impromptuSF

Mozart “Haffner” Symphony No. 35 in D major (1782)
Brahms Symphony No. 1 in c minor (1876)

“What a Difference a Century Makes”

We tend to think that we live in rapidly changing times where the old certainties seem to change almost from week to week but imagine, for a moment, the differences in the world between the composition of these two symphonies.

Mozart lived in a time before the French Revolution and Napoleon’s wars: the Holy Roman Empire was still a political and social force largely unchanged since Charlemagne’s times. Mozart was employed by Prince Bishops, aristocrats and Kings (still exercising Divine Right and Absolute Power) operating in a pre-Industrial world, moving at the pace of the horse, lit by candles, with God at the centre of everything and a rigid hierarchy in all aspects of life; from world politics to the clothes you could wear and even hierarchy of beats within the musical measure. Monarchical power largely superseded national and linguistic differences; the Holy Roman Empire encompassed vast swathes of Central and Eastern Europe and operated in many languages; power was held by families whose dynastic marriages and seemingly endless wars of succession were the political moving (or indeed non-moving) force majeure.

Brahms, about 100 years later, writes in an era where those certainties had been replaced in almost every way possible. The industrial revolution changed the life of all social classes beyond recognition, moving Europe from a seasonal largely agrarian society to an industrial, urban culture. The railways and steamships arrived thus expediting local, national, and international travel.

The Franco-Prussian (1870-71) was the first modern and industrialized war, giving birth to a recognizable unified Germany under Bismarck from whence leads a direct line to the First World War and thus to our own happy times.

Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”(1859) and Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” 1867 were published whilst Brahms was writing his first symphony, two books which which are unparalleled in their revolutionary impact. Simply put, it was simply not possible to THINK in the same way after their publication.

So, these 100 years saw God and the Bible as absolute fact questioned , Monarchs rather literally knocked off their thrones, the birth of mass production and the modern Metropolis, the infancy and fall from innocence of the Unites States, the mass expansion of the British Empire, and etc. etc. You get the point, things were rocked to their foundations.

Mozart Symphony 35 in D major “Haffner”

It would be hard to find a work which epitomizes the world of the Classical Symphony more strikingly than Mozart’s “Haffner.” Originally written as a Serenade for the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, son of a former Major of Salzburg, the serenade was re-written to mark a Haffner family wedding but reached its final form as a symphony when re-worked by Mozart for a public performance at the Vienna Burgtheater on March 23rd 1783. Thus the journey of the symphony from aristocratic occasional music (or indeed opera overture) to stand alone music for a paying public begins.

The symphony employs a full classical woodwind and brass section, notable for including flutes and clarinets, still not necessarily set-in-stone as the “standard”, with pairs of trumpets and horns and timpani. The oboe and bassoon are still the primary solo voices of the woodwinds, demonstrating a clear connection with the orchestra of the earlier part of the century, where flutes were the province of aristocratic Gentlemen (the flute embouchure causing less vulgar distortion of the face than the double reeds) and the clarinet still a twinkle in the chalumeau’s eye. Here though, we find all 4 woodwinds, in their neat pairs, ready for the challenges to come.

This music bubbles along with good humor. Mozart plays with our expectations occasionally; the “jokes” in music of this period tend to be around sudden changes into unexpected keys or cadences to create a specific “affect” only possible within a highly regulated norm. We do need to remember that the 18th century music that we know so well and listen to so often is a tiny fraction of the vast output of music written, much of it extremely dull and predictable, so “subversions” of this within the output of a Haydn or a Mozart would have been all the more shocking, refreshing and delightful.

The first movement, marked “Allegro con spirito” has no slow introduction, however the unison long notes of the first few measures give an ambiguity of tempo before the 4th measure reveals the lively tempo. The movement is written in sonata form but unusually Mozart does not repeat the exposition section. In the development Mozart uses beats of silence to emphasize a series of rapid chord changes, playing with our expectations of key progression before returning to D major for the recapitulation.

The second movement, in G major, marked “Andante”, is graceful and full of melody. The woodwinds assume a more soloistic role with a brief chorale-like section at the beginning of the second section.

The third movement, is a typical minuet and trio. Brightly scored in D major, the minuet contrasts with the more chromatic trio.

The final movement, “Presto,” has similarities to both the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro and to Osmin’s comic aria from “Die Entführung” “O wie will ich triumphieren” (premiered within weeks of the Haffner’s composition). Mozart wanted the movement to be played “as fast as possible” but again surprises us with unexpected silences, rapid dynamic shifts and brilliant grace note passages.

Brahms First Symphony in c minor op.68

After 14 years of writing and re-writing Brahms first symphony was finally performed under the baton of Felix Otto Dessoff on November 4th 1876. If the Mozart symphony in tonight’s concert is the epitome of classicism; detached elegance written/re-cycled by Mozart as quickly as possible within an almost ceaseless flow of compositions, some works of genius, others..., less so , we see Brahms as the Romantic solitary genius, endlessly refining the giant block of marble, toiling and agonized, haunted by the ghost of Beethoven. Of course, Mozart had the advantage that public concerts in his day largely only showcased his own music and that of his contemporaries, whereas Brahms existed in a world where “the Canon” was becoming well established and endless comparisons to Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann were inevitable.

The succinct 20 or so minutes of Mozart’s symphony pales beside the 50 minute Brahms behemoth. It would perhaps be more fair to compare the scale and ambition of Brahms’ first symphony to Mozart’s operas or large scale choral works. A tonal world is created, it’s a fully immersive experience with echos of the Romantic Hero’s Journey narrative of Goethe and a little of the pine scent of Weber’s huntsman.

The first movement is marked “Un poco sostenuto - Allegro” and begins with a slow introduction with an unsettling syncopated theme underpinned by timpani. Tom Service, writing in the UK’s Guardian newspaper sees links between this first movement and the opening of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. There certainly are comparisons to be drawn to the “cathedral” movement of Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony and, of course, Beethoven .. the da-da-da-dum rhythm of the fifth symphony appearing as accompaniment in the strings and timpani for example. Tom Service emphasizes Brahms fearless use of contrapuntalism and his genius at layering of themes and ideas

The main theme of the first movement is introduced by the violins, the mood is “savagely energetic” and scherzo-like. The second theme is introduced by the woodwinds, and the exposition builds to a bombastic climax in E flat major before the repeat sign brings us back suddenly to c minor. The development introduces colorful key changes, the bass line heading to F sharp before the theme reappears from the mist and the recapitulation arrives. A coda begins with pizzicato strings and the movement ends in c major.

The second movement, “Andante Sostenuto” is in A-B-A form and is written in the relative major, E flat. Long solos from the principal oboe and violin add to the mood of rest and repose.

The third movement, “Un poco Allegretto e grazioso” continues of the mood of the Andante that precedes it. The clarinet appears as soloist and introduces the theme. The structure of the movement relates to, but is far more complex than, the minuet and trio of Mozart’s symphony, with repeated sections in different keys and meters.

The final movement of the Symphony, “Adagio - Piu Andante - Allegro non tropo , ma con brio - Piu Allegro” establishes the final movement of the symphony as an almost stand-alone symphony in it’s own right. Comparisons with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony abound. A “murky and ominous” introduction to the movement is followed by a tragic foreshadowing of the main Alphorn theme. A bridge passage of pizzicato strings, followed by rising modulations in the woodwinds and string arpeggios announce the main, grandest of grand themes, in C major. The motif appears in different orchestrations, the mood and character is grand and robust and the symphony ends in triumphant mode with a pair of plagal cadences.

program notes by Thomas Hill