the French Revolution | Richibi's Weblog

April 20, 2013

Schubert – Piano Sonata D959‏

to my utter surprise when I checked I’d never
but only once in the many months I haven’t
been able to shut up since I started spouting
my bristling endorsements, like a very rushing
river gushing with the overflowing bounty of
an inveterate spring, mentioned Schubert, an
incandescent voice from surely heaven

it was about his String Quartet in C major, the
D956, not surprisingly, it is utterly enchanting,
D for Otto Erich Deutsch still, incidentally

here’s an alternate version of it, an utterly
inspired one

but if I’ve reintroduced Schubert it’s specifically
this time to compare him with Beethoven, they’re
easily confounded, I even did it once myself, to
my crushing embarrassment, in erudite and
unflinching company, oof, I cringe to even
remember it

the D959, moments only after the 956 of course,
has all the idioms of a Beethoven, and exercises
them as expertly, the beat, however, is always
on, unlike Beethoven, whose beat is always off,
contrary, rebellious, against the prevailing
order

though this variance might seem slight, one
senses already in the younger and later
Schubert a return to form, elegance, and civility,
the First Empire had indeed taken hold during
the transformation of Napoleon from hero of
the Revolution to a different incarnation of
Emperor, Chopin as well would be beholden
to later similarly reinstated French courts

so seemingly trivial an alteration speaks
volumes when one attentively listens, one
must do this with one’s heart

such a return to aristocratic principles is not
uncommon, incidentally, we seem, indeed, to
thirst for dynasties, if you’ll note the return of
late, of the Bushes, the Clintons, and most
recently the Canadian Trudeaux

Putin is another, though arguably somewhat
less democratic, version of that principle

Beethoven is off the beat then, Schubert on, you
won’t find much else that’s different upon first
listening, you’ll note only that their music is very
much the same, rigorous beat, tonal, essentially,
harmonics, and the return eventually of the
melodies, Classical imperatives, but with the
distinction of the new Romantic,
transformational however, sensibilities

Schubert might’ve even outpaced Beethoven
had he survived, I think, but he didn’t, he died
much too young, at the most tender age of
only 31, younger even than the more
celebrated Mozart, famous for succumbing
prematurely at the still early age of 36

may they rest, may they all rest, Schubert,
Mozart, and the somewhat longer-lived
Beethoven, still early deceased at 56, in
eternal peace, for they have brought us
but wonders

Richard

psst: here’s a movie to go with the earlier
Schubert, “The Company of Strangers“,
the very best film Canada has ever had
to offer, bar none, a gaggle of old women
are stranded in the Laurentians after their
tour bus breaks down, Schubert would’ve
loved it

and been honoured

July 29, 2012

Chopin: “Études”, opus 10

if I haven’t brought up Chopin much in this series

it’s that I think of him more as a decorator than

as an innovator, he was developing a sensibility

that had been defined by the earlier Beethoven,

adding texture and style, form instead of function,

the wheel had been invented, now it remained to

be artfully applied

some break new ground, others decorate it, make

it enchanting, Chopin makes things enchanting

he is also the first composer we think of when we

think of Romanticism, which says quite a lot about

the quality, the universality, of his gift

here are his opus 10, “Études”, or “Studies”, 12 of

them, they are not sonatas, for not having more

than one movement, they are “études” , “studies”,

called by that name for being what they are, then

given numbers to differentiate them, also their

key, the convenience of universally attributing

titles not having quite caught on yet though a

couple of these do have them, the 5th, the

“Black Keys”, for obvious reasons, and the last,

the “Revolutionary”, again for reasons you’ll find

obvious once you’ve heard it

tonality however remains, no apparent discords,

that’ll come later

note that in comparison to Mozart the notes are

a shimmer, the same alphabet is used, the one

set up by Bach, but where Mozart made these

into narratives to follow, and even sing along to,

with Chopin the same flurry of notes becomes

a wash of sound you could never vocally keep

up with, a texture rather, an enveloping caress,

prefiguring incidentally the Impressionists, the

lush soundscapes of for instance Debussy

though you’ll find the same prerequisite opening

musical statement as in Mozart, followed by the

contrasting one, often these will be in altogether

constrasting rhythms as well, tempi, compared

to the single strict beat throughout of the

foundational Classical model

the tempo itself is also much more lax, some

passages surrendering formal rhythmic strictures

to greater emotional content, more self-expression,

less attention to rules, in accord with the newly

installed ideal of individual human rights

hence Romanticism, the fruit of the Revolution

note also that the musical argument is no longer

in the Mozartean playground but of a more mature

understanding, Chopin has known love

Richard

April 26, 2012

Mozart Sonata no 16, in C major, K545‏

though his Sonata no 16, K545, was not officially submitted

by Mozart until 1788, when he was 32, it sounds musically

now so elementary, so even folkloric in its structure and

cultural impact, that it seems composed at a much earlier

age, but no one knows

it is also to my mind the most clear example of what is

meant when we speak of Classical music

the structure is simple, each movement, of which there

are Classically three, and later four for gravitas, though

Mozart himself in his sonatas never exceeded three,

present an air, followed by a contrasting air, followed

by the whole thing over again, these segments, call and

response, like verse and refrain in folkloric melodies,

are easily identified and even to follow, with Mozart

I often sing along, even in the grander concert stuff

significantly there is no other motive in Classical music

but entertainment, the Church had ceded its hold on

composers to aristocrats, who collected them like

paintings to adorn their courts, and the idea of

personal expression, as implanted by Beethoven

hadn’t yet taken hold, nor had the French Revolution

for a good time, in other words, call Mozart, Haydn

is a lot of unadulterated fun too

Beethoven will allow us to express our feelings,

which in our age has permitted the wails of the

disconsolate to soar to often, I think, too egregious

heights, to replace stalwart courage and honour,

exemplified symbolically in a culture by strict

refinement and courtesy, the very stuff of

Classical sensibility

the piano had been a very recent invention, able for

having been tempered, where notes of all keys had

been adjusted in order to be superimposed on a

keyboard to easily swing, or to modulate, from one

key to another, A, Bb, C#, et cetera, and was in the

process of determining the very sonic landscape

the new era would handle, the very adjustment,

the tempering, by definition supplanted the exact

tone of the key, to fit of course the more convenient

superimpositions, in other words we’ve become

fundamentally attuned to atonality, gotcha, do ré,

mi are off

you change keys for reasons of mood, major, minor,

or to accompany for instance in a more comfortable

range another instrument or a singer

in early Classical pieces keys don’t change much

within a movement, if indeed at all, but do contrast,

at this point in musical history, from one movement

to another, this of course will change

the Sonata no 16, K545, of Mozart, his Sonata facile,

or semplice, is played here by Gavin M. George, age 7

this doesn’t seem at all in this context inappropriate,

Mozart too was a wunderkind, a wonder, at that

precocious age