Johannes Brahms Scherzo in C minor for Violin and Piano from the F-A-E Sonata (1853)
Joan Tower Purple Rain for String Quintet (2020) BCMS Commission /Premiere
Gabriel Fauré Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15 (1876-79)
People new to the conversational norms of Classical musicians and audiences have been known to feel excluded by the common practice of referring to many pieces by seemingly obscure catalog numbers or by key rather than by name or title. When dealing with a medium whose sublime products lie beyond words, and are also built entirely from raw materials such as pitch, intensity, duration and color in ways typical of or referring to a particular time or place, confusion and bafflement are understandable.
Our February program offers the perfect opportunity to make all feel welcome into the family of chamber music lovers by introducing our latest BCMS Commission, Purple Rain for String Quintet by Joan Tower. Our BCMS Commissioning Club has to date supported the creation of seven new works by seven living composers. Their works are living proof that there is still more to say through our medium, and masters who know how. Joan Tower writes:
Purple Rain was commissioned by the Boston Chamber Music Society. It is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.
Purple Rain is in one movement lasting around 15 minutes. The word “purple” in the title is included because I think of the viola as having a rich deep purple sound. (I have three solo works and a concerto for viola titled Simply Purple, Wild Purple, Purple Rush and Purple Rhapsody). Continuing that trend, I decided on Purple Rain for the quintet which features the two violas but also balances those with solos and duets for the other instruments. The word “rain” refers to a kind of insistent repetitive rhythm that recurs throughout the work that takes on different tempos, textures and energies—like rain often does.
When asked ‘what does it mean for a piece to be in a key’ the answer may be better understood by making the emotive analogy to color—as in Rhapsody in Blue, supported by the choice of instruments, registers, etc. Last month we referred to the effect of having two cellos in the Schubert Quintet, and two violas in the Mozart viola quintets thereby shifting the color balance of the traditional string quartet, of two violins viola and cello, to the dark side. Joan Tower tells us the color she associates with tonal darkness of the viola, and the image of rain as the driving motion. The place of purple in the visual spectrum can be understood as analogous to placing a piece in a key on the tonal spectrum that similarly yields emotive qualities.
The most famous Scherzo in all of classical music is the third movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in C minor. There is no doubt that listeners of Brahms’s time would have recognized the opening of his Scherzo for Violin and Piano as referring the Beethoven’s since they prominently feature the same notes (all G’s) played the same way, and in the same tempo. That the three dots and dash (• • • ―) were later adapted to Morse code to mean ‘Victory’ says something about what people felt and heard represented by that motif ever since. Starting in the lowest register of the violin and in the brooding key of C minor provides Brahms a means of signaling struggle to overcome.
Our program concludes with Gabriel Fauré’s familiar Piano Quartet in C minor in four movements. It remains one of the favorites of our audience at BCMS and reminds us, au contraire, that C minor can also be a source of great fun and games.
Enjoy.
