Ravinia 2025 Issue 2

September 1860, he dispatched the completed score to his friend Joseph Joachim, who sched- uled the premiere in Hannover on October 20, 1860. After reading through the score, Joachim recommended that Brahms add more music to the beginning of his Allegro ma non troppo , a suggestion the resulted in a lovely first-cello melody that soars above the rich accompani- ment of the first viola and second cello. This casual unfolding of musical material reflect- ed a recent shift in Brahms’s temperament from Romantic firebrand to pensive artist. To Clara Schumann, he wrote on October 11, 1857: “Pas- sions are not natural to mankind: they are always exceptions or abnormalities. The man in whom they overstep the limits should regard himself as an invalid and seek medicine for his life and his health. The ideal and genuine man is calm, both in his joy and in his sorrow. Passions must quickly pass or else they must be hunted out.” Brahms thought highly enough of the Andan- te, ma moderato —a theme and six variations— to arrange this movement for solo piano as a “friendly greeting” to Clara on her birthday, September 13, 1860. The private arrangement re- mained unpublished until 1927, when it was in- cluded in the Johannes Brahms sämtliche Werke (Complete Works of Johannes Brahms). Its moderate-paced theme evokes the phrase struc- ture and chordal accompaniment of Baroque music. Given the D-minor tonality, Brahms might have thought of Bach’s chaconne for solo violin—a movement from the D-minor parti- ta that he later arranged for piano, left hand— while writing this music. Rhythmic activity grows steadily over the first three variations. The theme’s outlines disappear during the major-key fourth (chromatic) and fifth (music box) varia- tions. Brahms restored the essential melodic and stylistic traits of the theme in his final variation. FRANZ LISZT (1811–1886) Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde Transcriptions, fantasies, and reminiscences based on operatic excerpts proliferated during the 19th century as the showpieces of virtuo- sos and the delight of amateurs. Liszt penned approximately 16 arrangements of operatic themes for solo piano, and countless unwritten improvisations filled his early performances as a traveling keyboard Wunderkind . The dra- matic works of Richard Wagner—who married Liszt’s daughter Cosima on August 25, 1870, af- ter a long affair—provided Liszt with themes for 15 transcriptions between 1848 and 1882. Two years after the first stage production of Tristan and Isolde (1865), Liszt fashioned his piano transcription of Isolde’s Liebestod . In the final scene of Tristan and Isolde , the Irish princess Isolde sings the words “Mild und leise wie er lächelt” (How gently and quietly he smiles) as she cradles the lifeless body of her beloved Tristan. Exalting her proud lover and confessing eternal devotion in this Liebestod (Love-Death)—what Wagner called the “Transfiguration”—Isolde unites with Tristan in death. Liszt transferred quite literally the vo- cal lyricism, chromatic harmonies, and orches- tral sonorities to the solo piano, even printing the text above the melody to underscore the poignant drama. Fate dealt Liszt one final bizarre twist on his deathbed. August Stradal, one of several stu- dents attending the great pianist during his final moments, remembered: “We pupils were waiting in front of the garden, which was bathed in wonderful light of the full moon, when suddenly, from some neighboring house, there rang out Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan in Liszt’s piano transcription. Every window was in darkness, not one of them showed a light, and we could not tell whence the sounds were coming. But about that music there was some- thing mystical, transcendental! … And then, shortly before midnight, Liszt’s manservant came to the door, weeping: our great and be- loved master had passed away.” LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, op. 57 (“Appassionata”) Beethoven devoted himself to composition with renewed fervor after realizing that his hearing loss was irreversible. Profound despair led him to draft a personal confession of his deafness in an unmailed letter to his broth- ers (known today as the “Heiligenstadt Testa- ment”) written during his stay in the village of Heiligenstadt in 1802—and to fleetingly con- sider ending his life. His spirit liberated by this secret disclosure, however, Beethoven’s general outlook began to improve as he took refuge in his work: “It was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.” The months following his return from Heiligenstadt brought a steady flow of compositions, including the Symphony Franz Liszt by Franz Hanfstaengl (June 1870) No. 3 (“Eroica”), the Piano Sonata No. 21 (“Waldstein”), the Violin Sonata No. 9 (“Kreu- tzer”), and the oratorio Christus am Oelberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives). This vigorous creative activity slowed consider- ably at the end of 1804 and beginning of 1805. Work on Leonore (later renamed Fidelio ), Bee- thoven’s first operatic composition for the The- ater an der Wien, demanded total concentra- tion. His attention was further divided by growing affection for the recently widowed Jo- sephine von Brunsvik. Several writers have commented on the theme of faithful love com- mon to both the opera and Beethoven’s rela- tionship with Josephine. These weighty matters allowed little time for other compositions. The Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor was one of the few pieces created during the period when Beethoven’s relationship with Josephine was at its strongest—the years 1804 and 1805. The Vi- enna Bureau des Arts et d’Industrie published this sonata in 1807 with a dedication to Count Franz von Brunsvik, Josephine’s brother. Its emotional turbulence, dynamic intensity, and expressive harmonies may mirror Beethoven’s inner passions, but the composer did not him- self attach the nickname “Appassionata” to this work. The title first appeared in the 1838 four-hands version by the Hamburg publisher Cranz. For many years, this sonata was among the composer’s personal favorites. The “Appassionata” opens with a tempestuous movement whose expression transcends the for- mal restrictions of sonata form. Its first theme presents a quiet, haunting F-minor arpeggio in 12/8 time. Thunderous chords, which shatter the initial calm, lead to a tranquil and expressive second theme. The Andante con moto offers a set of variations based on a simple and stately theme. All three variations that follow retain the basic structure of the theme, but with increas- ingly complex embellishment. This movement proceeds without interruption into the finale by way of fortissimo chords. A quiet first theme enters after several measures of introduction, Ludwig van Beethoven by Joseph Willibrord Mähler (1804) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 63