Romantic Period

Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, “Reformation”: Commemorating the Protestant Revolution

by

The Protestant Reformation changed the world forever. Anticipating ideals of the Enlightenment, which swept across Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was a revolutionary movement which challenged the authority of the Catholic hierarchy, elevated the sanctity of the individual, and affirmed his direct relationship with God. The 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn chose to celebrate these exalted ideals, not with a choral work, but with a dramatic symphony. Completed in 1830, the …

Read more

Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor: Reaching a Creative Pinnacle

by

Antonín Dvořák had weathered personal tragedy and intense inner conflict when, in 1883, he composed the Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65. Dvořák began work on the Trio six months after the death of his mother, with whom he had been especially close. The premature loss of three of his young children was still a fresh memory. As a composer, Dvořák, who enjoyed the support of Johannes Brahms, was …

Read more

Brahms’ Violin Concerto: Christian Tetzlaff, Robin Ticciati, and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

by

Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 was born out of a deep collaborative friendship. Brahms composed the monumental work during the summer of 1878, a year after completing his Second Symphony, in the southern Austrian lakeside town of Pörtschach am Wörthersee. The Concerto was dedicated to the Hungarian-born violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), who actively advised the composer on technical aspects of the violin in relation to the score. Joachim, …

Read more

Fauré’s Dolly Suite: Charming Portraits of Childhood

by

The French singer, Emma Bardac (1862-1934), was the love interest, first of Gabriel Fauré, and later Claude Debussy. Between 1893 and 1896, Fauré composed a set of six whimsically titled piano duets to mark birthdays and other events in the life of Bardac’s young daughter, Régina-Hélène, who was know as “Dolly.” In 1906, conductor Henri Rabaud orchestrated the “Dolly” Suite, and used it to accompany “an ingenious ballet” at Paris’ Théâtre des …

Read more

Liszt’s “La Chapelle de Guillaume Tell” from “Années de Pèlerinage”: Horn Calls and Heroism

by

During the 1830s, Franz Liszt embraced the romantic life of the medieval Troubadours. While in a relationship with the Countess Marie d’Agoult, Liszt wandered throughout the countryside of Switzerland and Italy, where he visited “places consecrated by history and poetry,” and found the “phenomena of nature” to be deeply stirring. These travels formed the inspiration for Années de pèlerinage (“Years of Pilgrimage”), a three-volume cycle of 26 pieces for solo piano. The …

Read more

Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor: Rich and Seductive

by

In the pantheon of composers, German Romanticist Max Bruch may not be a household name. But Bruch contributed several enduring works, including the spirited Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra, the Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra, and the Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26. The Violin Concerto is firmly rooted as a standard work in the violin repertoire, and has been ranked by audiences among the most beloved …

Read more

Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol”: Color, Atmosphere, and Virtuosity

by

Completed in 1887, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 is a dazzling kaleidoscope of orchestral color, atmosphere, and instrumental virtuosity. It is the work of a self-trained composer, who became one the the greatest innovators of orchestration. As a teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov led the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His influence on Russian music extended to his students, who included Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Respighi. In Italian, “capriccio” means “whim.” Based on Spanish folk songs and dances, …

Read more