Program Notes
Jonathan Oddie
Piano
Jessica Oddie
Violin
June 15, 4:00pm
MCMAA.org
During the reception following today’s concert
you may enjoy a display of the work of local artist
Marie Channer
presented by “The Palette Gallery” of Nederland
Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major.
It is easy to forget that Brahms was a contemporary of Wagner, whose "art music of the future" was diametrically opposed to Brahms's "absolute" music. ("Absolute" refers to compositions that are accepted on their own terms as interplays of sound, rather than "program" music, which depends on extra-musical references.) Brahms, like Beethoven, was a short man, with a fiery temper, who loved the country side, and was a bachelor throughout his life. There is an apocryphal tale that suggests Brahms thorny wit: upon departing a party, he said "if there is anyone present I have not insulted, I apologize."
Despite this, Brahms had a heart of gold. He was humble, and, unlike Mozart, spent almost no money on himself. Clara Schumann, the wife of composer Robert Schumann, and a fine composer and pianist in her own right, was the love of Brahms's life. Though they were always close, Clara, even after Robert's premature death, remained married in spirit to Schumann. This sonata, as is much of his music, is filled with unfulfilled yearning, seeking the completion of mutual love. It is known as the Rain Sonata because, it contains a theme from his Regenlied ("Rain Song"), Opus 59, #3. In addition, there is a sixteenth-note passage in the Finale that, to the poetically minded, resembles the gentle falling of raindrops.
The first movement, marked Vivace ma non troppo (lively, but not too fast-a favorite admonition of Brahms), opens with a D, repeated three times. This motto pervades the whole piece, giving it unity. The opening is tender, elegiac, and highly personal. Upon receiving the sonata, Clara Schumann wrote to Brahms: "I played it at once, and could not help bursting into tears of joy over it." The final movement opens with the same three note motto, and is at once terse and tragic. Clara said of it: "I wish the last movement could accompany me . . . to the next world."
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Prokofiev - Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major
This sonata, probably the most popular violin sonata composed in the twentieth century, was originally written for the flute. But when David Oistrakh heard the premiere on December 7, 1943, he immediately suggested to the composer that it was ideal music for the violin. Together, composer and violinist prepared a version for violin and piano, and Oistrakh gave the first performance of this version on June 17, 1944. The music remains very much the same (the piano part is identical in both versions), but Prokofiev altered several passages to eliminate awkward string crossings for the violinist and added certain violinistic features impossible on the flute: pizzicatos, doublestops, harmonics. Ironically, the violin version-which profits enormously from the flexibility and range of sound of the violin-has become much more popular than the original.
In contrast to the bleak First Violin Sonata (which the composer said should sound "like wind in a graveyard"), the Second Sonata is one of Prokofiev's sunniest compositions. There is no hint in this music of the war raging in Russia at this time, none of the pain that runs through the earlier sonata. The third movement is quietly wistful and the music is full of Prokofiev's characteristically pungent harmonies, but the sonata is generally serene, a retreat from the war rather than its mirror.
The sonata is in the four-movement slow-fast-slow-fast sequence of the baroque sonata. The opening Moderato, in sonata form, begins with a beautifully poised melody for the violin, a theme of classical purity. The violin also has the second subject, a singing dotted melody. Prokofiev calls for an exposition repeat, and the vigorous development leads to a quiet close on a very high restatement of the opening idea.
The Presto sounds so brilliant and idiomatic on the violin that it is hard to imagine that it was not conceived originally for that instrument. This movement was in fact marked Allegretto scherzando in the flute version, but-taking advantage of the violin's greater maneuverability-Prokofiev increased the tempo to Presto in the violin version, making it a much more brilliant movement. It falls into the classical scherzo-and-trio pattern, with two blazing themes in the scherzo and a wistful melody in the trio. The end of this movement, with the violin driving toward the climactic pizzicato chord, is much more effective in the violin version than in the original.
The mood changes markedly at the Andante, which is a continuous flow of melody on the opening violin theme. The violin part becomes more elaborate as the movement progresses, but the quiet close returns to the mood of the beginning. The Allegro con brio finale is full of snap and drive, with the violin leaping throughout its range. At the center of this movement, over steady piano accompaniment, Prokofiev gives the violin one of those bittersweet melodies so characteristic of his best music. Gradually the music quickens, returns to the opening tempo, and the sonata flies to its resounding close.
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