Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G begins with the crack of a whip, startling the orchestra’s piccolo into action. The scene seems set for a race. Before a minute has passed, each of the concerto’s chief characteristics has made a fleeting appearance: joyous brilliance, melancholy lyricism, lively virtuosity, classical economy, evanescent orchestral color, a hint of American jazz, and a trace of Ravel’s native Basque country. In the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, Ravel had intended the concerto for his own use. But unlike those composers, Ravel was no keyboard virtuoso, and it was Margueri ..read more

Dissonance Quartet, byname of String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K 465, string quartet (a type of chamber music for two violins, viola, and cello) in four movements by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was completed on January 14, 1785, and it was noted especially for its divergence—especially in the slow introduction—from the then-standard rules of harmony. The Dissonance Quartet is the last of a set of six string quartets—the others are KV 387, 421, 428, 458, and 464—that were dedicated to the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn and inspired by Haydn’s Op. 33, itself a set of six string quartets. Taken ..read more

Beethoven worked on his Quartet Op. 130 intensively in the months from May to September 1825. It originates from a time that saw Beethoven dangerously ill, as he was suffering from an intestinal inflammatory disease. Adding to his medical condition, he was also involved in a stressful family situation involving his nephew Karl. A biographer writes, these months were full of personal confrontations, recriminations, mutual personal threats, and outright rebellions by both uncle and nephew. It has been suggested that the high pitch of Beethoven’s personal emotions, and his morbid premonitions of ..read more

The Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 by Johann Sebastian Bach, is a composition for solo violin composed by 1720. This partita is formed in the traditional way that consists of an allemande, a courante, sarabande and gigue in the baroque style, except that this work substitutes a bourrée (marked Tempo di Borea) for the more typical gigue. Also, each movement is followed by a variation called double in French, which elaborates on the chords of the prior movement. The movements in order are: Allemanda – Double Corrente – Double (Presto) Sarabande – Double Tempo di Borea – Double Here is Hilary ..read more

In spirit and form the Septet Opus 20 by Beethoven follows the model of 18th-century divertimentos, a lighter entertainment in a range of short movements. It opens, however, with an almost symphonic movement, complete with slow introduction and a substantial coda, followed by an Adagio offering lyrical solo opportunities. The sparkling minuet is based on a theme from Beethoven’s piano sonata Op. 42, No. 2, which, higher opus number notwithstanding, had been composed in 1796. Beethoven uses all of the instrumental variety available to him in the theme and variations (five, plus coda) that follo ..read more

Written over ten days in early summer 1826, the quartet wasn’t published until 1851, twenty-three years after Schubert’s death. The first movement’s energetic pulse informs the scherzo and (to a lesser degree) the finale, while the Andante flows at a perfectly judged walking pace. But tempo is only part of the story, as the rhythmic precision gives the music a sense of sizzling immediacy, while the careful exposition of Schubert’s beautiful themes exudes Old World romanticism. In all, this is a masterful performance, certainly different from the grand statements of other Quartets but attractiv ..read more

On the 9th February 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered the Piano Concerto No.14 in E flat major in his personal catalogue of works, and exactly 13 months later he completed his 21st concerto, in C major. In little over a year he had composed seven piano concertos – all of them highly individual works exploring the relationship between solo instrument and orchestra in different ways, as the two concertos recorded here demonstrate. The E flat major concerto is written for piano and strings, with ad libitum parts for oboes and horns, and can according to Mozart’s own instructions be performed ..read more

If you are a music lover, then you likely said: Oh yes! I know the music and I know the performer. I listened to them yesterday, and I was thrilled. Here is the music with commentary in English and in German ..read more

The violin sonata no. 1 by Robert Schumann was composed during the week of 12 – 16 September, 1851. It was given its official premiere by Clara Schumann and violinist Ferdinand David in March 1852. The first movement begins passionately, with the theme first played by the violin. This theme serves to introduce a compact, driven sonata form movement with an economical use of rhythms. New themes often are based on some of the same rhythms as older ones, and overlap with them as well. Intensity is added by treatment of themes in canon. The Romantic nature of the first movement reminds me of the l ..read more

Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G begins with the crack of a whip, startling the orchestra’s piccolo into action. The scene seems set for a race. Before a minute has passed, each of the concerto’s chief characteristics has made a fleeting appearance: joyous brilliance, melancholy lyricism, lively virtuosity, classical economy, evanescent orchestral color, a hint of American jazz, and a trace of Ravel’s native Basque country. In the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, Ravel had intended the concerto for his own use. But unlike those composers, Ravel was no keyboard virtuoso, and it was Margueri ..read more