My Sunday evening sonata partner plays the cello as well as the piano (and about a dozen instruments besides, but that's another story!) and so last week I got him to get his cello out of the basement to join me in one of my favorite pieces, the Beethoven Duo for Viola and Cello, called the "Eyeglasses" because of the note on the manuscript, "mit zwei
obligaten Augengläsern". It was never published in Beethoven's lifetime, and has the bizarre-looking catalog number "WoO 32", where "WoO" stands for "Werke ohne Opus", work without opus number. Apparently, the first movement wasn't published until 1912, after it was discovered in one Beethoven's notebooks; the second movement was found in the same notebook in the 1940s. I'm just happy it survived: it's just a fun, fun piece. And it's the first piece I played when I started playing the viola again back in 2009 (with this same cellist, as it happens!)
As readers of this blog will remember, I'm on a real Kalliwoda kick, and my sonata partner was very indulgent, and read through with me his Six Nocturnes for Viola and Piano, Op. 186. I think these are wonderful pieces: very "violistic", if I can coin that phrase. My partner said that they were very sight-readable, because Kalliwoda never does anything in the least unexpected. :-( Still, I think all violists ought to give these a try. I may like the first one the best; listen and see if you don't think it's very pretty. My sonata partner likened some of these pieces to melodies by Sir Arthur Sullivan, and to me, that's high praise (I used to be a huge Gilbert and Sullivan fan!)
I realized that there's a link here: both of these pieces are what I call "fun", and that's a thread that can be hard to find in chamber music, particularly in the romantic era. Haydn certainly had fun, and created fun experiences for his players, as did Beethoven early in his career. But somehow, music, particularly chamber music, took a very serious turn early in the nineteenth century, leaving "fun" to composers like Strauss, Offenbach, and Sullivan. I mean, I just adore Brahms, but no one would ever consider calling his chamber music "fun"!
Showing posts with label duet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label duet. Show all posts
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Duets and Trio, Kalliwoda, Bach/David, Beethoven
Following along on the theme of catching up on my blog, I'm going to combine parts of two different sessions, so that I can talk about a couple of themes: smaller groups, and arrangements.
First, continuing my obsession with Kalliwoda, I got to play the first of his two violin-viola duets, the Op. 208, No. 1 in C major. There's a blog post about these two duets here, and I have to say, I agree: wonderful pieces. Kalliwoda has a gift for melody, I think, and his writing is technically gratifying for both instruments. Maybe he does love double-stops a bit too much, but he writes them so cleverly that I forgive him. And he does manage to get a full, rich sound out of only two instruments!
In that same session, we played about half of the Ferdinand David transcription for violin and viola of the Bach Two-Part Inventions. You can hear three of them here. I think they work remarkably well, particularly the famous F major No. 8. I'm eager to play more of David's transcriptions. And maybe even add his string quartet to my list of quartets by obscure composers to play (not that that list needs more entries!)
I suppose this is a good place to discuss my feelings about arrangements and transcriptions. I'm in favor of them, as long as they're done with a real understanding of the instruments being transcribed for. I don't like, for example, to play a string quartet with a flute taking over the first violin part. But something like the Bach transcriptions by David, an expert violinist (he premiered the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto) can work really well.
On a separate occasion, waiting for a tardy cellist for a session of string quartets, I got to play another transcription, this time the first movement of Beethoven's Op. 87 Trio for Two Oboes and English Horn, in the Henle edition for two violins and viola, prepared by Egon Voss. It's unclear whether the string version is Beethoven's or not, but he at least approved it. And it's delightful: notwithstanding the high opus number, this is a very early work, and I have a particular fondness for Beethoven's earliest music. Another example of a transcription working very well! You can listen to the original version here, and the transcription here, and form your own opinion.
First, continuing my obsession with Kalliwoda, I got to play the first of his two violin-viola duets, the Op. 208, No. 1 in C major. There's a blog post about these two duets here, and I have to say, I agree: wonderful pieces. Kalliwoda has a gift for melody, I think, and his writing is technically gratifying for both instruments. Maybe he does love double-stops a bit too much, but he writes them so cleverly that I forgive him. And he does manage to get a full, rich sound out of only two instruments!
In that same session, we played about half of the Ferdinand David transcription for violin and viola of the Bach Two-Part Inventions. You can hear three of them here. I think they work remarkably well, particularly the famous F major No. 8. I'm eager to play more of David's transcriptions. And maybe even add his string quartet to my list of quartets by obscure composers to play (not that that list needs more entries!)
I suppose this is a good place to discuss my feelings about arrangements and transcriptions. I'm in favor of them, as long as they're done with a real understanding of the instruments being transcribed for. I don't like, for example, to play a string quartet with a flute taking over the first violin part. But something like the Bach transcriptions by David, an expert violinist (he premiered the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto) can work really well.
On a separate occasion, waiting for a tardy cellist for a session of string quartets, I got to play another transcription, this time the first movement of Beethoven's Op. 87 Trio for Two Oboes and English Horn, in the Henle edition for two violins and viola, prepared by Egon Voss. It's unclear whether the string version is Beethoven's or not, but he at least approved it. And it's delightful: notwithstanding the high opus number, this is a very early work, and I have a particular fondness for Beethoven's earliest music. Another example of a transcription working very well! You can listen to the original version here, and the transcription here, and form your own opinion.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Violin duets, de Bériot and Kalliwoda
Duets yesterday evening with my intermediate violinist friend. First up was another find from IMSLP, the "Douze petits Duos faciles" by Charles Auguste de Bériot. I wasn't too impressed with the first one; I remarked that we played it better than it deserved. The second was better, but the third one was a little tough for sight-reading. And later on in the collection, there's a scherzo in B minor with a trio in B major. I suppose de Bériot figured that beginners should suffer through five sharps like the rest of us. :-)
I really like IMSLP: it's a wonderful site to find obscure mid-nineteenth century to early twentieth century music. (Earlier than that, the style of music printing makes it hard for us moderns to read; after that, you run into copyright issues). There was an interesting article about a year ago in the New York Times about IMSLP. I have no qualms about using it for public domain music. If a publisher wants to go to the trouble to create new editions of public domain music, like Henle and the complete Haydn quartets, that's worth my money. But those publishers who just push out copies of nineteenth century engravings (sometimes messing them up with incorrect rehearsal letters or ruining the page turns) don't deserve my patronage.
We then continued with the Three Very Easy Duets by Kalliwoda (Kalivoda), Op. 178. These are the first three of a set of twelve, it seems (the Op. 178-181). Even easier than the ones we played at the beginning of the month, they're pretty good (definitely better than the de Bériot). One could wish for a little more creativity on Kalliwoda's part (really, does every sonata form development section have to start with a bar rest for the second violin, who then imitates what the first violin plays?), but I think they're worth playing. But then, I do have a soft spot for the music of obscure composers!
I really like IMSLP: it's a wonderful site to find obscure mid-nineteenth century to early twentieth century music. (Earlier than that, the style of music printing makes it hard for us moderns to read; after that, you run into copyright issues). There was an interesting article about a year ago in the New York Times about IMSLP. I have no qualms about using it for public domain music. If a publisher wants to go to the trouble to create new editions of public domain music, like Henle and the complete Haydn quartets, that's worth my money. But those publishers who just push out copies of nineteenth century engravings (sometimes messing them up with incorrect rehearsal letters or ruining the page turns) don't deserve my patronage.
We then continued with the Three Very Easy Duets by Kalliwoda (Kalivoda), Op. 178. These are the first three of a set of twelve, it seems (the Op. 178-181). Even easier than the ones we played at the beginning of the month, they're pretty good (definitely better than the de Bériot). One could wish for a little more creativity on Kalliwoda's part (really, does every sonata form development section have to start with a bar rest for the second violin, who then imitates what the first violin plays?), but I think they're worth playing. But then, I do have a soft spot for the music of obscure composers!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Violin Duets, Kalliwoda, Op. 179 and Bartok, Sz 98
I have a friend who started playing the violin several years ago, when her son started playing. We’ve been playing duets together for about a year, and it’s been a very rewarding experience, particularly to see how much better her sight-reading has gotten over that time. We’ve been playing some of the staples of my youth, Suzuki and Applebaum violin duets, and I also got a book of violin-viola duets published in Hungary that had some nice pieces in it. I’ve supplemented the menu with some arrangements and transcriptions of my own (more about those another time). But tonight we played two pieces I wanted to talk about.
First up was something I downloaded from IMSLP, “Three Easy Duos” by Kalliwoda (or Kalivoda, in the original Czech.) These weren’t great music, but they did what they wanted to do: provide a complete musical experience while staying in first position for both players. I’m looking forward to the three slightly harder duets, the Op. 180, which are in the same PDF from IMSLP, and also the “Three Very Easy Duets”, Op. 178, which I’ve put into my cart at Sheet Music Plus for my next order. Grove's says of Kalliwoda that the verdict of history has not been kind to him, but I would like to play more of his music. I admit that I have a weakness for obscure composers (more about that another time, as well!)
The only recording I’ve been able to find of the Kalliwoda duets we played this evening was this one from YouTube. I found the little girl playing the first violin part charming, even if, as my duet partner pointed out, she needs to keep her right elbow down. But she seems to be enjoying herself so much that I forgive her the technical difficulties.
We finished up the duet session with three numbers from Bartok’s 44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz 98. I love, love, love these duets. Technically straightforward (at least the early ones), musically challenging, pure Bartok from beginning to end. You can hear selections at Instant Encore (generally much better than YouTube for classical music!).
First up was something I downloaded from IMSLP, “Three Easy Duos” by Kalliwoda (or Kalivoda, in the original Czech.) These weren’t great music, but they did what they wanted to do: provide a complete musical experience while staying in first position for both players. I’m looking forward to the three slightly harder duets, the Op. 180, which are in the same PDF from IMSLP, and also the “Three Very Easy Duets”, Op. 178, which I’ve put into my cart at Sheet Music Plus for my next order. Grove's says of Kalliwoda that the verdict of history has not been kind to him, but I would like to play more of his music. I admit that I have a weakness for obscure composers (more about that another time, as well!)
The only recording I’ve been able to find of the Kalliwoda duets we played this evening was this one from YouTube. I found the little girl playing the first violin part charming, even if, as my duet partner pointed out, she needs to keep her right elbow down. But she seems to be enjoying herself so much that I forgive her the technical difficulties.
We finished up the duet session with three numbers from Bartok’s 44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz 98. I love, love, love these duets. Technically straightforward (at least the early ones), musically challenging, pure Bartok from beginning to end. You can hear selections at Instant Encore (generally much better than YouTube for classical music!).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)