Klarinet Archive - Posting 000026.txt from 2009/10

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Beethoven Op. 11 clarinet trio
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:00:09 -0400

Glad to be of service, Dan! :-) I have always appreciated and learned
so much from the extensive knowledge about Mozart and others that you
have shared with me/us on and off the list, so I am very happy and
honored to be able to help you out for once.

Best regards,
Jonathan

>Jonathan, that is PERFECT!!! I wanted very much to tie the clarinet
>knot of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, and you hit the nail right on
>the head!!
>
>Much thanks,
>
>Dan Leeson
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonathan Cohler" <cohler@-----.org>
>To: <klarinet@-----.org>
>Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:00 AM
>Subject: Re: [kl] Beethoven Op. 11 clarinet trio
>
>>In response to Dan L.'s query:
>>
>>Here is the article I wrote about the piece for my recent CD
>>(Jonathan Cohler & Claremont Trio) that includes the Beethoven and
>>Brahms Trios plus the Dohnanyi Sextet. This sheds some light on
>>the confusion over this issue.
>>
>>Best,
>>Jonathan Cohler
>>
>>
>>Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
>>Trio in B-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet, and Cello, Op. 11 (1797-8)
>>
>>Like Mozart before him and Brahms after him, Beethoven too was
>>closely associated with a virtuoso clarinetist. For Mozart it was
>>Anton Stadler, for Brahms it was Richard Mühlfeld, and for
>>Beethoven it was Viennese clarinetist (Franz) Joseph Bähr
>>(1770-1819). Bähr asked Beethoven to write this Trio, in fact, and
>>he specifically suggested the theme for the third movement theme
>>and variations. Bähr played in the premieres of this and several
>>other works of Beethoven's.
>>
>>Many accounts of this work have confused the Viennese Bähr with the
>>older Bohemian clarinetist (Johann) Joseph Beer (1744-1812), who
>>was the first clarinetist to have a truly international solo
>>career. (Beer worked closely with composer Carl Stamitz.) The
>>multiple spellings of their names, some of which are identical, and
>>the fact that both men performed in Vienna at the same time in the
>>1790s, added to the confusion, which has now been carefully sorted
>>out by historians.
>>
>>The theme that Bähr suggested comes from the then very popular
>>opera L'amor marinaro ossia Il corsaro ("Love at Sea" or "The
>>Corsair") by Joseph Weigl, which opened on October 15, 1797. The
>>tune is from the aria "Pria ch'io l'impegno", a light-hearted trio
>>for three basses, which begins "Before we work, we must have
>>something to eat." The tune was so popular at the time that several
>>composers including Paganini, Joseph Eybler, Antonie von Lilien,
>>and Beethoven, among others, wrote sets of variations based upon
>>it. This Trio eventually acquired the name "Gassenhauer" ("popular
>>song") as a direct result of that tune's popularity.
>>
>>Although Beethoven died before finishing the metronomization of all
>>his works, Beethoven's student Carl Czerny provided metronome marks
>>for this Trio in his book On the Proper Performance of all
>>Beethoven's Works for Piano (Vienna 1820). As is usual for
>>Beethoven, the fast tempi are very fast. Czerny's metronome mark
>>for the first movement is quarter note equals 176! Curiously, no
>>previous recordings of which I am aware come close to this mark,
>>and most are a good 30 to 40 percent slower, thereby completely
>>changing the movement's character. Given Beethoven's frequent
>>admonitions on the importance of tempo, we attempted to follow the
>>Czerny/Beethoven metronome markings in this recording, but never to
>>the detriment of the musical values, which always require a certain
>>amount of flexibility, as Beethoven also noted.
>>
>>In 1817, Beethoven wrote to Viennese composer Ignaz Franz Edler von
>>Mosel (1772-1844), "As far as I am concerned, I have long thought
>>of giving up the senseless terms, Allegro, Andante, Adagio, Presto,
>>and for this Mälzel's metronome offers the best opportunity," and
>>later in 1826, he wrote to his publisher B. Schott & Sons:
>>
>>"The metronome marks will shortly follow; do wait for them. In our
>>age such things are certainly necessary; also I hear from Berlin
>>that the first performance of the Symphony [No. 9] went off with
>>enthusiasm, which I ascribe in great part to the metronome marking.
>>We can scarcely have any more tempi ordinari, for one must follow
>>the ideas of unfettered genius."
>>
>>According to Anton Schindler (1795-1864), Beethoven's first
>>biographer, "When a work by Beethoven had been performed, his first
>>question was always, 'How were the tempi?' Every other
>>consideration seemed to be of secondary importance to him." Playing
>>the first movement at the Czerny/Beethoven tempo of 176 certainly
>>makes it very brilliant and exciting, in keeping with Beethoven's
>>marking of "Allegro con brio."
>>
>>The work is dedicated to Maria Wilhelmine Gräfin von Thun, born
>>Countess Uhlfeld (1744-1800), who was one of the most important
>>women of Vienna's high nobility and a former patron of Mozart's.
>>Later, two of her sons-in-law, Count (later Prince) Andreas
>>Kyrillowitsch Rasumowsky and Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, also
>>became patrons of Beethoven.
>>
>>The Trio was published on October 3, 1798. An interesting incident
>>occurred in May of 1800, which has been related to us by another of
>>Beethoven's students and friends, Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838). At
>>this time, improvisational duals between rival virtuoso pianists
>>were fashionable. The events were usually held at the home of a
>>wealthy patron or member of the nobility and the audience would
>>include supporters and patrons of each pianist. By this time,
>>Beethoven was already known as perhaps the greatest improviser of
>>all time, so he was rarely challenged. Nonetheless, this didn't
>>stop virtuoso pianist and sometime charlatan Daniel Steibelt from
>>making the challenge.
>>
>>They met first accidentally at the home of Count Moritz von Fries,
>>a wealthy banker. According to Ries, Beethoven played this Trio, in
>>which, "there is not much room for display," so Steibelt was
>>confident he would prevail. Steibelt then played one of his
>>quintets, improvised, "and made a good deal of effect with his
>>tremolos" which were a new and impressive effect at that time.
>>Beethoven couldn't be convinced to play again, but eight days later
>>there was a second concert also held at Count Fries'. Ries notes,
>>
>>"Steibelt again played a quintet which had a good deal of success.
>>He also played an improvisation (which had, obviously, been
>>carefully prepared) and chose the same theme on which Beethoven had
>>written variations in his Trio. This incensed the admirers of
>>Beethoven and him. It was his turn to seat himself at the
>>pianoforte and improvise. He went in his usual (I might say,
>>ill-bred) manner to the instrument as if half-pushed, picked up the
>>violoncello part of Steibelt's quintet in passing, placed it
>>(intentionally?) upon the stand upside down and with one finger
>>drummed out the theme from the first few measures. Then, impelled
>>by his insulted and excited feelings, he improvised in such a
>>manner that Steibelt left the room before he finished. He would
>>never again meet him again, and, when invited anywhere, always
>>stipulated that Beethoven should not be present."
>>
>>Beethoven won the duel decisively and was never again asked to take
>>on any piano virtuosi; his position as the greatest improviser in
>>the world was firmly established. Czerny relates that Beethoven
>>later wished (perhaps as a result of the Steibelt incident?) that
>>he had written a different finale of his own for the Trio. Although
>>it was common at the time for composers to write variations based
>>on another's theme, Beethoven did not like the practice, and this
>>Trio is, according to biographer Barry Cooper, "the only one of
>>Beethoven's multi-movement instrumental works" that contains such
>>a set of variations.
>>
>>Written only six years after Mozart's death, when Beethoven was
>>just 27 years old, the Trio is more a part of the Classical period
>>than the Romantic period, albeit with the jarring and unmistakably
>>powerful characteristics of Beethoven throughout. The critic of
>>Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung called it, "at various points not
>>easy, but still more flowing than other works from this authorS"
>>Given its fundamentally classical nature, however, we took the
>>standard classical approach of adding ornamentation and a bit of
>>improvisation on the repeat of the exposition in the first movement.
>>
>>>Does anyone have some information about the party for whom
>>>Beethoven wrote the first of the two clarinet trios, Op. 11. (The
>>>other trio is an arrangement of the septet, but that does not
>>>interest me here).
>>>
>>>The best of all possible worlds would be the full name, dates of
>>>birth and death, and an image of some sort.
>>>
>>>Kind thanks,
>>>
>>>Dan Leeson
>>>
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>--
>>Jonathan Cohler
>>Artistic & General Director
>>International Woodwind Festival
>>http://iwwf.org/
>>cohler@-----.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------

--
Jonathan Cohler
Artistic & General Director
International Woodwind Festival
http://iwwf.org/
cohler@-----.org

------------------------------------------------------------------