TMSO Special（12/14）

This concert is over. Date: Wed. 14. December 2022 19:00 (18:00)

Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre

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Artists

Eliah INBAL, Conductor

Profile

Program

Webern: 6 Pieces for orchestra, op. 6 (1928 version)

Program Notes
Bruckner: Symphony No.4 in E-flat major, WAB104, "Romantic" (Nowak:1874 first version)

Program Notes

Ⅰ Langsam (Slowly)
Ⅱ Bewegt (Agitated)
Ⅲ Mäßig (Moderately)
Ⅳ Sehr mäßig (Very moderately)
Ⅴ Sehr langsam (Very slowly)
Ⅵ Langsam (Slowly)

　Anton Webern: Born in Vienna, December 3, 1883; died in Mittersill (near Salzburg), September 15, 1945

　“An entire novel in a single sigh,” was how Arnold Schoenberg described the music of Anton Webernʼs Six Bagatelles for String Quartet Op. 9, but he might well have been describing also the Six Pieces Op. 6. Written in 1909, the pieces are in effect the very essence of brevity, compactness, and delicacy. After the Passacaglia Op. 1, Webern used a large orchestra again only for the Op. 6 Pieces, and this was considerably reduced for the 1928 revision, the version usually heard today. The full orchestra is used only for a few momentary gestures. Fragile textures, delicate chamber music effects, and generally slow, quiet music are far more in evidence. In fact, only the second piece is fast-moving, and the third (just eleven measures long) is so quiet and brief that it seems over almost before it has begun.
　A feature of this music is the pervasive use of Klangfarbenmelodie – melodic ideas consisting not only of pitches but of colors as well, with each instrument playing just a note or two before passing the delicate strand on to another. Schoenberg, to whom the Six Pieces are dedicated, conducted the world premiere in Vienna on March 31, 1913.
　Klangfarbenmelodie is immediately apparent in the opening of the first piece: four notes for the flute, one for the muted trumpet, two for celesta, three more for the flute, the last of which is picked up by the muted horn, etc. The second piece is a nightmarish affair, filled with strange rustlings, agitated rhythmic patterns, shrill dissonances, strident screams, agonized tone clusters, and more. The next piece is not only the shortest but is played entirely within the dynamic spectrum of piano (p), pianissimo (pp), or pianississimo (ppp). Despite the quietude, there is a pervasive undercurrent of unrest and menace. The next piece, scored only for winds and percussion (no strings), begins at the threshold of audibility, with bass drum, tam-tam and low bells. Webern originally called it a funeral march, though he excised this marking from the 1928 score; most listeners would be hard put to hear this element in the music anyway. Nevertheless, there is a pervasive sense of profound grief, weariness, even anger and outrage toward the end. Long melodic lines (long for Webern!) emerge from the piccolo, clarinet, and muted horn in turn. At nearly four minutes this is by far the longest of the six pieces. Like the second piece, the fifth is very quiet throughout. Harsh, unearthly grinding sounds from lower strings and muted brass contrast with delicate lyricism from upper woodwinds, each attempting to initiate a melodic line but soon cut short. The final chord is unforgettable: a dense, frightening chord spanning six octaves, with contrabassoon playing the second lowest note on the piano. The last piece, like the third and fifth, never rises above piano (p), aside from one fleeting moment for the bassoon and solo viola. The music does not so much end as evaporate into the ether.

　Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

Ⅰ Allegro
Ⅱ Andante quasi Allegretto
Ⅲ Scherzo: Sehr schnell
Ⅳ Finale: [Allegro moderato]*

　* no tempo marking the manuscript score

　Anton Bruckner: Born in Ansfelden, Austria, September 4, 1824; died in Vienna, October 11, 1896

　As a composer of “absolute” (i.e., non-programmatic) music, Bruckner represents the conservative trend in late nineteenth-century symphonic writing. Aside from the unfinished Ninth, each of his symphonies is in four movements, mostly in standard order. Aside from the last two, they require only an average-sized orchestra and, aside from the Fourth, have no extra-musical associations.
　The Fourth is Brucknerʼs only symphony with a subtitle. Hence, the quasi-programmatic “romantic” impulse in this symphony calls for comment. We must not interpret this strain of romanticism as passion or love. Rather, Bruckner is evoking the sounds of his Austro-German predecessors − Weber, Schubert and Schumann in particular − who often portrayed in their music a sense of mystery, fantastical mental landscapes, and dreamy visions, which in turn were frequently inspired by literary models.
　Nature imagery and knightly tales of yore also fascinated the nineteenth-century Romantics. Bruckner described the opening of his Fourth Symphony as follows: “A citadel of the Middle Ages. Daybreak. Reveille sounds from the tower. The gates open. Knights on proud chargers leap forth. The magic of nature surrounds them. Forest murmurs. Bird songs.” The dark, mysterious German forests, filled with the magical calls and echoes of horns, held a special place in the hearts of German romantic writers, and it is no accident that the tone poetry of Brucknerʼs Romantic Symphony gives special prominence to the horn section.
　Bruckner himself considered the Fourth to be the “most understandable” of his symphonies, an opinion history has supported in this workʼs continuing popularity. However, this popularity is based almost entirely on the second version of the score, which Bruckner undertook in 1878-1880. What Eliahu Inbal conducts at this TMSO concert is Brucknerʼs first version of 1874. The symphony was introduced to the world in its second version on February 20, 1881, with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Hans Richter. The first version waited until 1975, when Kurt Wöss conducted the Munich Philharmonic in Linz. Eliahu Inbal conducted the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in the first commercial recording in 1982.
　The symphony opens with the familiar horn call motif, but even before arriving at the first big climax, marked by Brucknerʼs favorite rhythmic pattern (a duplet followed by a triplet), the broad opening statement contains numerous departures from the well-known standard Nowak edition of 1878/1880 (last heard here in July 2019 with Alan Gilbert conducting).The second theme, in the warm and mellow key of D-flat major, combines a chirping birdlike figure (violins) with a flowing countermelody in the violas. These musical motifs, plus various episodes (notably brass chorales) form the material from which Bruckner erects a vast cathedral in sound. Thematic inversions, elongations, fragmentations and sequences (motifs played at successively higher or lower pitch levels), extended crescendos, and all sorts of contrapuntal techniques are employed with great resourcefulness. The movement ends with a coda that begins modestly and grows to a blazing climax.
　The second movement is, characteristically for Bruckner, solemn, slow and meditative. A mood of nostalgic reverie pervades. Echoes of a distant past (horn, woodwinds) punctuate the two principal themes, each heard initially in the somber colors of mid-range strings (cellos for the first, violas for the second) while violins accompany with slow, treading figures. A long, broadly-conceived coda brings the movement to a glorious climax, from which it subsides quietly.
　The original Scherzo is entirely different from the familiar “hunting Scherzo” Bruckner wrote for the second version. About the only things the two versions have in common are a prominent role for the horns and the general layout of the movement. The main Scherzo section contains two contrasting themes − the first heard initially in the solo horn, the second in woodwinds. At its height, the music rushes forward with incredible vigor and motoric energy. The central Trio section is of pastoral loveliness featuring a theme in duple meter (initially in the violas) over an accompaniment in triple. The Scherzo is then repeated.
　The finale is long, complex, and brimming with huge contrasts, from mysterious murmurs to stentorian outbursts to lovely lyricism, all woven together in Brucknerʼs own inimitable manner. It is so different from the familiar 1878/1880 version as to be almost a new movement in itself. In its original version, the crowning pages that bring the hour-long symphony to a close lack the familiar recall of the symphonyʼs opening horn motif, but replace it with an equally glorious paean to the symphonyʼs home key of E-flat major.

　Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

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