Program Notes
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73, “Emperor”
- Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn; Germany
Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria
This work was premiered on November 28, 1811, Gewandhaus Orchestra at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, with Friedrich Schneider as soloist and Johann Philipp Christian Schulz conducting. It is scored for solo piano, pairs of woodwinds, horns, and trumpets, with timpani and strings.
When Ludwig van Beethoven left his hometown of Bonn and relocated to the famed musical capital of Vienna in 1792, his entire reputation was at stake. He had become well known in Bonn as a gifted pianist and a promising young composer. When Franz Joseph Haydn had passed through Germany on his first journey to London in 1791, he had invited the twenty-one year old composer to make a pilgrimage to Vienna as his student. Bonn’s biggest musical fish suddenly found himself engulfed by the sprawling ocean of Vienna.
Beethoven felt immense pressure to prove himself if he was ever to become recognized in a town so full of musicians. It seemed natural that his pianistic virtuosity, the most visible of his talents, should be his ticket to success. So it was as a pianist that Beethoven made his first inroads into Viennese society by playing in the homes of aristocrats. He also presented public concerts, often as benefit performances for musical or political causes – and sometimes for the purpose of funding his own career. It was against this background that the first four piano concertos arose as showcases for his skills as pianist and composer. By the time Beethoven composed his final piano concerto in 1809, his deafness had progressed to the point that he did not even conceive of the work as a vehicle for his own performance. His premiere performance of the Fourth Concerto, on the same program as the Choral Fantasia on December 22, 1808, was disastrous. Being unable to hear the orchestra, synchronization was simply not possible and the performance fell apart – a mishap that Beethoven blamed on the orchestra and conductor, when the fault was clearly his own.
During the Emperor Concerto’s composition, the French army invaded Austria for the fourth time in eighteen years. According to an often quoted story, the composer huddled in the basement of his brother’s suburban Vienna home with pillows over his ears. At this moment in time, it is clear to even a casual observer that whatever respect the composer once held for Napoleon, if it had not already dissipated, was blasted away by the cannons invading the neighborhood. It is often assumed that the moniker Emperor refers to Napoleon, but this cannot be true. Likewise, it probably does not derive from the heroic character of the music. The answer is quite simple but only recently proposed – the premiere occurred on the Austrian holiday commemorating Emperor Joseph II’s accession of the throne (as father of the present Emperor, this day was celebrated).
Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto must be considered the pinnacle of his Heroic Period, and is without doubt a full-fledged masterpiece of the Romantic Period. The first movement begins with a three bold chords, each of which is embellished by extended cadenza-like passages for the soloist. Taking the place of the usual slow introduction, this preparatory filigree leads directly to the martial main theme of the allegro. As the movement progresses through the usual sonata form, march-like rhythms remain a crucial element. The opening chords return just before the recapitulation with its usual restatement of the movement’s themes.
Beethoven’s second movement (adagio un poco mosso) begins with a devotional theme, followed by piano triplets and figurations throughout. When everything seems to be complete, the texture thins to a lone B-natural in the bassoon. It is with only this one pitch that Beethoven brilliantly sets up a transition by simply lowering that pitch by a half-step, thereby allowing a seamless transition to the key of the final movement. The piano plays tentative, short fragments that coagulate into the main theme of the finale, connecting the movements without pause. Beethoven’s brilliant finale incorporates elements of sonata form into its structure. However, since the rollicking main theme returns between contrasting episodes, it must be classified as a rondo. One especially noteworthy moment is near the end, when the rest of the orchestra drops out of the texture, leaving only the soloist and timpanist in an unusual duet. A brisk coda provides an exhilarating conclusion to this monumental work.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
- Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany
Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria
The work was premiered on December 22, 1808, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with Beethoven conducting. It is scored for pairs of woodwinds with added piccolo and contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings.
The town of Heiligenstadt, now a Vienna suburb, was a small country village in Beethoven's day. It was here that he escaped a life of publishing deadlines and the many visitors who distracted him from composition. Heiligenstadt allowed him to work uninterrupted. In 1802, Beethoven spent the summer there while sorting out a much more serious problem. Recognizing his worsening deafness, he reached an emotional turning point where he resolved that either his life had to end in misery or continue with renewed resolve. He wrote a letter to his brothers explaining his plight. The "Heiligenstadt Testament" as it has become known, outlines Beethoven's depression over his deafness, reading much like a suicide note.
"How could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in me than others..."
Beethoven found solace at Heiligenstadt, returning there quite often, including the summers of 1807 and 1808. During those two summers he completed the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and two piano trios. His happiest moments were spent reveling in the rural locale and allowing his pen to flow. Some of the more placid moments undoubtedly found their way into the Pastoral Symphony – a work in five movements, each of which depicts a scene in the country. For the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven apparently drew upon his more depressive episodes and a heroic resolve to overcome the Herculean challenges that would ultimately face a deaf composer.
Perhaps the most familiar four notes in music open the Fifth Symphony – three short Gs and a longer E-flat. This rhythm was adopted later as the Morse code representation of the letter V which, standing for “victory,” led to its use in World War II Britain as a musical motif to represent that fervent desire to defeat the German military. More pertinent to our purposes, this rhythmic pervades the entire first movement. In fact, the remainder of the work relies heavily upon the same rhythmic pattern.
Beethoven’s lyrical second movement is cast in double variation form. The simple songlike first theme is transformed into a noble and majestic paean. Also built from the four-note motif, the scherzo is weighty and ponderous, with a distinct air of unswerving resolve. The trio section, suddenly transformed into C major, relies heavily upon the lower strings in uncharacteristically brisk passages. With a brief and mysterious minor-key transition, Beethoven propels the orchestra headfirst into the heroic finale. This brilliant outburst, back in C major, includes the three trombones, piccolo, and contrabassoon for the first time, giving an intoxicating richness to the timbre. However, the scherzo theme returns just as the development section ends, effectively slowing the dramatic pace of the work. Beethoven once again transitions back to the finale theme, this time more grandiose than before. Just when the symphony seems to be complete, a lengthy coda pushes forward at breakneck speed to a final blaze of glory.
The mammoth concert at which the Fifth Symphony was first heard was held at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on December 22, 1808. At least three hours in duration, the event was an important one for Beethoven with world premieres of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Choral Fantasy, and the Fourth Piano Concerto. Viennese premieres of sections of the Mass in C and the dramatic concert aria Ah! perfido filled out the program.
©2007 Orpheus Music Prose & Craig Doolin
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