About the Music
Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114
Johannes Brahms
Born May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany.
Died April 3, 1897 in Vienna, Austria.
Composed in 1891.
Premiered on November 24, 1891 in Meiningen, by clarinetist
Richard Mühlfeld, cellist Robert Hausmann, and the composer.
Duration: 26 minutes
Johannes Brahms, born in Hamburg, Germany, spent most of his career in Vienna, Austria. By the time Brahms was a teenager, he was already an extremely accomplished musician. He used his talents as a pianist to earn money in local inns, brothels, and along the city docks to help ease the financial stress at home. In 1853, Brahms was introduced to the renowned German composer and music critic, Robert Schumann. The two men grew very close very quickly and Schumann became Brahms’ greatest mentor.
Sadly in 1854, Schumann became very ill and Brahms assisted Schumann’s wife Clara with household affairs. Brahms fell deeply in love with Clara, an accomplished pianist in her own right, but Clara remained true to her husband. Even after Schumann’s death in 1856, Brahms and Clara remained just close friends. Clara was Brahms’ muse, his unrequited love, and most constructive critic.
In late March of 1891, Brahms took a weekend trip to Meiningen, Germany that would change music history. Brahms arranged to hear the clarinetist, Mühlfeld, in a private concert. Brahms was so taken and seduced by Mühlfeld’s soulful sound and intimate performance, he was inspired to write four more chamber works, one of which was the Clarinet Trio. Immediately, Brahms wrote to Clara about his newfound inspiration. At this time, tragically Clara’s health was rapidly deteriorating and she had just given her final public performance. Brahms invited Clara to the public performance of the Trio even though he knew it would be impossible for her to attend. She finally heard the works performed for the first time in 1893. Clara wrote to Brahms saying, “But words are inadequate to express what I feel!”
The Trio has an autumnal mood, with bittersweet nostalgia, marking the full maturity of Brahms’ music. The Trio’s opening movement, in sonata form, begins with a somber, sweeping theme from the cello. Brahms treats the two melody instruments, cello and viola, as twin voices. The main theme, traded between the instruments leads to a climax, resulting in the emergence of the second theme, that reverses the shape of the main theme. The themes return towards the close of the movement, ending with whispered scales, reminiscent of the development, or middle section. The Adagio is an intimate, introspective duet between the viola and cello with piano accompaniment. Brahms uses the full vocal, range of the instruments. The beautiful melodies, traded between the viola and cello, are tender and sentimental. We like to think that Brahms is looking back on his life and love for Clara with tenderness, sadness, and perhaps peace. The third movement, Andantino Grazioso, takes a graceful, languid waltz-like turn leading seamlessly into the final movement. The first theme, initiated by the cello once again, is a bold, energetic, even triumphant series of soaring intervals followed by tight scales. The development section is dominated by the theme traded between the instruments. The Trio ends with a recapitulation of the first theme and a brilliant, explosive coda.
Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 47
Robert Schumann
Born June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Germany.
Died July 29, 1856 in Bonn, Germany.
Composed in 1842.
Premiered in 1842 by Clara Schumann
Duration: 30 minutes
In September of 1840, Robert Schumann married the love of his life, Clara Wieck. Clara was a gifted pianist and composer in her own right, a great source of inspiration for Schumann. After twelve months of marriage, he completed his famous song cycles, his first two symphonies, several other orchestral works, and the first movement of his great piano concerto. Despite Clara’s obvious positive influence, their relationship could be quite tempestuous. When she embarked on a concert tour of Denmark in 1841, Schumann felt slighted and his creativity seemed to stall. He immersed himself in studying string quartet scores of Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn, drowning his melancholy in “beer and Champagne.”
We now believe Schumann suffered from what was likely acute manic-depressive disorder, with severe attacks causing him to attempt suicide. With escalating mental illness, Schumann was eventually incarcerated in an asylum in Bonn, where he died in 1856. However, before his decline, Schumann was capable of intense periods of creativity frequently touched with genius. One of these periods, in 1842, is known as “The Year of Chamber Music." In less than six months, he composed three string quartets, a piano quintet, the piano quartet, and a trio for piano, clarinet, and violin. Some say that Schumann’s Piano Quintet reigns supreme over all of his other chamber works, a reason why this Quartet is often overlooked. This is unfortunate since this Quartet is one of the greatest works of its kind ever written.
The Quartet begins with a brief, choral-like introduction that reappears twice throughout the movement. This introduction opens into a more energetic idea, beginning with an ascending minor scale that dominates the movement. The Scherzo that follows is light and sparkling with its fantasy imagery enveloped by two contrasting trio sections. The slow movement, Andante Cantabile, the heart of the quartet, begins as if it has already been in motion even before we hear it. The theme is one of Schumann’s most achingly romantic melodies, introduced by the cello. It embodies the quintessential longing and unrest of the romantic period with its intervals reaching upward and then falling slightly. The Finale recaptures the liveliness of the first movement. In the style of a Fugato, this movement reflects the unrestrained emotional drive that we usually associate with the composer.
-Sarah Ghandour
About the Space
This concert series will afford listeners the opportunity to step beyond the velvet ropes and into the heart of the mansion, experiencing this music in a Gilded Age setting. This concert series represents a collaboration between Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site and the musicians of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, who have created this program to complement the historical space. In addition to absorbing the grandeur of this room from a usually forbidden vantage point, audience members will have the opportunity to see and hear music performed on the Vanderbilts’ 1880s art case Steinway. This gilded piano, restored by experts at the Smithsonian museum, is itself a work of art featuring portraits of composers.
For more information about the National Park Service and the Vanderbilt Mansion, please visit their website at http://www.nps.gov/vama/index.htm
About the Artists
Twenty one year old Japanese violinist Reina Murooka is currently a student of Weigang Li at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where she is a recipient of the Bard Conservatory Fellowship scholarship. Reina is pursuing German studies as her academic degree and enjoys traveling, exploring cultures, and good food.
Rosemary Nelis is a junior at Bard College Conservatory of Music where she studies with Steven Tenenbom and Michael Tree. Beginning at age five, she attended the Special Music School in New York City, later moving on to Bard High School Early College where she graduated in 2012 with an Associates of Arts. In addition to collaborating with artists Laurie Smukler and Benjamin Hochman, Rosemary has participated in festivals such as Music@Menlo, Bard Music Festival and Bowdoin International Music Festival. In addition to her viola studies, Rosemary is majoring in Chinese Language and Literature.
Sarah Ghandour is a junior studying cello performance with Peter Wiley and Luis García-Renart in the Conservatory. She is also pursuing a mathematics degree in the College. Sarah is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Program, where she studied cello with Jean-Michèl Fontineau. An avid chamber musician, Sarah has participated in Music@Menlo and Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festivals many summers past.
Pianist Annie Jeong has performed throughout South Korea and the U.S as a soloist and a chamber musician. At Bard College, she is pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in Japanese Literature and Language and a bachelor of music in Piano Performance from the Bard College Conservatory of Music as a pupil of Benjamin Hochman. She is graduating in May 2015.