Piano concerto

“ The treatment of the solo instrument is more consistently pianistic, adds more in special color, therefore, to the beauty of the whole. The slow movement fulfills an ideal of the concerto which up to that time and even later has been almost ignored. It is a dialogue, a dramatic conversation between the orchestra and the piano, the one seeming to typify some dark power of fate, the other man. Its beauty is matchless. It is worthy of remark that both the G major and the E-flat major concertos begin with passages for the solo instrument. ”

“ All beautiful compositions notwithstanding, the piano is no concerto-instrument. In concertos the delicate ear is outraged. The piano will not adapt itself for new ideas in the hall, in the midst of virtuosity, or against the orchestra. It must become chaste; it must turn in faith to Bach’s Wohltemperiertes Klavier, the Old Testament, as Bülow called it, of the musician’s creed, and to Beethoven’s Sonatas, the New. ”

“ I myself felt this also; for although I am very fond of the piano, when a composer rich in ideas improvises upon it, yet as concert-instrument I am wholly unmoved by it; and a piano-forte-concerto in my opinion is only effective when written like those of Mozart, in which the piano is not much more thought of than any other orchestral instrument. The singers, Madame Chabran and the Signori Davide, Nozzari and Benedetti, all distinguished themselves, and were loudly applauded. One becomes more sensible of their merits when one hears them in a smaller place than the San Carlo theatre. ”

“ The piano must still be handled with care else it will overpower its companions; but the complete resources of the four strings make possible contrasts between them and the piano, measures in which the piano may be quite silent, and others in which it less fills up the harmony than adds its own color to the sonority. The first broad section of the development in the first movement becomes, therefore, almost a pianoforte [Pg 583] concerto; whereas other sections like the second trio in the scherzo are in the nature of a concerto for string quartet and orchestra. ”

“ The compositions of this decade, among which may be specially mentioned the piano sonatas from the "Waldstein" to opus 90, the fourth and fifth piano concertos, the unique concerto for violin, the string quartets, opus 59 and opus 74, the overtures "Coriolanus" and "Egmont," the opera "Fidelio," the great Mass in C, and above all the six magnificent symphonies from the "Eroica" to the eighth, are among the supreme achievements of human art. They combine the utmost variety of form and style with a perfect unity; they are models of structure for all time ”

“ Everybody is in evening dress; the ladies very gay, and the party very quiet—a still, drawing-room sort of air presides over the whole. Many of the ladies are young—quite girls; and a good many of the gentlemen are solemn old foggies, who appear strongly inclined to go to sleep, and, in fact, sometimes do. Meantime, the music goes on. A long, long sonata or concerto—piano and violin, or piano, violin, and violoncello—is listened to in profound silence, with a low murmur of applause at the end of each movement. ”

“ MODERN PIANO MUSIC
"Your MacDowell has written some nice music, some pretty music; I am familiar with his Concerto in D minor, some of the short pieces and the Sonatas. As for modern piano concertos there are not many, it is quite true. There is the Rachmaninoff, the MacDowell I mentioned, the D minor of Rubinstein, and the Saint-Saens in G minor. There is also a Concerto by Neitzel, which is a most interesting work; I do not recall that it has been played in America. ”

“ His symphonic poem, 'Perpetual Motion,' with its inexhaustible energy and its glittering orchestral color, takes a high rank in modern orchestral music. His chamber music—quartets, quintets, trios, violin sonatas, etc.—is distinguished by melodic inspiration, vigorous counterpoint, and sustained structural power. His piano concerto and two violin concertos, and his grandiose E-flat minor variations for two pianos, have taken a firm place in concert programmes. As a piano composer in the smaller forms he is of course less personal, less distinguished, than Grieg. ”

“ A concerto is a sonata for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment, the form being usually somewhat modified so as to adapt it to a composition in which there must [Pg 73] necessarily be opportunity for a good deal of technical display. There are usually but three movements in the concerto.
The great majority of concertos are for piano and orchestra, but examples of concertos for violin, cello, flute, oboe, and other solo instruments (all with orchestral accompaniment) have also been written. ”

“ And of a power of magical improvisation, exercised in private such as Beethoven and Liszt so often displayed, we now hear less and less. The recitals, in great part, deal with the interpretation of known works, which often—like Beethoven’s E flat major concerto—are repeated ad nauseam. We have learning, we have playing, but we never see the enthusiasm which can be evoked by the stress of immediate creation. Piano-playing is a universal business even to the extremest limits of an amateurism which cannot strike a single chord instantaneously, nor dot a single note correctly. ”

“ These pieces were popular, they were famous, they were in a way more influential in shaping the growth of pianoforte technique than were the sonatas of Beethoven. As a matter of fact, they present little in the way of brilliance but scales and arpeggios. Yet even now they make the piano sound with a captivating fluency.
One work may be signalized as marking a keen instinct for pianistic effects, as really pointing to some such treatment of the keyboard as Chopin, by reason of his immortal fancy, made unsurpassable, perfect. This is the concerto in A minor. ”

“ In the same spirit of confidential avowal I may add, that there seems to be a strict covenant between the modern composers and the instrument-makers to murder music, and prevent a concerto, as well as the piano-forte on which it is performed, from a longer existence in the fashionable world than will be allotted to the preposterous flat hats, which only require poles supporting their circumference, to give the Regent's-park exactly the air of an encampment. ”

“ Later Tschaikowsky, reading reports of how Americans were acclaiming his concerto, wrote: “Think what healthy appetites these Americans must have! Each time Bülow was obliged to repeat the whole finale of my concerto! Nothing like this happens in our own country.”
The concerto opens with a striking theme, Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, in D-flat major, 3-4, familiar to music-lovers of all tastes the world over. The strings take it up after some brief preluding, and it is then repeated, with rhythmic modification, by the solo piano. ”

“ The same man, under the age of thirty-six, is at the head of dramatic, sinfonia, and piano-forte music—is eminent in the church style—and equally at his ease in every variety, from the concerto to the country dance or baby song: he puts forth about 800 compositions, including masses, motetts, operas, and fragments of various kinds; at the same time supporting himself by teaching and giving public performances, at which he executes concertos on the piano-forte, the violin, or the organ, or plays extempore. ”

“ Up to the present time all the best-known French pianists—with the exception of Saint-Saens—have not ventured to play anything of mine except transcriptions, my own compositions being necessarily considered absurd and insupportable. People know pretty well what to think by what they hear said, without any need of hearing the works.
How did the orchestra go with the piano in the Concerto? Had they taken care to have enough rehearsals? There are several passages that require minute care; the modulations are abrupt, and the variety of the movements is somewhat disconcerting for the conductor. ”

“ The concertos written since those of Beethoven have been mostly constructed upon the lines he laid down. The introductory tutti has been shortened (as in Mendelssohn's, Schumann's, and Raff's concertos) , though occasionally works are still written in the older form, the most striking example being Brahma's concerto in D minor, in which the piano does not enter till the ninety-first bar. ”

“ Besides these concertos we should mention a concerto-fantaisie for piano and orchestra written in 1891 for Mme. Roger-Niclos, which she played with great success at the Colonne concerts. This work has recently been published.
In his work entitled “Virtuoses Contemporains,” our dear master and friend, Marmontel, has felicitously described the style of piano playing characteristic of Saint-Saëns. “Saint-Saëns is as accomplished a pianist as he is an organist. He attacks the piece in hand with great energy, and keeps perfect time. ”

“ Lately the Princess performed at Paris with much success the magnificent F minor Concerto at a concert for the benefit of the poor." A critic, writing in the Gazette Musicale of March 11, 1855, of a concert given by the Princess—at which she played an andante with variations for piano and violoncello by Mozart, a rondo for piano and orchestra by Mendelssohn, and Chopin's F minor Concerto, being assisted by Alard as conductor, the violoncellist Franchomme, and the singers Madame Viardot and M. Fedor—praised especially her rendering of the ADAGIO in Chopin's Concerto. ”

“ The concerto in A minor is by no means a show piece for the piano, but an extremely vigorous and poetic improvisation, in which the solo and orchestral instruments answer each other, and work together in a furor of inspiration.
The entire art of modern piano playing is indebted to Schumann for some of its most impressive elements. He was fond of playing with the dampers raised, and might well contest the honor with Liszt of having originated the modern style of pedal legato as distinguished from the finger legato of Chopin and all the early writers. ”

“ Opera Concert Room, Friday Morning, May 24.
On this occasion M. Potter produced a new symphony, a new piano-forte concerto, and some brilliant variations on a French theme, all of which well sustained the high reputation he has acquired, both here and in Germany, as an instrumental composer. We regret that our limits do not admit of our entering fully into the merits of these fresh proofs of his ability. Mesdames Pasta and Devrient, Signori Donzelli, Tamburini, &c., were his vocal supporters; and his band consisted of nearly all the performers of the Philharmonic Concerts. ”

“ The construction of the work is precisely the ame as when composed for only one instrument. As examples may be named Bach's concertos for two violins, and for two, three, and four pianos; Mozart's Concerto in E♭ for two pianos, and in C for flute and harp; Beethoven's triple concerto, op. 56, for piano, violin, and violoncello; Maurer's for 4 violins and orchestra. Mendelssohn's autograph MSS., now in the Imperial Library at Berlin, contain 2 Concertos for 2 pianos and orchestra, and one for piano and violin, with strings. ”

“ Symphony in C (St. James's Hall, 18 June 1892) ; two concert overtures: (l) 'Les Travailleurs de la Mer' (1869) , and (2) 'Love's Labour's Lost' (1875) ; a concerto for piano-forte in A minor, and one for violin; Septet for wind instruments and double bass (1891) ”

“ The charm of the work lies in its simplicity. The pianist will tell you at once that it is essentially pianistic, a term that is much abused and means little. The traditional cadenza is there, but it is not allowed to step out of the frame, and so perfect is the relation to what precedes and follows, that the average listener might claim that it does not exist. Without wishing to venture upon any odious grounds of comparison, I want to state frankly that it is, to me, emphatically the best American concerto. ”

“ No concerto solo or duet shall ever be performed at any of the society’s concerts; and if the directors shall think it expedient at any time to introduce vocal music with full orchestral accompaniments, it must be under the above limitations.’ Thus it appears that the performance of vocal music only entered conditionally into the original plan of the founders of the Philharmonic ”

“ Respecting this last concert I gave in Vienna, the Musical journal spoke very favourably. Of the newest violin concerto (E-minor, C-major, E-major) it says: “Very difficult for the solo player as well as for those who accompany. A splendid, perfect composition; a fine flowing cantabile; striking modulations, replete with bold canonic imitations, an ever new, charming and happily calculated instrumentation. The melting adagio is especially captivating.” In conclusion it says: “As to the merits of this masterly artist, both here and throughout Germany there is but one opinion. ”

“ And at night, when she goes home worn with effort, there are songs to be learned, and then to be repeated over and over again in chorus the next day, to the accompaniment of a battered and expressionless piano shoved into the brightest spot on the gloomy half-dark stage, or, if there be no such thing, placed in the orchestra pit, where the musical director can enjoy the advantage of an electric light. ”

“ It is true, the audience were at first startled by the novelty, and were seen whispering together; but when the music began and the orchestra executed the well-known symphony with unusual power and precision, the general approbation was shewn immediately on the conclusion of the first part by a long-sustained clapping of hands. The triumph of the baton as a time-giver was decisive, and no one was seen any more seated at the piano during the performance of symphonies and overtures. ”