The second program of our 29th season reminds me of many different beginnings in my own life: Haydn, as the “father of chamber music”, the Dohnányi Serenade as one I first performed on many tours in a trio with the man who was to become founder of BCMS, Ronald Thomas; the Bloch Two Pieces–first heard in the Seattle Festival (and not since), and the glorious Schumann Piano Quintet–the first piece of chamber music I ever heard! By the time I heard the Schumann, chamber music performances were widely available to the public, even on television as they are today. The move of chamber music from private conversation to public passion parallels the growth of civic wealth, the public emergence of instrumental superstars and ensembles, and the support of individual patrons who not only commissioned new works, but also sustained ensembles and series to let the people in.
The Haydn Piano Trio in C major is one of three dedicated to Therese Jansen, wife of his engraver Bartolozzi, and an apparently virtuosic former private student of Clementi. In the days before sustaining a public reputation, and before women were allowed to appear on stage, her musicianship and virtuosity inspired compositions from many composers. The trios of this set date from the time of Haydn’s years in England (1791-95) following Mozart’s death. We may recall that the latter two of three piano quartets commissioned from Mozart were cancelled by the publisher after the first quartet was delivered because the piano writing was deemed too virtuosic for home use in 1786 Vienna. In writing his second piano quartet for different publisher Mozart proved undeterred by the perceived local standard. For Haydn, the encounter with private greatness and public admiration beyond his national boundaries and expectations led to the creation of many of his greatest works including a few more sonatas for Jansen. This trio ends with one of Haydn’s greatest displays of humor, both in catchy tune and off beat accent.
Serenade for String Trio by Dohnányi has the distinction of being one of the most performed works for that combination after those of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Like the divertimenti and serenades of Mozart and Beethoven, it breaks the four-movement classical mold, employing instead five movements, the outer two using music for a march just like Beethoven’s Serenade in D major for String Trio. Where divertimenti and serenades of the past were often heard as background music intended to stimulate conversation, the Dohnányi was clearly written to be a show-stopper for three virtuosos who could not be denied. It is also the work of one who was to become an émigré from Hungary to Florida to teach at Florida State University following the war. Dohnányi is revered among musicians for his public stand against Nazi persecution of the Jews. His work is thereby the first of those by émigré composers we will be hearing this season as the focus of our Winter Festival.
Ernest Bloch’s Two Pieces for String Quartet were dedicated to the famed Griller String Quartet, with whom William Primrose recorded all the Mozart Viola Quintets as second violist. Since Bloch had already written two major string quartets and was soon after to write a third, it is possible these pieces were intended as encores adding spice and drive to their programs of classics, and as introductions to his longer quartets for presenters considering re-engagements.
As a young violin student growing up in the South Bronx in the 1950’s my first encounter with chamber music was seeing and hearing a telecast of the Schumann Piano Quintet played by the Budapest String Quartet with a pianist I cannot now recall. (It could have been Rudolf Serkin!) The most lasting visual image was of chiseled face of Boris Kroyt, the violist, turned outward over his viola toward the audience. The most lasting musical image was of the depth of feeling contained in the slow movement.
Four images of the Budapest String Quartet performing in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. The lower left photo shows the image of Boris Kroyt similar to the 1950’s telecast mentioned above.
After many years of studying, performing, teaching and hearing the piece, I’m not surprised how popular it remains with audiences. It is still regarded as the first work successfully combining piano and string quartet by a major composer. It also marks the collapse of the social divide between the private and public concerts that was to allow chamber music be heard beyond the inner circle of performers and friends by a wider audience.
Schumann’s ideal for how to write chamber music was summed up in a review where he wrote: “no instrument dominates, and each has something to say.” However, he was to recognize in works by Mozart and Mendelssohn the need to strike a new balance between musical substance and virtuosic display; between the needs of adept amateurs playing at home and recitalists such as his wife, Clara and Felix Mendelssohn; and between orchestral textures with unison doublings and independence of parts in response to the growing demand for public performances in larger spaces. These factors helped make this quintet the perfect crossover.
This is the piece that made chamber music popular!
Enjoy!!
