Program Notes

Program Notes

by April L. Racana

Wed. September 21

The 104th Tokyo Opera City Subscription Concert

Fri.

September 23

The 884th Suntory Hall Subscription Concert

Sun. September 25

The 885th Orchard Hall Subscription Concert

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, op. 73,“Emperor”9/21 9/23
I. Allegro (ca. 20 min)II. Adagio un poco mosso (ca. 8 min)III. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo(ca. 10 min)As with his other works similarly
dubbed with additional titles, Beethoven
was not the one to subtitle his final piano
concerto “Emperor”. It is believed rather,that his long time friend and pianist
John Baptist Cramer, who was born inGermany but based in London, gave thename. While Beethoven thought highlyof his pianist/publisher friend, he did
not hold in high esteem emperors, so it
is a bit of a puzzle as to why his friend
would attach such a moniker to the work.
In fact, at the time that Beethoven wascomposing this piece, Napoleon and hisFrench forces were soon to invade andoccupy Vienna.
Beethoven had recently completed
his Fifth and Sixth symphonies, as wellas his Fourth Piano Concerto, and had
given the marathon concert of a numberof his recent works for a charity event in
December of 1808. It was in 1809 thatthe composer began work on this his last
piano concerto. He had recently been
given a contract by Archduke Rudolph,

together with two princes that gave
him the financial freedom to remain in
Vienna and dedicate himself to his art.
Unfortunately though, as a result of theoccupation, Beethoven along with all
citizens of Vienna, were heavily taxed.
Not only did the occupation result in lessfinancial freedom for the composer, but
limited his movement as well, so that hewas unable to spend time outside of thecity in the countryside during the summerm o n t h s , t o wh i ch h e h a d b e c o m eaccustomed.
The Piano Concerto No. 5 is in thetraditional three-movement form, andnot surprisingly is dedicated to Archduke
Rudolph, who had been not only a patronbut also a student of Beethoven’s. While
Beethoven had previously premiered
his own piano concertos, his hearing
loss had gotten to the point where herealized he could no longer perform
his own works publicly. Instead, thepremiere was played by the organist,
Friedrich Schneider in Leipzig in 1811.
The following year, in February of 1812,
one of Beethoven’s students, Carl Czerny,gave the work its Vienna premiere.
As with many of his compositions,
Beethoven was exploring new avenues
19Program Notes

of expression, and this concerto was nodifferent. Instead of the usual orchestral
exposition, the first movement openswith a single sustained chord by theensemble. This is immediately followed
by several cadenza-like passages from thesoloist, which are in turn emphaticallyresolved by the orchestra’s sustained
chords before taking off into the glorious
first theme. The second movement is

hymn-like in the key of B major, resolving
with a simple half-step by the bassoon to
B flat to return us to the dominant of theoriginal key of E flat major and the final
rondo in all its grandeur.
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, solo
piano

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68,“Pastorale” 9/21 9/23 9/25
I. 'Awakening of cheerful feelings onarrival in the countryside.' ― Allegro
ma non troppo (ca. 9 min)II. 'Scene by the brook.' ― Andantemolto mosso (ca. 12 min)III. 'Merry gathering of country folk.' ―Allegro (ca. 5 min)IV. 'Thunderstorm.' ― Allegro (ca. 4 min)V. 'Shepherd's song. Happy and thankful
feelings after the storm.' ― Allegretto(ca. 9 min)‘Sinfonia caracteristica — or memories
of country life…. Sinfonia pastorella….
Anyone who has experienced country
life can determine the intentions of thecomposer even without titles…. Thelistener should be allowed to discover
the situation…. All painting in music
is a failure if it is pushed too far….
Instead the music is more an expressionof feelings rather than a painting insounds….’
These various comments were written
by Beethoven in his sketches for the Sixth
Symphony and reveal that although he
did in fact give titles, not only to eachmovement of the work, but also to the20

work as a whole, that his focus was moreon expressing the emotional reactions
to nature rather than presenting a
programmatic piece.
Beethoven’s love for nature, in fact
his need to be in constant connection
with nature, is well known. But thefact that, of all of his works, he felt it
important to entitle each movement of
his Pastorale Symphony, emphasizes
even more his strong feelings associatedwith his relationship with nature. The
first movement, ‘Awakening of cheerfulfeelings upon arrival in the country’, may
be an expression of his own personalfeelings whenever he would leave thecity to take time out in the countryside,
such as he often did. In fact when hecomposed this and his Fifth Symphony,among other works, during the summersof 1807 and 1808, he was on retreat in
the rural town, Heiligenstadt.
The second movement, ‘Scene by thebrook’, perhaps comes close to painting
a picture of nature with the timbres ofthe orchestra aptly imitating the sound of
the babbling brook as well as mimicking
particular bird songs. Beethoven evenindicated in the score the bird song each
instrument was playing in the closing
woodwind cadenza, with the flute playing
the part of the nightingale, the oboe asa quail, and the clarinet a cuckoo. But
again it seems it was Beethoven’s intent
to create a serene atmosphere with thesesounds rather than a sound painting.
The remaining three movements areperformed without pause, almost creating
the effect of a three-movement work,
rather than the five indicated in the score.
In fact, many have commented that thefourth movement ‘Thunderstorm’, in allof its brevity, acts more as an introduction
for the final movement, ‘Shepherd’ssong. Happy and thankful feelings afterthe storm.’ The third movement, ‘Merry
gathering of country folk’ is a fairly
traditional scherzo/trio form with abrupt
interruptions in even rhythms, almost as
a foreshadowing of the storm to come.
And again, though the fourth movement
clearly depicts a scene during a sudden
rainstorm, Beethoven’s hope was that theaudience would experience the emotionsat hand, beyond the inevitable soundpainting.
S y m p h o ny N o . 6 wa s p r e m i e r e din December of 1808 at the massive
concert at the Theatre an der Wien whereBeethoven introduced his Fifth Symphonyalong with his Fourth Piano Concerto,
two sections of the Mass in C major, theconcert aria Ah! Perfido, the Fantasia in Gmajor for piano, as well as the Fantasia in
C minor for piano, chorus and orchestra.
N e e d l e s s t o s ay i t wa s s o m e wh a t
overwhelming for the audience to sit
through such a full program. And giventhat both the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies
were composed about the same time,
their numbers were mistakenly reversedon the program for this premiere.

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As the final movement expresses
pure thanksgiving in an exultant hymn,
one can’t help but hear Beethoven’s
own words describe his joy at being
surrounded by nature as he wrote in a
letter to a friend: “How glad I am tobe able to roam in wood and thicket,
among the trees and flowers androcks. No one can love the country as
I do…. In the country, every tree seems
to speak to me…. In the woods, thereis enchantment, which expresses allthings…. For surely woods, trees, androcks produce the echo that man desires
to hear.”
Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2trombones, timpani, strings

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92
I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace (ca. 12 min)II. Allegretto (ca. 9 min)III. Presto – Assai meno presto, trio (ca. 8 min)IV. Allegro con brio (ca. 7 min)

9/25

With his continually declining healthin the summer of 1811, Beethoven wasreferred by the prominent Viennese
physician, Dr. Giovanni Malfatti to retreat
to the Bohemian town of Teplitz, which21