Program Notes

Louise Farrenc

BORN: May 31, 1804 in Paris, France

DIED: September 15, 1875 in Paris, France

Overture No. 2 in E-flat Major

Opus 24 (1834)

Approximate performance time is 7 minutes.

In recent years, the music of Louise Farrenc has undergone a most welcome renaissance, both in live performances and recordings. Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont, Louise Farrenc was a member of an artistic family; both her father and brother were celebrated sculptors. Louise studied piano with Cécile Soria, Ignaz Moscheles, and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and composition with Anton Reicha. At the Paris Conservatoire, she met flutist Aristide Farrenc. The two married in 1821, and concertized together throughout France. The Farrencs returned to Paris, where they founded the successful publishing company, Éditions Farrenc. Louise and Aristide Farrenc co-edited Le Trésor des pianists (The Pianists’ Treasure) , a 23-volume collection of early period works for piano and harpsichord.

Louise Farrenc’s career as a composer began in the early 1820s with pieces for solo piano. In the 1830s, Farrenc began to expand her compositional repertoire to include chamber and orchestral works. Farrenc was highly respected as a composer, earning the praise of such discerning composers/critics as Robert Schumann and Hector Berlioz. The Académie des Beaux-Arts bestowed its Prix Chartier upon Farrenc in both 1861 and 1869.

In 1834, Louise Farrenc completed two concert Overtures for orchestra, No. 1 in E Minor, Opus 23, and No. 2 in E-flat Major, Opus 24. Overture No. 2 begins with a slow-tempo introduction; ominous, and in the minor key. The principal E-flat Major quick-tempo portion features two central themes that undergo the traditional development and restatement, leading to the invigorating concluding bars.

Felix Mendelssohn

BORN: February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany

DIED: November 4, 1847 in Leipzig, Germany

Concerto for Violin and Piano in D Minor MWV O4 (1823)

PREMIERE: July 3, 1825 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus

Approximate performance time is 37 minutes.

Like Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn was a brilliant child prodigy. Mendelssohn began his music studies at the age of seven. Two years later, Mendelssohn made his public debut as a pianist in a chamber concert. In 1820, Mendelssohn composed his first musical work — an impressive number of compositions soon followed.

In 1822, the German singer and actor Eduard Devrient met Felix Mendelssohn for the first time. At the Mendelssohns’ Berlin home, Devrient watched Felix, thirteen years old, rehearse singers in one of the young composer’s operettas:

The singers sat ‘round the big dining table, near the grand piano at which Felix, perched on a stool provided with a thick cushion, conducted and controlled us without a trace of shyness, earnestly and eagerly and with as little ado as if he had been playing games with a handful of his playmates. That so many adults were giving time and trouble to his compositions seemed no more to make him conceited than did the fact that he had already written his third little opera and was hard at work on a bigger one.

In 1823, Mendelssohn composed numerous works, including his Concerto in D Minor for Violin, Piano, and String Orchestra. Mendelssohn completed the score on May 6. The premiere took place in the Mendelssohns’ Berlin home on May 25, 1823, part of the family’s regular Sunday morning concerts. The audience for these concerts often included some of the most prominent figures of the time

(Mendelssohn’s father, Abraham, was a prominent banker and the son of the great German philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn). The private performance of the concerto featured a scoring of solo violin and piano with string orchestra. Mendelssohn was the pianist. The other soloist was Mendelssohn’s teacher and dear friend, violinist Eduard Rietz. The first public performance of the concerto was at the Berlin Schauspielhaus on July 3, 1825. Rietz and Mendelssohn were once again the soloists. It’s possible that the Schauspielhaus performance featured Mendelssohn’s version of the concerto that included a full orchestral complement of winds, brass, timpani, and strings. The concerto is in three movements. The first (Allegro) is in traditional concerto sonata form, with the orchestra presenting the movement’s central themes prior to the entrance of the soloists. The writing for the solo violin and piano is notable both for its bravura passagework and close interaction between the soloists. A lengthy cadenza for the soloists precedes the terse closing measures. The strings are muted for the concerto’s tender, lyrical slow-tempo movement (Adagio). The finale (Allegro molto) provides the concerto’s fiery conclusion.

Robert Schumann

BORN: June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Germany

DIED: July 29, 1856 in Endenich, Germany

Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major (“Spring”) Opus 38 (1841)

PREMIERE: March 31, 1841 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany

Approximate performance time is 30 minutes.

The early 1840s were joyous years for Robert Schumann. On September 12, 1840, the German composer wed his beloved Clara Wieck. The courtship had been a long stressful one, as Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck, vehemently opposed his daughter marrying Schumann.

Robert’s marriage to Clara — a gifted pianist and composer — seemed to inspire his creative powers. In the year of their wedding, Robert Schumann composed some 150 songs, including the glorious cycles Frauenliebe und -leben (A Woman’s Love and Life) and Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love).

In 1841, Robert Schumann focused his energies on orchestral music. In the early portion of that year, Schumann completed his “Spring” Symphony (No. 1 in B-flat Major), Opus 38. Schumann then composed his Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Opus 52. In May, Schumann penned a single-movement Fantasy in A minor for piano and orchestra (four years later, Schumann added an Intermezzo and Allegro vivace, thereby transforming the Fantasy into the beloved three-movement A-minor Piano Concerto, Opus 54). In that same productive year of 1841, Schumann composed the original version of his Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Opus 120.

In a letter of November 23, 1842, Schumann wrote to his friend, composer Ludwig Spohr: “I composed the (First) symphony, so to speak, under the urge of spring which every year comes over men anew, even in full maturity.” A poem about spring, written by Adolf Böttger, provided further inspiration. That poem concludes with the following lines:

O wende, wende deinen Lauf, O turn, turn aside your course, — Im Tale blühet Frühling auf! — Spring is blossoming in the valley!

The premiere of the “Spring” Symphony took place at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on March 31, 1841. Schumann’s friend, Felix Mendelssohn, led the performance (on the concert program, Clara also performed as pianist). The premiere was a success, and the symphony received a glowing reception from the audience. With music as enticing and lifeaffirming as its subject, the “Spring” Symphony remains one of Robert Schumann’s most beloved compositions.

The “Spring” Symphony is in four movements. The first opens with a slow-tempo introduction (Andante un poco maestoso), and a fanfare for trumpets and horns. The eight-note fanfare is based on the final line of Böttger’s poem, reproduced below. The added bold type corresponds to the accents Schumann provides in the musical score:

“Im Ta -le blü-het Früh-ling auf!”

The fanfare becomes the basis for the first principal theme of the opening movement’s ensuing quick-tempo section (Allegro molto vivace). The slow-tempo second movement (Larghetto) showcases a radiant melody, introduced by the first violins. The melody returns in various guises, alternating with more agitated episodes. The thirdmovement Scherzo (Molto vivace) immediately follows. It is based upon a brusque melody, introduced by the strings. There are two intervening Trio sections. A mysterious coda leads directly to the finale (Allegro animato e grazioso), which brings the “Spring” Symphony to a bracing conclusion.