Beethoven’s “Emperor” Program Notes

Samuel Barber’s Overture from The School for Scandal

World Premiere August 30, 1933; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8 Minutes

Lyricism and neo-romanticism are hallmarks of Samuel Barber’s music.
Barber was an accomplished baritone as well as a pianist.
Barber composed his 1949 Piano Sonata for Vladimir Horowitz.
His opera Antony and Cleopatra inaugurated the new Metropolitan Opera in 1966.

Samuel Barber is best known for the emotional and popular Adagio for Strings, which is actually an arrangement of the slow movement to his string quartet. He had a far greater impact on American music, however, writing two important operas (including the Pulitzer Prize winning Vanessa, 1958), a large quantity of vocal music and a superb Violin Concerto.

A brilliant young talent, Barber proved his mastery of the orchestra early. In fact, this Overture was composed when he was barely 22, as a graduation exercise from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The Overture was also his first composition to be performed by a major American orchestra.

The School for Scandal is a satire by Robert Brinsley Sheridan, an 18th-century Irish playwright. Barber was literate and educated, and many of his instrumental works reflect his interest in literature. Most of Barber’s music is conservative; this piece is zesty and animated, with the kind of orchestral brilliance that characterizes Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide. The music has three principal ideas, two of which are rhythmically vibrant. The middle one is a lovely oboe solo. This is the melody that will linger in our ears. All told, the overture makes an impression of American verve and energy successfully combined with European romanticism and tradition.

Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

World Premiere December 8, 1915; Helsinki, Finland
30 Minutes

Finland’s most celebrated composer, Jean Sibelius combines fire and ice in his music.
Many of his works are based on the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.
Early in his career, he churned out salon pieces for piano to earn money.
His greatest works are the orchestral tone poems and symphonies.

Jean Sibelius advocates are passionate about their composer. They love to hear recordings of his work and discuss his music, or better yet, to argue over it. What does it mean? How does it impact the listener? How does one composition differ from earlier or later works Sibelius wrote?

The music historian Gerald Abraham considers the Fifth “perhaps the most approachable of all Sibelius’ later symphonies.” Its complex first movement is a synthesis of formal experiments the composer made in his earlier symphonies. It features rich, colorful sound and vibrant textures.

Sibelius loved woodwinds and reveled in the broad spectrum of colors they bring to a symphony orchestra. He awards them the first two of four principal thematic ideas in the opening movement. Other Sibelian hallmarks are present, including searching melodies in parallel thirds and shimmering tremolandi passages in the strings. At nearly 14 minutes, this is the lengthiest of the symphony’s movements, largely because the brilliant manner in which the composer integrates his scherzo into the development section.

The woodwind section has a field day in the central movement, which opens with a wind chorale supporting a joyous pizzicato theme in the strings. Parallel thirds recur, lending a tender, melodious character to the music. The form is a theme and variations with extended, organ-like pedal points that help bind it together.

Sibelius’ conclusion takes a while to make its statement. The strings hum in perpetual motion, a curious combination of positive energy and negative restlessness. Once the triumphant motive of the finale establishes itself, all the surging movement that preceded it comes into focus. Using another pedal point to anchor the orchestra’s seething activity, Sibelius sustains continuous energy in his drive toward the emphatic, punctuated chords that close the Fifth Symphony.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor”

World Premiere November 28, 1811; Leipzig, Germany
38 Minutes

Ludwig van Beethoven composed seven concertos; five are for piano.
He played violin as well as the piano.
He was a pivotal figure in the transition from the Classical to the Romantic Era in music.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, known as “Emperor,” does not refer to any particular monarch, although it does bear a dedication to the composer’s student and patron, Archduke Rudolph of Austria. The nickname “Emperor” attached itself somewhat later. The term has stuck because the concerto is imperial: unfolding in large, commanding gestures that suggest power, poise and confidence. Hallmarks of Beethoven’s heroic style, the key of E-flat major, march rhythms and quasi-military themes strengthen the association, which seems fitting to this marvelous concerto.

One of Beethoven’s innovations in the “Emperor” Concerto is his placement of the piano cadenza at the beginning of the first movement, rather than toward the end. Notice the interaction between piano and orchestra, when one is playing, and the other is not. Their interchange is a model of concerto dialogue. The French composer Hector Berlioz called Beethoven’s slow movement “the very image of grace.” Equally graceful is the subtle, seamless transition to the finale, no pause after the slow movement. Gloriously optimistic, the finale positively sparkles.

Overture from The School for Scandal

Samuel Barber

Born March 9, 1910, in West Chester, Pennsylvania · Died January 23, 1981, in New York City

The School for Scandal is a satire by Robert Brinsley Sheridan, an 18th-century Irish playwright. Barber was literate and educated, and many of his instrumental works reflect his interest in literature. In addition to this overture, his Opus 7 (1935) is Music for a Scene from Shelley, and there are three Essays for Orchestra: Op. 12 (1938), Op. 17 (“Second Essay,” 1942) and Op. 47 (“Third Essay,” 1978).

Most of Barber’s music is conservative. This piece is zesty and animated, with the kind of orchestral brilliance that characterizes Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide. The music has three principal ideas, two of which are rhythmically vibrant. The middle one is a lovely oboe solo. This is the melody that will linger in our ears. All told, the overture makes an impression of American verve and energy successfully combined with European romanticism and tradition.

Instrumentation: The score calls for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, glockenspiel, celesta, harp and strings.

Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

Jean Sibelius

Born December 8, 1865, in Tavastehus, Finland · Died September 20, 1957, in Järvenpää, Finland

How many movements?

Jean Sibelius advocates are passionate about their composer. They love to hear recordings of his work and discuss his music; or better yet, to argue over it. In the case of the Fifth Symphony, the discussion has centered on something altogether mundane: how many movements does it have?

Early analyses of this symphony discuss that apparently simple question at length. For example, Harold E. Johnson, in his 1959 biography, cautiously observes: “Although the movements are not numbered in the published score, it appears that there are three: 1. Tempo molto moderato; 2. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto; and 3. Allegro molto, and the pauses are indicated between them.” Sibelius himself declined to take a firm stance as to three vs. four movements. He told his early biographer Nils-Eric Ringbom that he was “unwilling to take part in a controversy in which both sides were justified in maintaining their respective views.”

That equivocal stance applies just as readily to an audience’s reaction to Sibelius’ music, for each listener is apt to hear something different in this piece. “Organic process” is a phrase one reads repeatedly in assessments of Sibelius. Clearly defined melodies are less likely to be cited. The Fifth Symphony confounds both these generalities, for its overall structure is daring and original, and it has some wondrous, inspired themes that linger in the ear long after the music has ended.

Sibelius began work on his Fifth Symphony after the Great War had started, completing the first version by his 50th birthday in December 1915. He revised it the following year, then again in 1919, when he rearranged it to its present configuration. The symphony was his major accomplishment of the war years.

Experiments with form

The music historian Gerald Abraham once observed that the symphonies are the way that we understand Sibelius and predicted that they would be the music for which he would be valued by posterity. Abraham considers the Fifth “perhaps the most approachable of all Sibelius’ later symphonies.” Its complex first movement is a synthesis of formal experiments the composer made in his earlier symphonies. Changes of tempo and time signature abound, but we notice them less than we do the rich, colorful sound and vibrant textures.

A fondness for woodwinds

This is a composer who loved woodwinds and reveled in the broad spectrum of colors they bring to a symphony orchestra. He awards them the first two of four principal thematic ideas in the opening movement. Other Sibelian hallmarks are present, including searching melodies in parallel thirds and shimmering tremolandi passages in the strings. At nearly 14 minutes, this is the lengthiest of the symphony’s movements, largely because the brilliant manner in which the composer integrates his scherzo into the development section.

The woodwind section has a field day in the central movement, which opens with a wind chorale supporting a joyous pizzicato theme in the strings. Parallel thirds recur, lending a tender, melodious character to the music. Structurally, the Andante mosso, quasi allegretto is a theme and variations, but what the listener is likely to notice is the extended, organ-like pedal points that help bind it together.

Sibelius’ conclusion takes a while to make its statement; no specific melodic idea jumps to the fore. Instead, we hear strings in perpetual motion, their humming activity a curious combination of positive energy and negative restlessness. Once the triumphant motive of the finale establishes itself, all the surging movement that has led to it comes into focus. Using another pedal point to anchor the orchestra’s seething activity, Sibelius sustains continuous energy in his drive toward the emphatic, punctuated chords that close the Fifth Symphony.

Instrumentation: The score calls for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings.

Sidebar: Finnish music

In January 2000, the New York Times Magazine published an article by Geoffrey Wheatcroft entitled, “Finland’s Forte: How a Small Scandinavian Country Conquered the World of Classical Music.” A quarter-century later, an abundance of important musicians, Finns all, have assumed commanding roles in world musical culture. Some are performers, like violinist Pekka Kuusisto, soprano Karita Mattila, mezzo-soprano Monica Groop and bass Matti Salminen. Others are composers with names that once sounded exotic and are now becoming mainstream: Kalevi Aho, Magnus Lindberg, the late Kaija Saariaho and Aulis Sallinen. Another sizeable group of Finns has developed into major conductors: Paavo Berglund, Osmo Vänskä, Mikko Franck, Susann Mälkki, Olli Mustonen, John Storgärds, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Leif Segerstam (Mustonen, Salonen and Segerstam conduct and compose).

Plenty more exciting young talent continues to come up through the ranks. Finland is reaping the benefits of a state system that fosters active participation in the arts. Beginning in the 1960s, the Finnish government sponsored state grants to support composers and performing artists. During the next 20 years, dozens of music schools, new orchestras, music libraries and festivals were established. The venerable Sibelius Academy, Finland’s most prestigious conservatory, has a conductor training program that is among the world’s finest.

The real success of the national program stems from its grass roots presence in elementary and secondary schools. Music is an integral part of Finnish education, which means that the country’s young people grow up familiar with music and expecting it as a normal and desirable part of everyday life. That means that performances in Finland, whether choral music or opera, chamber music, solo recital or orchestra, are well attended by appreciative, well-educated audiences.

So great is the demand that Finland, a country of about five million people, now boasts hundreds of music festivals spanning all genres. A strong sense of national pride ensures performances of new music by Finnish composers, and the world has noticed.

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor”

Ludwig van Beethoven

Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany · Died March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria

Take a look at the sleek, 9-foot ebony instrument at center stage. By 1809, what we call the piano had expanded beyond Mozart’s five-octave fortepiano; however, more than another half-century would elapse before that development culminated in an instrument the size and scope we hear this weekend. Beethoven was prescient in his ambition for the piano, writing music so far ahead of its time that the instrument has continued to grow into the music. Surely, he would have been delighted with the modern concert grand and nowhere more so than in the “Emperor” Concerto.

Bold innovation: cadenza at the outset

Beethoven tested his boundaries and elasticity of form in this last concerto. One revolutionary move was placing the solo cadenza at the beginning of the first movement, rather than its traditional placement near the end. Full orchestra intones a resonant, fortissimo E-flat major chord. Solo piano replies with a series of arpeggios that cede to a trill, then figuration, passage work and a melodic lead-in to a second chord from the orchestra, this time in A-flat. Once again, unaccompanied piano responds, this time with more elaborate figuration for both hands. The piano ushers in the third, preparatory orchestral chord, no one in the orchestra has yet played more than a single pitch, and answers it with a more melodic, but still virtuosic, passage to the main theme.

Nearly 100 measures of music unfold before we hear the piano again; clearly Beethoven is in no hurry to make his point (in fact, this opening Allegro is the longest movement he ever composed). The soloist re-enters with another grand flourish, this time an ascending chromatic scale and a clarion trill, before a simple, elegant statement of the imperial theme. The piano weaves around the principal melodic ideas, etching elaborate figures without obscuring the noble design of each theme. There is no solo cadenza per se at the end of the Allegro, though the extended coda that serves the approximate function does begin on the familiar chord that usually heralds a cadenza. The structure is broad and symphonic, the music commanding and majestic.

Employment offer from a foreign monarch

Beethoven composed the E-flat concerto during a period when Vienna was braced for the second onslaught from Napoleon’s army. Ironically, the French Emperor’s brother Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, had recently invited Beethoven to move to Cassel, Germany, to become Kapellmeister. Beethoven was tempted. Then three of his wealthy Viennese patrons pooled resources to provide him with an annuity, thereby persuading him to decline the offer.

Vienna had been home to him for so long that he was unlikely to leave at that point. In light of his strong ties to and reputation in the Austrian capital, it is ironic that the premiere of the “Emperor” did not take place in Vienna, but in Leipzig, in 1810. Beethoven’s pupil Karl Czerny played the first Viennese performance the following year.

Berlioz on Beethoven’s slow movement: “The very image of grace”

The middle movement is comparatively brief, perhaps because its rich tonality of B major is so potent. Beethoven’s Adagio un poco mosso emphasizes dialogue between soloist and orchestra. He develops his material almost like variations, with an improvisatory character. Hector Berlioz was a great admirer of this movement, calling it “the very image of grace,” and singling out Beethoven’s ethereal orchestration. Perhaps the most inspired moment occurs at the very end, with the bridge to the glorious finale. The horns hold a single pitch for what seems like an eternity, suspended in midair; then, seemingly out of nowhere, the soloist diffidently introduces the triumphant chords of the closing Rondo, initially posing them as a question.

With affirmation forthcoming from the noble horns, the exultant finale launches its irrepressible joy ride for one of the most delightful and positive conclusions in all of Beethoven’s works. As in the first movement, the piano choreographs dazzling figures around the principal themes, without obscuring their contour. Our perception of royal splendor remains unimpaired. The “Emperor” ends with every ounce of the magnificent style with which it opened: mighty, spacious and ever confident.

Instrumentation: Beethoven scored the “Emperor” concerto for woodwinds, horns and trumpets in pairs, timpani, solo piano and strings.