Romantic Period

Grieg’s Two Elegiac Melodies: From Norwegian Verse to String Choir

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In 1880, Edvard Grieg composed a cycle of songs for voice and piano (12 Melodies, Op. 33) based on the poetry of fellow Norwegian nationalist Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (1818–1870). A year later, Grieg transcribed two of the songs, The Wounded Heart (Hjertesår) and The Last Spring (Siste vår),  for string orchestra under the title, Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34. Divided into multiple shimmering lines, and preserving the natural rhythms of speech, the …

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Tchaikovsky’s “Autumn Song” (October) from “The Seasons”: Olga Scheps

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In 1876, while completing the ballet score for Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky composed The Seasons, a series of atmospheric tone paintings for solo piano. Commissioned by the publisher, Nikolay Bernard, the brief pieces were published on the first day of each month in the St. Petersburg music journal, Nuvellist.  Set in D minor, Tchaikovsky’s October submission, Autumn Song, is quiet and melancholy. It accompanies a poem by Tolstoy which describes yellow windswept leaves. The interpretive marking is …

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Glazunov’s “The Seasons” (Autumn): A Bacchanale Amid Falling Leaves

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Alexander Glazunov’s allegorical one-act ballet, The Seasons, Op. 67, depicts nature’s cycle of death and rebirth. The deep frigid sleep of winter gives way to the blossoms of youth and sunshine. The ballet concludes with the abundance of autumn. It is a vibrant and celebratory bacchanale amid falling leaves. A student of Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov (1865–1936) was a Romanticist who painted with shimmering tonal colors. His symphonic ballet scores continued in …

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Brahms’ Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2: Emanuel Ax

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Completed in 1893, the Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 were among Johannes Brahms’ final works. They drift into a world of dreamy introspection and wistful nostalgia. The lengthening shadows of autumn are at hand. Brahms dedicated the collection to Clara Schumann. Op. 118, No. 2, the Intermezzo in A Major, is at once majestic, melancholy, and longing. Marked Andante teneramente (“tenderly”), it has been described as a cradle song. Developing from …

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Schumann’s Konzertstück for Four Horns: A Novel Showcase for an Instrument Reborn

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In the early 19th century, valves began to appear on horns. It was an innovation which expanded the instrument’s virtuosic possibilities. Previously limited to a series of pitches based on the harmonic series, the horn could now glide up and down the chromatic scale. Robert Schumann took notice and was eager to exploit the new technology. He described his Konzertstück (“concert piece”) for Four Horns in F Major, Op. 86 as “something …

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Remembering Christoph von Dohnányi

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Christoph von Dohnányi, the German conductor and longtime music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, passed away last Saturday, September 6, two days shy of his 96th birthday. Dohnányi was born in Berlin into a high profile family.  His grandfather was Ernst von Dohnányi, a Hungarian composer and pianist. His uncle was the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In 1945, when Dohnányi was 15 years old, his father and uncle were sent to a …

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Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet: A Glorious Hybrid

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Completed in 1891, Ernest Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 is a glorious hybrid. With the violin and piano functioning as solo protagonists set against the larger ensemble of the quartet, its musical dialogue resembles the Baroque concerto grosso. Brimming with bold virtuosity, it takes us on a dramatic journey that is virtually unique in the chamber music repertoire. The unusual title, suggesting a “harmonious ensemble,” recalls the …

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