Program Notes: Brahms Double Concerto

BEDŘICH SMETANA  
Overture to The Bartered Bride 
BORN: March 2, 1824, in Litomyšl, Czech Republic 
DIED: May 12, 1884, in Prague 
WORK COMPOSED: 1863–1866 
WORLD PREMIERE: May 30, 1866, at the Provisional Theater in Prague, with Smetana conducting.  

What to Listen For

• The exuberant force of the opening notes and the syncopated rhythms of Bohemian dance styles create a ceaseless flurry of joy throughout the entire overture.  

The exuberant force of the opening notes and the syncopated rhythms of Bohemian dance styles create a ceaseless flurry of joy throughout the entire overture.  

Bedřich Smetana grew up in Bohemia under the Austrian Habsburg Empire and had an early career as a virtuoso pianist and composer in the manner of Franz Liszt, whom he greatly admired. In1856, he moved to Sweden in search of more opportunities and financial stability. He gained valuable experience working as a conductor abroad yet was eager to return to his homeland, especially after learning that a professional Czech theater was to be built in Prague — the first of its kind in his country. He eventually became the principal conductor of the new Czech Provisional Theater, a position that inspired him to compose his second opera, The Bartered Bride. With this work, which depicts rural Bohemian life and uses the Czech language, Smetana created a truly national operatic style, earning praise and recognition as the father of Czech music.   

The comedic opera is set in a Czech village and features two young lovers who must contend with disapproving parents and a scheming matchmaker intent on derailing their relationship. The entire opera is a joyous celebration of Czech folk music and dance, including polkas and the fast-paced furiant. Common practice usually had composers writing an overture after the entire opera was finished, so they could pick and choose themes from the work to highlight in the musical preview. For The Bartered Bride, Smetana broke with tradition and wrote the overture before anything else.  

The Overture is a riot of energy from the first explosive notes to the breathless rushing of the strings as they amass forces. The syncopated rhythms of Bohemian dance styles are a constant presence and the joy captured within the music is endlessly infectious.  

JOHANNES BRAHMS  
Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102, “Double Concerto” 
BORN: May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany 
DIED: April 3, 1897, in Vienna, Austria 
WORK COMPOSED: 1887 in Thun, Switzerland 
WORLD PREMIERE: October 18, 1887, in Cologne, Germany, with Joseph Joachim on violin, Robert Hausmann on cello and Brahms conducting.  

What to Listen For  

• The alliance of the two solo instruments as they interact in contrast with the full orchestra. 

• Traces of the Hungarian Romani tunes that Brahms was so fond of are woven throughout the final movement.   

Johannes Brahms was a firm believer in the value of musical traditions; his sonatas and symphonies reflected his adherence to the abstract styles of those that came before him, namely Mozart and Beethoven. He pushed against the trends of his time that leaned toward Romanticism — the idea that music was a vehicle for personal expression and storytelling — and instead held to the idea that traditional Classical forms offered limitless possibilities for exploration. 

Though Brahms would live another 10 years after writing his Double Concerto in 1887, this turned out to be his last orchestral work. The piece is dedicated to Joseph Joachim, one of the most celebrated violinists of the 19th century and a dear friend of Brahms. A major rift had come between them when, during Joachim’s contentious divorce seven years earlier, a letter from Brahms in support of Joachim’s wife was presented in court. When the cellist Robert Hausmann, a colleague of both men, asked Brahms for a concerto, the composer seized upon the idea to include violin as a peace offering to his friend. After hearing a rehearsal for the piece, Clara Schumann noted in her diary that “the Concerto is a work of reconciliation. Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again.”   

The work begins with an assertive cello solo after which the violin enters in a more meditative mood. The two join together as allies in virtuosic passages that contrast with the full orchestra for this fast and dramatic movement. The second movement is lyrical with tender musings between the soloists. The lively finale has traces of the Hungarian Romani tunes that influenced Brahms for much of his life. A rhythmic energy and warm tone are present throughout this movement with intricate passagework from both violin and cello that ends in grand fashion with a climactic timpani roll and emphatic chords. 

RICHARD STRAUSS  
Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 
BORN: June 11, 1864, in Munich, Bavaria 
DIED: September 8, 1949, Garmisch, Germany 
WORK COMPOSED: 1910 
WORLD PREMIERE: The full opera premiered on January 26, 1911, in Dresden. The Suite was first performed on October 5, 1944, with Artur Rodzinski conducting the New York Philharmonic.  

What to Listen For  

• The emphatic horns of the opening, the delicate melody in the oboe, and the sumptuous and richly orchestrated waltzes all represent the many sides of love and the glamour of a bygone era.   

The emphatic horns of the opening, the delicate melody in the oboe, and the sumptuous and richly orchestrated waltzes all represent the many sides of love and the glamour of a bygone era.   

Richard Strauss found fame as a composer early on in life when his tone poem Don Juan, written when he was just 25 years old, became an instant hit. With his subsequent series of tone poems, Strauss pushed the boundaries of the late-Romantic era and was hailed as one of the first modern composers of the 20th century. In 1909, Strauss collaborated with the Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal for his opera Elektra, based on the Greek tragedy by Sophocles. After the darkness of Elektra and the scandal of his earlier opera Salome, Strauss turned to comedy and enlisted the help of Hofmannsthal to devise a libretto. The resulting opera, Der Rosenkavalier, was a massive success.  

Der Rosenkavalier is set in 18th-century Vienna with lush music that reflects the plot’s many romantic entanglements of the aristocracy. The opening horn call and sweeping orchestral gestures portray an explicit love affair between Field Marshal von Werdenberg’s wife, known as the Marschallin, and Count Octavian. A more delicate section featuring oboe and soaring melodies represents innocent love, as the 17-year-old Octavian ceremonially presents a rose to Sophie — a 16-year-old who is engaged to the older Baron Ochs — and they fall instantly in love. This comedic opera takes place roughly 100 years before Johann Strauss, Jr. turned Vienna into the waltz capital of the world, yet Strauss’ score is filled with decadent examples of the elegant style. The rich orchestrations and lyrical melodies of each waltz add a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era and serve as a perfect backdrop to the unfolding melodrama.  

The orchestral suite from the opera was published in 1945 and though Strauss approved of the score, he was not directly involved in creating it. The conductor Artur Rodzinski is most generally credited with arranging the suite and led its first performance with the New York Philharmonic on October 5, 1944.  

ALEXANDER BORODIN  
Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (Instrumental Version)
BORN: November 12, 1833, in Saint Petersburg, Russia 
DIED: February 27, 1887, in Saint Petersburg 
WORK COMPOSED: 1869–1870 
WORLD PREMIERE: November 4, 1890, at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg 

What to Listen For:  

• The sparkling colors of the winds, brass and percussion as they leap out of the orchestral texture. 

The sparkling colors of the winds, brass and percussion as they leap out of the orchestral texture. 

Alexander Borodin belonged to the group of five Russian composers known as the “Mighty Handful” who banded together in the late 19th century with a shared goal of creating a national school of Russian music, free from the influence of western-European traditions. Of the five, Mily Balakirev was the only professional musician and tutored the others — Modest Mussorgsky and César Cui, both military officers, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who served in the navy. Borodin’s background was unique: he was born the illegitimate son of a Russian prince and his mistress, and was registered to the family of one of the prince’s serfs, as was customary in such circumstances. Borodin grew up to become a distinguished professor of medicine and a research chemist, devoting his limited nonworking hours to studying and composing music.  

Borodin worked on his opera Prince Igor for two decades and left it unfinished when he died in 1887. His colleagues Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov were able to complete the work before its first performance in 1890. The story centers around the 12th-century Prince Igor and his quest to conquer the Polovtsians, a Tatar tribe. Igor and his son are captured by the Polovtsian leader Khan Kontchak, who calls on his servants to entertain the prisoners at the end of Act 2, setting the stage for a series of dances to begin. After an exciting introduction, the first dance starts with a gentle melody in the oboe that fondly recalls the servant’s homeland. The energy soon builds as the strings begin a wild dance. As each dance intensifies in vigor, the orchestra hurtles toward a conclusion of dazzling brilliance.  

Catherine Case © 2024  

 Catherine Case is a writer and editor based in the Midwest. Her program notes appear in publications for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Symphony, among others. As a professional harpist, Catherine has held positions with the São Paulo State Symphony, Singapore Symphony and Sarasota Orchestra.