Sunday, October 6, 2024 | 3PM
Soka
PROGRAM
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Nocturne in F Major, Opus 15, No. 1
Nocturne in B Major, Opus 9, No. 3
Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Opus 60
Fantaisie in F Minor, Opus 49
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Opus 39
- INTERMISSION -
Impromptu No. 2, Opus 36
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Opus 58
Allegro maestoso
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Largo
Finale: Presto non tanto
Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Born February 22, 1810, Poland
Died October 17, 1849, Paris
A nocturne may be music that evokes the character of the night, but the night can have many faces, as the Nocturne in F Major reminds us. This was one of the earliest of Chopin’s twenty-one nocturnes, part of the group of four he composed during the years 1830-1, when he was only 20. The wonderful opening seems an almost perfect example of what music from the night should be: over quiet triplets in the left hand, the limpid main melody sings its poised song. Chopin’s ideas about the kind of performance he wants are made by clear by his unusually extensive performance markings: delicatissimo, dolcissimo, semplice e tranquillo. The music reaches a moment of repose and pauses–and then it explodes. Chopin marks the middle section con fuoco (“with fire”), and the violence of this section reminds us that night can mean more than just a dark and subdued atmosphere. The violence fades away, and the opening theme returns, but its reappearance is not literal. Now Chopin marks it sotto voce, and there are a number of small changes in theme-shape as this section makes it quiet way to the arpeggiated chords on which it fades into silence.
Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3
Chopin composed these three nocturnes during the years 1830-31, just as he turned 21; in those years he left his native Poland (never to
return) and settled in Paris, where this music was published in 1832. The Nocturne in B Major is the longest and least-familiar of the set. Marked Allegretto, it dances easily along its 6/8 meter in the opening section, which is full of effortless key shifts. This gives way suddenly to a turbulent middle section, and the return to the opening material brings a surprise: in the closing seconds of this nocturne Chopin offers an aside of cadenza-like freedom before the music closes quietly.
Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60
One of the Chopin’s final works, the Barcarolle was completed at Nohant, George Sand’s summer estate at Chateauroux, in 1846, at a time when both the composer’s relation with Sand and his health were deteriorating: at age 36, he had only three years to live. The term barcarolle (“boat-song”) comes from the Italian barcaruoli, the songs of the Venetian gondoliers, and this agreeable form of music was making its way into the artmusic of serious composers across Europe–in these same years Mendelssohn included what he called Venetian Boat Songs in several of his sets of Songs without Words. The barcarolle traditionally has some of the relaxed ease of the gondoliers’ songs, and Chopin’s Barcarolle–his only work in this form–is one of his warmest and most attractive compositions.
The Barcarolle is in ternary form, and it has the briefest of introductions, a simple three-bar preparation.
Out of the silence begins the lefthand accompaniment, its steady rhythms suggesting the sound of a giant guitar. Over this rhythm Chopin introduces his opening subject, marked cantabile and presented very delicately at first. Gradually this opens up, expanding into a huge chordal melody that requires large (and powerful) hands. Chopin’s Barcarolle has been called a nocturne, but–to the contrary–its amiable spirits and energy more readily suggest sunshine sparkling off water. The center section moves to A major, and over the rocking rhythm characteristic of the Venetian boatsongs the music grows more animated and more fluid rhythmically. Indeed, this impression of rhythmic freedom and plasticity is even more marked in the reprise, where Chopin brings back both his themes and drives them to an ebullient climax full of rippling runs and on to a conclusion built on four powerful chords.
Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 49
Chopin wrote the Fantaisie in F Minor early in the summer of 1841, which he spent at George Sand’s summer estate in Nohant. This was a happy interlude for the composer: after a bout with tuberculosis, he had regained his strength, and his relations with Sand were–for the moment–comparatively stable. The Fantaisie is one of Chopin’s finest works, and one critic has gone so far as to call it “Chopin’s greatest single composition.” It is also Chopin’s only work in this form, and one needs to be wary of his choice of title, which seems to imply a lack of controlling
form. In fact, the Fantaisie is a very carefully structured work, fusing a wide range of expression with unusual formal imagination. This music is also remarkable for its progressive tonality–it may open in F minor, but it passes through some surprising modulations–including a quiet interlude in B major–before concluding unexpectedly in the relative major, A-flat major.
The Fantaisie opens quietly (the marking is Grave), with the music subtly energized by dotted rhythms and staccato notes. Chopin marks this opening Tempo di marcia, but the actual march does not begin for a few measures, and when it appears–moving steadily along its 4/4 meter–it subtly incorporates some of the inflections of the beginning. The march reaches a moment of repose and then eases ahead into music of great brilliance (Chopin marks it agitato) and difficulty. Much of the writing here is in octaves, and along the way Chopin introduces an entirely new march. The excitement of this opening section makes the arrival of the central Lento sostenuto all the more effective. Chopin moves to B major and switches to a 3/4 meter for this interlude, built entirely on a slow chordal melody that he specifies should be dolce. This is expressive music, far removed from the mood of the opening, and it is soon over, for the Fantaisie makes an abrupt plunge back to the principal tempo. The music feels even more dramatic on its return, and one of the jaunty march-tunes leads to an unexpected conclusion: Chopin reins in all this energy for
a brief moment of repose before the music rips to its powerful conclusion.
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39
Though the term had been used earlier, it was Haydn who conceived of the scherzo in its modern sense. In 1781, he called the third movement of some of his string quartets a “scherzo.” What had been the old minuet-and-trio movement now became a scherzo (and trio), and Haydn’s choice of that name indicated that he wanted more speed and liveliness. Beethoven took this evolution one step further: his scherzos, usually built on very short rhythmic units, explode with violent energy and with enough comic touches to remind us that scherzo is the Italian word for joke.
In his four scherzos, Chopin does not copy the forms of Haydn or Beethoven, but adapts the general shape of the classical-period scherzo for his own purposes. He keeps the quick tempo, the 3/4 meter, and (usually) the ABA form of the earlier scherzo, but makes no attempt at humor–the emphasis in this music is on brilliant, exciting music for the piano. The general form of the Chopin scherzo is an opening section based on contrasted themes, followed by a middle section (Chopin does not call this a trio) in a different key and character; the scherzo concludes with the return of the opening material, now slightly abridged.
The Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp
Minor, composed in 1839, has the most unusual structure–it lacks the clearly-defined ABA form of the others and in some ways approaches traditional sonataform structure. The beginning, marked Presto con fuoco, presents tentative bits of sound, and out of these the true first theme bursts to life. Marked Risoluto, this theme is in powerful, plunging octaves, and in fact much of the writing throughout this scherzo is in octaves. The second idea is a quiet chorale tune, but what makes it distinctive is Chopin’s elaboration of the end of each phrase: he decorates the end of each line of the chorale with a falling arpeggio, almost silvery in its quietly sparkling color–the combination of the sober chorale tune and its sensual decoration is striking. These themes alternate until the close, where powerful octave chords drive the scherzo to its cadence.
Impromptu No. 2, Op. 36
Chopin composed the Impromptu in F-sharp Major during the summer of 1839, which he spent with George Sand at her summer estate at Nohant, south of Paris. The composer had recently been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and that summer brought warm weather and welcome quiet after their busy life in Paris. Sand described their summer routine: “We lead the same monotonous, quiet, gentle life. We dine in the open; our friends come to see us, now one, now another; we smoke and chat, and in the evening when they have gone, Chopin plays to me
Garrick Ohlsson
at twilight, after which he goes to bed like a child . . .”
The title “impromptu” suggests music improvised on the spot, but this impression of spontaneity is usually achieved by a great deal of work on the part of the composer. The Impromptu in F-sharp Major certainly shows such work–perhaps Chopin chose this title in an effort to encompass its unusual structure. The music begins with a quiet Andantino: over subdued and steady accompaniment, the right hand has a gorgeous melody that quickly turns complex with Chopin’s characteristic “rhythmic sprays.” A chordal second subject leads to what seems to be a middle section, where–over dotted accompaniment–the music builds to a resounding (almost mockheroic) climax. Now the unexpected begins: the opening subject returns, but in the “wrong” key of F major and driven along restless triplets, and instead of bringing back the second subject, Chopin instead launches into a series of brilliant runs. These are marked leggiero (light), and they rise higher and higher in the piano’s register before suddenly winking out. Now–at last–Chopin retrieves his sedate second subject, and it marches this Impromptu to its sudden close. Perhaps it was the impression of formal freedom that led Chopin to call this work an impromptu, but such an impression is the result of much careful work on his part.
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58
Chopin wrote the Piano Sonata in B Minor, his last large-scale composition for piano, during the summer of 1844, when he was 34. He composed the sonata at Nohant, the summer estate in central France he shared with the novelist George Sand. That summer represented a last moment of stasis in the composer’s life–over the next several years his relationship with Sand would deteriorate, and his health, long ravaged by tuberculosis, would begin to fail irretrievably. Dedicated to Madame la Comtesse Emilie de Perthuis, a friend and pupil, the Sonata in B Minor was published in 1845. Chopin himself never performed it in public.
Chopin’s sonatas have come in for a hard time from some critics, and this criticism intensifies to the degree that they depart from the formal pattern of the classical piano sonata. But it is far better to take these sonatas on their own terms and recognize that Chopin–like Beethoven before him–was willing to adapt classical forms for his own expressive purposes. The Sonata in B Minor is a big work–its four movements stretch out to nearly half an hour. The opening Allegro maestoso does indeed have a majestic beginning with the first theme plunging downward out of the silence, followed moments later by the gorgeous second subject in D major, marked sostenuto. The movement treats both these ideas but dispenses with a complete recapitulation and closes with a
restatement of the second theme. The brief Molto vivace is a scherzo, yet here that form is without the violence it sometimes takes on in Beethoven. This scherzo has a distinctly light touch, with the music flickering and flashing across the keyboard (the right-hand part is particularly demanding). A quiet legato middle section offers a moment of repose before the returning of the opening rush.
Chopin launches the lengthy Largo with sharply-dotted rhythms, over
which the main theme–itself dotted and marked cantabile–rises quietly and gracefully. This movement is also in ternary form, with a flowing middle section in E major. The finale – Presto, non tanto – leaps to life with a powerful eight-bar introduction built of octaves before the main theme, correctly marked Agitato, launches this rondo in B minor. Of unsurpassed difficulty, this final movement–one of the greatest in the Chopin sonatas–brings the work to a brilliant close.
Program notes © Eric Bromberger, 2024.
Garrick Ohlsson
GARRICK OHLSSON
Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire which ranges over the entire piano literature ecompassing more than 80 concerti.
With Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Mr. Ohlsson returns to Carnegie Hall in the fall and throughout the 24/25 season can be heard with orchestras in Portland, Madison, Kalamazoo, Palm Beach and Ft. Worth. In recital programs including works from Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin to Barber and Scriabin he will appear in Santa Barbara, Orange County, Aspen, Warsaw and London.
Collaborations with the Cleveland, Emerson, Tokyo and Takacs string quartets have led to decades of touring and recordings. His solo recordings are available on British label Hyperion and in the US on Bridge Records. Both Brahms concerti and Tchaikovsky’s Second piano concerto have been released on live recordings with the Melbourne and Symphony symphonies on their own labels and Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano.
A native of White Plains, N.Y. Garrick Ohlsson began piano studies at the age of 8 at the Westchester Conservatory of Music and at 13 he entered the Juilliard School in NY city. He was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and the University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, MI in 1998. He is the 2014 recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and in August 2018 the Polish Deputy Culture Minister awarded him with the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for cultural merit. He is a Steinway Artist and makes his home in San Francisco.
Mr. Ohlsson is represented by Opus 3 Artists.
