Brahms & the Schumanns
Laurie Shulman, Program Notes Annotator
Kenedea Lee | Eunoia (World Premiere)
Robert Schumann | Piano Concerto in A minor with pianist Avery Gagliano
Johannes Brahms |Â Symphony No. 1
Eunoia (World Premiere)
Kenedea Lee (Ken-uh-DAY-uh Lee)
Living Composer
Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.
A graduate of UCLA and the Manhattan School of Music, Kenedea Lee grew up in South Los Angeles, absorbing eclectic musical traditions. Her compositions draw on Black vernacular, the African American experience, jazz, and classical techniques. Lee’s principal instrument is the piano, and she has an in-depth knowledge of the rich piano literature. “Eunoia” – a term that derives from ancient Greek rhetoric – is freely based on an early work by the 19th-century pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann, as Lee’s composer’s note explains.
Eunoia – a word meaning goodwill, beautiful thinking, and balance – captures what I hear in Clara Schumann’s music. It also reflects her steadfast resilience as a female composer in the 19th century, a quality that deeply informed my approach.
Loosely inspired by her Scherzo in D minor, Op.10, my piece seeks to embody that same spirit of warmth, romance, and balance.
What is an Opus (Op.) number?
A numerical label assigned to a composer’s works, usually in the order they were composed or published. It’s a way to distinguish between different pieces by the same composer
The 1838 Scherzo she cites is a dazzling showpiece, with piano figuration reminiscent of both Mendelssohn and Chopin. By contrast, Lee’s Eunoia is largely relaxed and introspective, making liberal use of extended pedal points, primarily in the strings. The piece has a key signature of one sharp, implying G major (or its relative minor, E minor), a clear indication that Lee writes in a tonal palette. The beginning of Eunoia is somewhat impressionist. Motives emerge in the winds against the sustained strings. Gradually, those motives stretch to become melodies and longer phrases. The pace picks up to a brief dance-like section, but the texture remains similar, with lengthy sustained notes as a backdrop to more melodic activity. Mood shifts are subtle, and silences are as important as the music in this mesmerizing work.
Impressionist
Late 19th and early 20th-century classical musica style focused on mood, atmosphere, and emotion rather than traditional form and harmony
Piano Concerto in A minor
Robert Schumann (ROB-ert SHOO-mahn)
Born June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Saxony, Germany
Died July 29, 1856 in Endenich, near Bonn, Germany
Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.
If Schumann was the quintessential romantic, his piano concerto is the apotheosis of the romantic concerto. That it grew out of Robert and Clara’s legendary love affair only adds to its cachet. The couple was married in September 1840. Elated and blissfully happy, Schumann embarked on several years of intense work and high productivity, including an 1841 Phantasie for piano and orchestra. Four years later, he added an Intermezzo and Finale to the Phantasie. The three movements combined gave music one of its undisputed masterpieces.
Schumann’s concerto is unfailingly pianistic, for example, in the sympathetic arpeggio figuration that underlies the clarinet’s C major statement of the second theme (really the main theme transposed). Schumann’s cadenza at the end of the first movement is less a flashy showpiece than a test of musicianship, poetry, and passion. Its tense chordal passages and trills are a thrilling springboard for the galloping coda that closes the movement.
The slow movement Intermezzo is a delightful dialogue between soloist and orchestra, and one of Schumann’s happiest scoring efforts. An allusion to the first movement theme provides a magical transition to the finale, whose pianistic brilliance and rhythmic exuberance are well-nigh irresistible. Schumann thought of this concerto as “something between symphony, concerto, and grand sonata.” He made the whole add up to something greater than any one of those three, bequeathing to us a war horse whose glint does not tarnish.
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Johannes Brahms (Yo-HAHN-ess BRAHMS)
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany
Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna, Austria
Orchestration: woodwinds in pairs plus contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.
The moniker “Beethoven’s Tenth” has been attached to Brahms’ First Symphony since its premiere in 1876. The conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow is responsible for dubbing the C minor Symphony. He was recognizing Brahms’ fulfillment of a prophecy articulated decades earlier, when Robert Schumann hailed then 20-year-old Johannes Brahms as the great Beethoven’s successor.
Brahms took the legacy of Beethoven very seriously, and the specter of Beethoven lay heavily on his shoulders. He was a brutal critic of his own compositions and destroyed many works that did not satisfy him. Nowhere was his self-criticism more merciless than with orchestral music, because he was keenly aware that his First Symphony would be compared to Beethoven. “You do not know what it is like hearing his footsteps constantly behind one,” Brahms wrote.
Brahms’ friend Theodor Billroth likened the First Symphony’s opening movement to “a kind of Faustian overture” that might be thought of as a grand introduction to the whole work. Indeed, its complicated chromatic themes and relentless timpani at the opening are hardly the stuff of which popular “singable” tunes are made.
An unusual feature of this Symphony is two slow introductions, one for each of the outer movements. Both introductions signal something portentous and monumental – but the effect is entirely different. In the first movement, the introduction ushers in heroic conflict, whereas in the finale it heralds serene exaltation. By contrast, the inner movements are both shorter and lighter in emotional weight. In the slow movement, Brahms indulges in some orchestral decoration, embroidering his already rich music with a rare, breathtakingly lovely violin solo. Here and in the graceful Un poco Allegretto, we have a welcome emotional breather between the mighty pillars of the outer movements.
Un poco Allegretto
a little moderately fast
If there were any shortage of melodies early on, Brahms compensates with an abundance in the expansive finale. From the magical horn call to the majestic closing chords, unforgettable melodies vie with one another, providing this noble movement with some of his most beloved original themes.
This information is protected by copyright and is provided solely as a benefit to Kalamazoo Symphony patrons.
Reproduction in any form without written permission from the Program Annotator is strictly prohibited.
Become a Season Subscriber
A season ticket subscription to the Kalamazoo Symphony gives you the best seats at the best prices and access to unforgettable memories and music all season long!
