glowing pastorales that would become his trademark, though he retained the conventional three-part (ABA) minuet-and-trio form.

In the slow introduction to the finale, a majestic horn theme (like an Alpine shepherd’s call) and a chorale-like melody in the brass seem to call for resolution, and the Allegro that follows begins with a moving, hymn-like melody (strings) that resembles the “Ode to Joy” of Beethoven’s Ninth. (When someone said so to Brahms, he famously replied that “any jackass” could see that. Indeed, it was a performance of the Ninth that had first got him thinking, at 21, about writing a symphony.) The finale is not without surprises (including the return of the “Alpine” horn theme), or moments of darkness and unease, but they pass. In a faster coda, the main Allegro theme joined by the “chorale” from the introduction, the symphony comes triumphantly to a close.

Program note by Kevin Bazzana

Artists

  • Conductor Alexander Shelley
  • Cello Nicolas Altstaedt
  • midori-marsh-headshot-1-scaled-e1654794134734-cropped
    Soprano Midori Marsh
  • Piano Darren Creech
  • Featuring NAC Orchestra

Credits

NAC Orchestra

First Violins  
Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster) 
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster) 
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster) 
Jeremy Mastrangelo 
Marjolaine Lambert 
Emily Westell 
Manuela Milani 
Zhengdong Liang 
*Erica Miller 
*Martine Dubé 
*Oleg Chelpanov 
*Renée London 

Second Violins 
*Jeffrey Dyrda (guest principal) 
Emily Kruspe 
Frédéric Moisan 
Carissa Klopoushak 
Winston Webber 
Leah Roseman 
Mark Friedman 
Karoly Sziladi 
**Edvard Skerjanc 
*Andréa Armijo Fortin 
*Heather Schnarr 

Violas 
Jethro Marks (principal) 
David Marks (associate principal) 
David Goldblatt (assistant principal) 
Tovin Allers 
David Thies-Thompson 
Paul Casey 
*Sonya Probst 

Cellos 
Rachel Mercer (principal) 
**Julia MacLaine (assistant principal) 
Leah Wyber 
Marc-André Riberdy 
Timothy McCoy 
*Karen Kang 
*Desiree Abbey 
*Daniel Parker 

Double Basses 
Max Cardilli (assistant principal) 
Vincent Gendron 
Marjolaine Fournier 
*Paul Mach 
*Doug Ohashi 

Flutes 
Joanna G'froerer (principal) 
Stephanie Morin 

Oboes 
Charles Hamann (principal) 
Anna Petersen 

English Horn 
Anna Petersen 

Clarinets 
Kimball Sykes (principal) 
Sean Rice 

Bassoons 
Darren Hicks (principal) 
Vincent Parizeau 
*Carmelle Préfontaine 

Horns 
*Nicholas Hartman (guest principal) 
Julie Fauteux (associate principal) 
Lawrence Vine 
Lauren Anker 
Louis-Pierre Bergeron 

Trumpets 
Karen Donnelly (principal) 
Steven van Gulik 

Trombones
*Steve Dyer (guest principal) 
Colin Traquair 

Bass Trombone 
Zachary Bond 

Timpani 
*Simón Gómez (guest principal)

Principal Librarian 
Nancy Elbeck 

Assistant Librarian 
Corey Rempel 

Personnel Manager 
Meiko Lydall 

Orchestra Personnel Coordinator 
Laurie Shannon 

*Additional musicians 
**On leave 

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees