June 10 was the bicentennial birthday of Robert Schumann. I'm not going to dwell on his backstory too much. There are too many people doing that quite well already.
The short version:
http://www.examiner.com/...
Schumann was born June 8, 1810 in Germany. Despite his severe mental problems, and early death at age 46, he left a legacy of music that earned him the label "the quintessential Romantic".
He is best known for his Lieder, and music for piano and orchestra. His wife Clara was a composer and a brilliant concert pianist.
My short version: Schumann was one of the great early Romantic composers of the 19th century and he was crazy.
(More madness below...)
I had intended to do Schumann's Piano Concerto in last week's diary, but that turned into an extended discussion of the minor scale so I could introduce the idea of the relative major. We'll see why, in a bit. But today is all Schumann's Piano Concerto.
But back to Schumann and his craziness. There have been a lot of theories about it: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, "melancholia" (the 19th century catch-all), syphilis, mercury poisoning. The latest theories, though point to something genetic rather than contagious or environmental. His family was plagued with mental health issues, as seen in this British Journal of Psychiatry article, Robert Schumann's contribution to the genetics of psychosis. (And, really, who among us doesn't aspire to have an article like that written about himself someday?) Schumann also has the privilege of being listed in this Mental Health Today list of famous people with bipolar disorder, along with Beethoven and Mahler. And there is also the wonderful 1947 Katharine Hepburn and Paul Henreid film about his wife, Clara Schumann, called Song of Love:
Whatever his come-and-go state may have been, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor is not crazy. It's a very well-organized, powerful work. Wikipedia describes it as being monothematic, in that most of the musical material in the concerto derives in some way from the first movement's introductory theme in A minor, introduced by the oboe. In a nifty little inside-baseball trick that is not that uncommon among composers, the melody is actually a note-for-note anagram based on his wife Clara's nickname, Chiara. The listener isn't expected to know that, but his wife, one of the most talented pianists of the day who performed much of his music, certainly knew, as did Schumann's musician friends. Inside joke stuff, ya know. However, it means we will have some fun playing "Where is Waldo" with the concerto, seeing how this same initial melody is transformed repeatedly into different melodies.
Clara is a very interesting person in her own right, one of those musical matriarchs of history who other great musicians seemed to pivot around, like Alma Mahler or Cosima Wagner. It's hard to avoid discussing music at length without crossing their paths, one way or the other.
I'm going to use youtubes of the Schumann Piano Concerto (we can say THE concerto, because Schumann only did one) conducted by Claudia Abaddo, piano by Maurizio Pollini, with the Berlin Philharmonic. It's too large for one youtube, so it is broken up into four vids: two vids for the first movement, one for the second movement and one for the final movement.
A quick review before we begin: Remember Sonata-allegro form, from our OPUS 1 diary? Consider this an extension of that class. If your lost, go back and read it. Here's the outline again of what happens in a Sonata-allegro form movement, like the first and last movement of the Schumann work.
-1. Introduction (home key)
-2. Exposition
-a. First theme (home key)
-b. Second theme (a different key)
-c. Codetta (different key)
-3. Repeat of exposition (2a, 2b, 2c).
-4. Development (many keys)
-5. Recapitulation
-a. First theme again (home key)
-b. Second theme (NOW in the home key)
-6. Coda, sometimes just the codetta, (in the home key)
Let's begin with the first movement, the longest:
-1. Introduction (first video 0:00 to 0:07)
The concerto begins in A minor with a few dramatic chords to get your attention.
-2. Exposition (0:07 to 4:34)
-2a. First theme (0:07 to 0:47)
The oboes announce, in A minor, the melody that the rest of the concerto is built upon, Schumann's "Chiara." The Chiara theme begins with three slow descending notes, then four fast ascending ones. We will hear this take many forms, some of them subtle. I've tried to point out the obvious ones, but I'm not an expert on this concerto, so I'm sure some passed me by. Have fun pointing out in comments any examples that I missed!
After the oboes announce the Chiara theme, the piano restates it. The piano and orchestra begin a rumbling bass line that will eventually lead us to the new key for the second theme (Spoiler: which is going to be based on Chiara).
An exciting little march-like melody with full orchestra emerges at 1:31 to help usher us across the bridge from A minor to C major. C major, of course, as we know from last week, is the Relative Major of A minor. (Oh, don't remember that? Go back and read last week's OPUS. I wasn't just dicking you around with useless facts.)
-2b. Second theme (2:07 to 3:36)
The piano announces the second theme, now solidly in C major (the Relative Major). And, oh, how C major has changed Chiara! Normally, in Sonata-allegro form, the second theme is unique, unrelated to the first theme and in a contrasting mood. Schumann has here reworked the first theme, refurbishing it with a contrasting mood. Before it was somewhat tragic; now, as the piano makes a safe landing into C major, it is warm and comforting. The piano and the woodwinds pass it back and forth, giving it a somewhat yearning expressiveness.
And please observe a small point at 3:19-3:23. The oboe plays a short fragment that will be the nucleus for the coming codetta.
-2c. Codetta (3:36 to 4:34)
Still in C major, the exposition over, the codetta wraps it up into a discrete unit with an ending, the way a paragraph break encloses a paragraph. A triumphant march leads us to the end -- and, yup, it is that little oboe fragment from 3:19, converted from sad minor key to boisterous major key.
-3. (There is no 3, this time)
-4. The Development (4:34 to 7:42)
As the Codetta ends, it trails off and modulates (changes key) to A-flat major, a new, somewhat alien key that doesn't have a place in our easy three-chord rockstar harmony lesson from the OPUS 2 diary. The effect is a bit eerie, creating a sense of hushed expectancy.
Into this hush, the piano presents what may be the most beautiful part of the concerto, a long introspective ballad based on the Chiara theme.
At 6:36, the ballad ends with a violent crash of piano chords. The development begins a rush of modulations of the Chiara theme that eventually end at 7:35 with the transition back to lowly A-minor, the home key of the concerto.
-5. The Recapitulation (begins at 7:42)
-5a. First theme (7:42 to 9:38)
The oboe is back, again in A minor, repeating the Chiara theme exactly as it did at the beginning. Again the rumbling orchestra, again the little march melody that helped usher in C major.
But, oh wait, something different happens this time! Where before it transitioned peacefully to C major, there is now a sudden crash of violent chords on the piano! (9:04 to 9:08) Oh, you fools, lulled into a sense of complacency! This, of course, is the recapitulation, and as we have all had drummed into our heads by now, in the recap, the second theme section is in the home key. That cute little bridge section from the exposition no longer gets us where we are going! It has been replaced (9:16 to 9:38) with a new version of the bridge but in the darker key of a minor rather than that bubbly C major.
-5b. Second theme (9:38)
The bridge has dropped us off not in the relative major, C Major, nor in the home key of A minor, but in the somewhat brighter A major. This was an aesthetic choice on the composer's part: A minor would have been the more traditional choice. A minor is the home key, but A major is close enough to create a musical sense of finality.
All of the material from 2b is repeated now, but transposed from C major to the new home key of A major.
The youtube video runs out at this point and we have to switch to the next one. That's one of the limitations of this media. Oh well.
Start here when you are ready:
At 1:08 in the second vid, the codetta from 2c is repeated almost intact, although transposed from C major to A major and with a few harmonic surprises.
-6. The Coda (1:54 to end)
BUT -- now we have to specifically talk about concertos because concertos add a new twist to Sonata-allegro form all of their own: the cadenza.
Oh Dumbo! Please tell us! What on earth is a cadenza!
Oh alright, because you said please. At some point during a concerto, often near the end of the first movement, the rest of the orchestra drops out and lets the pianist play a long solo. By himself. Which is redundant, yup. The cadenza is often the most technically difficult part of the movement for the soloist to play because it is designed as a showcase moment. I mean, jeez, the orchestra board paid bookoo bucks to hire somebody with a famous name to come play with them, they expect him to put on a good show and make the audience want to throw their panties at the stage, right?
In earlier times, and by that I mean like Mozart's time, the cadenzas were not written into the score. The soloist was allowed (actually forced) to make up his own material, perhaps on the spot, jazz-style. By the time of Beethoven, however, he the great disciplined architect, he had put a squelch to that. He wrote the cadenzas into the score because he didn't want some fatuous putz ruining his brilliant music with some on-the-fly crapola. You can be sure that Schumann's cadenza is written into the score.
The solo cadenza is from 1:56 to 3:56). It's mostly back in the darker A-minor, and mostly built from the Chiara theme.
At 3:56, cadenza ends on a soft trill, and the orchestra comes back in with a fast but soft little A minor march (again, it's based on Chiara) that leads us to the crashing A-minor final chord.
The Second Movement -- Intermezzo : Andantino grazioso
I'm short on time (4:52 here), so here is a cut and paste of my raw notes. This is a much simpler movement and doesn't require the same level of dissection. If there is a use of the Chiara theme in it, I don't hear it, but maybe somebody with better knowledge of the concerto or better ears can point it out to us if there is, eh?
My raw notes (ugh):
second movement (video 3)
begins in F major
1:24 B section in C major starts with cellos
2:16 B sect briefly gots to g then a
2:40 B sect back to C
3:28 A section back in F
Third movement begsin
5:10 oboes softly repeat chiara theme in A then a then A again
At the end of the video, above, the second movement trails off without a distinct pause or ending, and transitions us directly into the finale. It begins with a straightforward restatement of the Chiara theme, first in major key, then minor, then major again, very vigorously... And we are forced to switch to the final video, the one of the third and final movement of the concerto, which is very rousing.
Third movement
The final movement is, like the first, in Sonata-allegro form, albeit shorter, in A major (not minor), and it has no cadenza. And the mood is very different, extremely joyous.
- Exposition
The main theme of the final movement (which is a waltz-type theme is based on the Chiara theme. The connection is a little harder to trace. But let's recall what I said at the top about the Chiara theme -- it is three slow descending notes, followed by four quick ascending notes. Those four quick ascending notes are the jet-rocket that fires off the main theme of the finale. Listen hard, compare and you'll hear it.
But Dumbo! Nobody but a music expert could expect to notice such picayune details like that in a concerto! Certainly not the first time he hears it! you say.
Believe me, if you put this on a CD in your car and listen to it whenever you're in traffic driving to and from work, you WILL notice things like this eventually. In fact, they will hit you like little time bombs. Your mind will be occupied with something else, and then you suddenly go, oh what the fuck was that, that sounded familiar, wait, I remember, I remember, AHA!! And then you feel clever and grin smugly until you get to work. How rewarding! And it makes you wonder, how many other things have I not noticed yet?
Besides, you know it now because I gave you the spoilers. And I feel no guilt about it, because this isn't a game or a movie. Music is meant to be listened to over and over again. A long piece of music like this has to be grasped in its entirety (remember the forests versus trees discussion?) to be appreciated. The hundredth time that you listen to this concerto will be much more rewarding than this, the first time.
The rest of my raw notes on the third movement:
video 4
transition to main theme in A major
1:00 second theme E
1:50 more ornamented version of second theme in E
2:40 codetta in E
3:09 development begins
4:40 Recap in D
5:35 second theme now in A
7:15 Codetta A
9:05 three chords.
I particularly enjoy those three chords at 9:05. They bring the whole work to a wonderful conclusion.
Done. 5:17pm