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Carl Nielsen
(1865-1931)
Serenata in vano (1914) FS68
Nielsen described his Serenata in
Vano (scored for clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello and double bass)
as 'a humorous trifle'. In one movement, it was written for his
friends from the Royal Chapel Orchestra in Copenhagen on tour with the
Schubert Octet.
A group of village
musicians play at a sweetheart's window, but she ignores them, they go
home (tempo di marcia) drinking and merry just the same. |
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Alan
Bush (1900–1995)
Septet for Woodwind and Strings Op118
I Allegro moderato II Largamente, ma non
troppo lento III Recitative (Moderato con moto)
IV Presto V Allegro moderato -
Allegro vivace
Alan Bush (1900–1995) was a significant presence
in British music for almost all of the last century, yet his music
remains relatively little known. His career was in the ascendant
during the 1920's and 30's. His first publication, the String Quartet
in A minor (1923) won a Carnegie award. Six years later his Dialectic
for String Quartet Op 15 (1929) confirmed the promise of his debut,
asserting a strongly individual voice and an exceptionally rigorous
musical intellect. The 1938 première of Bush's Piano Concerto with
Bush as soloist marked one of the high points of his career. Cast in
five movements, the work ends with a setting for male-voice choir of
revolutionary poem by Randolph Swingler. At the time Bush's political
convictions were not a barrier to the widespread dissemination of his
music. He joined the Communist Party in 1935 and co-founded the
Worker's Music Association in 1936. Bush had been turned down for
military service during the First World War and the loss of his
brother Alfred had a profound impact on him. He witnessed at first
hand the rise of fascism in Germany. He went to Berlin in 1929 to
study Philosophy and Musicology but left in 1931 because of the
unstable political situation. Not surprisingly these years helped to
forge Bush's world outlook. In 1940 he volunteered for active service
and was accepted into the army but by then Bush's politics were
becoming an embarrassment to the establishment. The BBC banned his
music in 1941 but lifted the ban following the intervention of Vaughan
Williams. During the years that followed, Bush's public exposure was
limited, especially at the height of the Cold War. This period of
neglect elided with the fashion-conscious period 1960's and 70's when
'innovation' was at a premium and many composers of Bush's generation
found themselves out of favour. Bush took all this with stoicism.
Commenting (in an interview with John Amis) on the price he paid for
his convictions, Bush remarked 'well, I suppose I asked for it'.
In his ninth decade Alan Bush concentrated on
writing new instrumental works. Amongst them are a number of chamber
works for larger ensembles. Bush wanted to try new challenges and
selected his instrumentation accordingly. The first three works (Piano
Quintet Op 104, Octet Op 105 and Canzona Op 106) explore the
combination of piano with wind and/or strings. In the last of the
series, Septet for Woodwind and Strings Op 118, Bush combines a
woodwind quartet with string trio. It probably dates from 1988, the
year before Bush's last major chamber work, the Sonata for Cello and
Pianoforte Op 120.
The Septet Op 118 is cast in five movements. Each
in its way is quite complex in design and three of them use
contrasting tempi. Yet the work is surprisingly short - a little less
than fifteen minutes. The third (and most substantial) movement
appears to have been added as an afterthought. Though individual
movements taken in isolation may seem to lack sustained musical
argument, there is a wealth of motivic connection between them. Bush
explores a kaleidoscopic range of instrumental combinations with tutti
passages used sparingly. The resulting work is playful yet enigmatic.
The home key is A minor. After an introductory
passage in seven-part harmony, the sonata form first movement, Allegro
moderato, has two subject groups, a series of contrapuntal 'flights'
(set for different instrumental groups) and a little staccato phrase
presented by the strings. In the fiery coda, the 'flight' idea is
heightened through diminution and its main interval shapes are distilled
to a single figure, which is hammered out in a final tutti. The second
movement is darker in character. It's unison opening, marked Largamente,
ma non troppo, gives way to sustained harmonic writing. There is a
short theme (rhythmically articulated) and then only two equally short
variations (both quite fast) set over gently pulsing chords. The first
includes a playful flute/violin dialogue on a tiny figure taken from the
introduction. The third movement, Recitative and Trio is more
expansive. Violin and clarinet take leading roles. Thematically the
movement has a strong kinship with the first whose two subject groups
inform the Recitative and Trio respectively. The dance-like coda
is marked by sudden change of tempo (to Allegro Vivace) and
anticipates the mood of the fourth movement (Presto). Here Bush
exploits antiphonal blocks of wind and strings. The movement is a
playful scherzo, rich in harmonic tension. The final movement opens
Allegro moderato with a variant of the works' opening, now poised in the
dominant key. A lively dance ensues (Allegro vivace) dominated by
a five-note figure. After a fragmented climax, cello and viola have the
final word in a lyrical dialogue that slows and descends. Harmonic
tensions dissolve but the effect is strangely enigmatic, the dark final
cadence neither major nor minor.
© Timothy Bowers
Timothy Bowers was a pupil of Alan Bush and edited
this work for performance. His work on Alan Bush's late music has been
funded by the Royal Academy of Music's Research Fund. |
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Ludwig van
Beethoven (1770–1827)
Septet in E flat major, op.20.
1. Adagio –
Allegro con brio 2. Adagio cantabile 3. Tempo di
Minuetto
4. Tema: Andante con variazioni 5. Scherzo: Allegro
molto e vivace
6. Andante con moto alla
marcia – Presto
The septet was
written in the second half of 1799 and the first three months of 1800.
Its first public performance took place at a concert given by
Beethoven at Vienna’s Hofburg theatre on 2nd April 1800.
It was part of a concert, which included a symphony by Mozart, an aria
from Haydn’s Creation, one of Beethoven’s piano concertos
and his First Symphony, op. 21. It had been heard prior to this
at the house of Prince Joseph Schwarzenburg to whom Beethoven had
dedicated his Quintet op.16 for piano and winds.
The septet was
enormously popular and Beethoven transcribed the work for piano,
violin (or clarinet) and ‘cello.
The Septet is scored
for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass and
dedicated to Empress Maria Theresa. Cast in the vein of a divertimento
or serenade it has six movements. All the movements are in Eb except
for the second in Ab and the fourth in Bb.
The first movement
starts with a slow introduction leading to the allegro with its
prominent parts for the violin and the clarinet.
The Adagio
cantabile is in A-B-A form and is full of expressive melody.
The most popular
movement of the work in Beethoven’s day, the Minuetto uses
material from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op.49, No.2.
The theme and variations
follow with the theme played by the whole ensemble.
Variation one: strings minus double bass.
Variation 2: violin solo accompanied by the other instruments minus
horn.
Variation 3: strings accompany clarinet and bassoon.
Variation 4: in Bb minor, solo horn then joined by clarinet and bassoon,
accompanied by the strings.
Variation 5: the parts interweave until a loud chord seems to prepare us
for a cadenza.
The movement draws to an unexpected close.
The fifth movement scherzo
starts with the call of a hunting horn and is full of a bluff
heartiness. Throughout the trio a ‘cello solo is accompanied by the
other strings, reinforced by the bassoon.
The finale starts with a
slow, dark introduction that gives way to a joyful Presto which,
with its cadenza for the violin, is like a concerto movement. |