Bach’s “Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein,” BWV 641: Evolution of a Chorale

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The young J.S. Bach was employed as court organist in Weimar when he composed the tender and intimate chorale prelude, Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, BWV 641 (“When we are in utmost need”). The brief liturgical interlude is part of Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) BWV 599−644, a compilation of 46 chorale preludes, written between 1712 and 1717. Albert Schweitzer commented that the soprano line, heard below as a pastorale reed voice, flows “like a …

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Liszt’s Csárdás Macabre: Alfred Brendel

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Among Franz Liszt’s final works for solo piano is the Csárdás macabre, composed in 1881. The piece is a ghoulish joyride, filled with convention-defying parallel fifths and intimations of the Dies irae. Its innovative harmonies anticipate the twentieth century music of Béla Bartók and others. Above the title on the manuscript, Liszt inscribed the words, “May one write or listen to such a thing?” The csárdás is a Hungarian folk dance in 2/4 or 4/4 …

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Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto: A Swan Song

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The Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 has been called Mozart’s swan song. His last completed work, it was first performed on October 16, 1791 in Prague, less than two months before the composer’s death at the age of 35. At the time, the clarinet was a young instrument still in development, and a newcomer to the orchestra. When the 22-year-old Mozart visited Mannheim, a progressive musical center far ahead of provincial …

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Mozart’s Kyrie in D Minor: An Enigma

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The impetus for Mozart’s Kyrie in D minor, K.341 remains a fascinating enigma. Initially, it was believed that Mozart completed this sublime choral fragment in Munich in early 1781. The occasion for which it would have been composed remains unclear. The full instrumentation (which includes two clarinets) suggests that the Kyrie may have been intended for a large-scale Mass which remained unfinished. Sketches from the composer’s final years (1787-91) show that he was …

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Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata: A Farewell

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The Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, was Dmitri Shostakovich’s final work. The score was completed on July 5, 1975, a day before the composer entered the hospital where, just over a month later, he would succumb to the effects of terminal heart disease and lung cancer. Shostakovich seems to have considered the Viola Sonata to be a final farewell. All three of its movements conclude with the instruction, morendo, or “dying …

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Thomas Adès’ “Polaris,” Voyage for Orchestra: Music of Sea and Sky

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Polaris, a tone poem written in 2010 by the British composer Thomas Adès (b. 1971) evokes the vastness and majesty of the sea and the sky. A shifting kaleidoscope of color, it is music in which elemental forces are in play. Subtitled, “Voyage for Orchestra,” Polaris can give you the cinematic sensation of drifting over a gradually shifting landscape. The title is a reference to Polaris, the North Star, long a navigational tool for …

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Fauré’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: “The Power of Tranquil Thought”

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Gabriel Fauré’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109 inhabits a world of elegance and dreamy nostalgia. It is music characterized by soft edges, buoyant motion, and an effortless sense of melody. Composed in the summer of 1917, this is one of two cello sonatas Fauré completed in the final decade of his life. During these years, Fauré, who served as the head of the Paris Conservatoire until 1920, continued to compose despite …

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