Month: January 2024

Strauss’ “Capriccio”: Two Excerpts from “A Conversation Piece for Music”

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In a song or an opera, which is more important—the words or the music? Richard Strauss’ whimsical final opera, Capriccio, Op. 85, sets out to answer this age-old question. Subtitled “A Conversation Piece for Music,” it is a work of magical escapism, composed by the 78-year-old Strauss amid the horrors of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. (The premiere took place in Munich on October 28, 1942). The “opera within an …

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Martha Argerich Plays Brahms: The Rhapsodies, Op. 79

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The title, “rhapsody,” suggests free and improvisatory music in which raw emotion supersedes formal structure. Johannes Brahms’ two Rhapsodies, Op. 79 for solo piano only partially conform to this definition. While both are passionately Romantic, they unfold with a clearly defined sense of structure—ternary or “ABA” in the first movement, and sonata form in the second. Brahms wrote the Op. 79 Rhapsodies during the summer of 1879 at the Austrian resort town …

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Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”: Winter and Spring

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During his student days, Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) attempted to run away from his Argentine Tango roots, only to return home. In 1954, he wrote a symphony for the Buenos Aires Philharmonic which earned him a scholarship to study in Paris with the legendary Nadia Boulanger. It was in a lesson with Boulanger that the young Piazzolla was encouraged to embrace his authentic voice. In his memoir, the composer recalled, She kept asking: …

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Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio, K. 498: Music Conceived at the Bowling Alley?

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In a memorable scene from the 1984 film, Amadeus, the fictionalized Mozart composes at a billiards table. Although Mozart’s phrases unfold with an uncanny crystalline ease, the composer’s creative process probably was not as casual and effortless as the scene suggests. Perhaps in an attempt to further the legend, Mozart’s widow, Constanze, destroyed all but ten percent of her husband’s sketches, following his death. Regardless, Mozart loved to play billiards, as well …

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Remembering Peter Schickele, Zany Creator of “P.D.Q. Bach”

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Peter Schickele, the American composer and classical music satirist, passed away on January 16, 2024 at his home in Bearsville, New York. He was 88. Born in Ames, Iowa, Schickele was a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Juilliard School. He studied with Roy Harris and Vincent Persichetti. As a composer, he produced numerous symphonic, choral, and chamber works, as well as music for film and the Broadway stage. Yet, he will …

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Brahms’ Two Motets, Op. 74: Sacred Music for A Cappella Choir

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In the Old Testament Book of Job, God allows Satan to strip the righteous Job of his family and wealth as a test of his faith. Job cries out in anguish (“Why has light been given to the weary of soul?”), and reflects on existential questions of worldly evil and divine grace. This is the subject of the first of Johannes Brahms’ Two Motets, Op. 74, Warum ist das Licht gegeben den …

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Brahms’ Second Symphony: Pastoral Sunshine and Shadows

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When it came to writing his First Symphony, Johannes Brahms felt the anxiety of influence. The nine symphonies of Beethoven were so transformative that Brahms was haunted by the “footsteps of a giant” marching behind him. The situation was made worse by Robert Schumann’s enthusiastic public prediction that the young Brahms was destined to become “the heir to Beethoven.” He would carry forward the mantle of “absolute” music, as opposed to the …

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