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KARL FRIEDRICH ZELTER

VIOLA CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR

KARL STAMITZ

VIOLA CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, OPUS 1

Georg Schmid, Viola

Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra

Karl Ristenpart, Conductor

thè musical heRitage society ine.

MHS 740 MHS 740

Side 1: (21:52)

KARL FRIEDRICH ZELTER (1758-1832)

VIOLA CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR 1. Allegro (7:20)

2. Adagio non troppo (6:26)

3. Rondo (8:06)

Side 2: (21:20)

KARL STAMITZ (1746-1801)

VIOLA CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, OPUS 1 1. Allegro (non troppo) (10:06)

2. Andante moderato (6:14)

3. Rondo (Allegretto) (5:00)

Georg Schmid, Viola

Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra

Karl Ristenpart, Conductor

The Symphonie Concertante for violin and viola (K. 365) and thè Trio for piano, clarinet and viola (K. 498) count among thè most beautiful pages of Mozart and among thè few masterpieces written in thè 18th century for thè third voice of thè String Quartet. Mozart, in his affection for thè viola, ofFers a strong contrast to his friend Joseph Haydn, whose complete works, with thè exception of thè String Quartets, contain pitifully few passages treating this instrument as a soloist. But his affection was shared by his con- temporary Karl Stamitz, who was known in his own time both as a composer for and a virtuoso performer on thè violin and viola.

Karl Stamitz, born at Mannheim on May 7, 1745, was thè oldest son of thè famous "Bohemian” Johann Stamitz, who entered thè Service of Prince Charles Theodore, thè Elector Palatine, in 1745. Leader of thè chamber orchestra thus founded, which soon included 12 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 3 doublé basses, 15 winds and 2 kettledrums, Johann Stamitz, before his death in 1757, had made it one of thè best in Europe. The tradition established by him was to be followed by hi. successors among whom was his son Karl, for a period of more than twenty years, corresponding, in historical perspective, with thè definitive fixation of thè exterior form and internai structure of thè classical symphony. Of that fixation and of its transformations Mannheim was not thè only home, for we need think only of thè experiments carried on at thè same time by Joseph Haydn and by thè Viennese school of Gassmann and Ordonez, but it was one of thè most important. The genres practised, moreover, far from being limited to thè symphony, included equally thè con¬ cio and especially thè Symphonie Concertante, a true Mannheim specialty, which is known to have inspired Mozart on thè occasion of his visit to that city in 1777-78. As for thè Mannheim composers, their names were Vogler, Cannabich, Holzbauer, Richter, Toeschi, Filz, and, of course, Stamitz. As to what concerns thè qualities of thè instrumentai ensemble and thè traits of style, so to speak, im- posed by him, we can form an idea, thanks to thè English music historian, Charles Burney, who called thè orchestra an ''army of generals”, and Mannheim thè ''birthplace of thè crescendo and diminuendo”. Another contemporary observer - wrote that for him thè forte of thè orchestra was "thunder”, its crescendos ''a water- fall”, its diminuendoj a "crystal spring murmuring in thè distance”, and its pianissimos thè "rustie of spring”.

Karl Stamitz play ed inedie Mannheim Orchestra only from 1762 to 1770, as second violinSt. He then followed his former teacher Franz Xaver Richter to Strassburg. His career, for a quarter century, was that of a wandering virtuoso. We find him again in Paris, in thè Service of thè Due de Noailles (he created a sensation at thè Concerts Spirituels, when he played on March 25, 1773, one of his Symphomes Concertantes). He was at Frankfurt (1773), London (1777-78), in Holland, at Berlin, where he played in 1786 in a famous performance of Handel’s "Messiah”, at Prague and Niirn- berg (1787), at Cassel, at Saint Petersburg, at Weimar, where he appeared on Nov. 12, 1792, and at Leipzig. In 1796, tiring of his

wandering life, he accepted a position as first violin and professor of music at Jena. He died there on Nov. 9, 1801, leaving about fifty Symphonies, almost forty Symphonies Concertantes for a num- ber of solo instruments ranging from two to seven, more than forty Concertos, of which two were for viola and eleven for clarinet, many chamber music works and outdoor pieces, a Mass, three Cantatas and two Operas now lost: Dardanus and Le Tuteur Amour eux.

From thè beginning of its Allegro (non troppo) thè Concerto in D major for viola offers a fine example of thè Mannheim crescendo: a regular phrase of eight measures, repeated twice. After thè orches¬ trai introduction, melodically and dynamically well contrasted, thè soloist takes up thè theme of thè opening and then proceeds to virtuoso figurations. Throughout thè movement, which is in rather rudimentary sonata form, thè music alternates between rhythmic affirmations and supple song, in a Mozartian manner, changing frequently and quickly from thè serene to thè agitated, with effeets of timbre which are all thè more seductive in that thè orchestra includes, apart from thè strings, two clarinets (and not two oboes) and two horns. An Andante moderato in D minor follows, which leads not to relaxation, but to a deepening, almost to pathos: feeling, nevertheless reinforced by numerous expressive- syncopes and by curious rhythmic caprices. Chromaticism also contributes in places to this changing atmosphere. One of thè most beautiful pages, with-

’ out doubt, of classical concertante music! And thè work ends with a playful Rondo (allegretto). The theme of thè refrain, of popular allure, is astonishingly dose to one in Mendelssohn’s "Midsummer Night’s Dream” music. As to thè recapitulations, three in number, they are respectively: very short and followed by a cadence in major, in minor and rhythmically interesting, virtùosic and marked by agile groups of sixes in major. After a final cadence, thè refrain concludes as it began, enunciated first by thè soloist and then by thè whole orchestra.

Unlike that of Karl Stamitz, thè name of Karl Friedrich Zelter is little known to music lovers. Has he ever had, by thè way, thè honor of a recording? This musician, little known today, had none- theless in his own time his hour of glory, both through his amicable relations with Goethe and through thè important role which he played for forty years in thè artistic life of Berlin! Born in Berlin on Dee. 11, 1758, thè son of a mason, Karl Friedrich Zelter made a name for himself relatively early as a violinist, as a conductor, and as a composer. In 1786, his Cantata on thè Death of Frederick II was performed in thè Garnisonkirche in Potsdam. Shortly afterward (1787-88) his first piano pieces and his first songs were published by Rellstab. Joining thè Singverein in 1791—it ultimately became thè Singakademie—headed by his former teacher Karl Friedrich Fasch (1736-1800), Zelter took over thè direction at Fasch’s death. After that, his officiai career blossomed rapidly. He was named assessor and member of thè Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1806, and "Professor” of Music in 1809. From 1803 to 1812 he pub¬ lished a series of seven essays devoted to thè problems of "thè

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reorganization of thè musical life of thè State, City, Church and School”: he was, in fact, thè founder of musical education as it developed in Prussia in thè 19th century! In another area, Zelter took part in 1807 in founding a "Ripienschule” dedicated to thè public performance of "ancient” and modern oratorios, thè latter dominated by "The Creation” and "The Seasons” of Haydn, which had recently been composed. Zelter also was a leader in founding thè Royal Institute of Sacred Music in 1822 and thè Department of Music in thè Royal Library in 1829. Made doctor honoris causa of thè University of Berlin in 1830, in that same year he issued a major portion of his new "collection of evangelical hymns”. Zelter died in thè capitai on May 15, 1832. Among his pupils had been Mendelssohn, Nicolai, Cari Loewe and Meyerbeer.

His work is primarily musical: about 200 Lieder, published from 1796 to 1829, male choruses, operas, symphonies; but he was also known as a writer. Zelter corresponded for many years with Goethe, and in these letters he appears as a sort of musical counselor of thè author of Faust! His criticai activities were equally important. One of his most celebrated articles, about "The fcreation” of Haydn, which had had its premiere four years previously and was being sought by all thè cities of Germany, was published in thè Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung in 1802. The picture of Chaos, which opens "The Creation”, to which Zelter devoted a long discussion, is strikingly described by him as thè "crown on a divine head”. In 1804, Zelter received from Haydn a letter of thanks for this criticism. He immediately responded, begging thè master to come to Berlin to be applauded as he never had before: an invitation which Haydn, 72 years old and in rather poor health, was unfor- tunately unable to accept.

As for thè Concerto for viola in E fiat, it was composed by Zelter in 1779, at thè age of 21. The orchestra is made up of strings and two horns. This score, which is both energetic and—especially in its second movement—profoundly emotional, reveals very strongly thè geographical origins of its composer, who appeared to be an heir of Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach in many respeets. This is es¬ pecially noticeable in thè initial Allegro, with its vigorous rhythms, its pedal points, its incursions toward thè subdominant, its trills and its other deviations from routine. The Adagio non troppo is in C minor. This movement, with its bold harmonies, reminds us in its altered chords, its syncopes and melodie breadth of thè Haydn of thè Piano Sonatas of 1761-71 (which were themselves influenced by K.P.E. Bach). There follows a Rondo with another "popular” refrain. The recapitulations are four in number, thè outer ones in major. The inner ones, thè second and third, are in C minor and E fiat minor, and end all at once by a recitative and by a fugitive evocation of thè Adagio. The episode in E fiat minor (No. 3) is truly remarkable, and rises well above thè level of occasionai music. And thè end of thè score, which surprisingly dies away quietly—is not this also a witness to thè inventive and expressive qualities of Karl Friedrich Zelter?

Marc Vignal

Licensed by ERATO o^ France Library of Congress Cat. No. Mono—R-67-2641 and 2642 Stereo—R-67-2643 and 2644

1991 BROàòway, new yoRk, n. y. 10023

r THE MUSICAL ^ HERITAGE SOCIETY

ADAGIO RONDO i

RISTENPART, IDUCTOF