Bruno Maderna - The Oboe Concertos

"The versatile Italian musician Bruno Maderna was one of the leading advocates in post-war Europe of successive modernist trends: the serial technique of Schoenberg and his pupils, and its more rigorous later manifestations; composition on electronic tape; and the introduction of open forms involving elements of choice and chance. This advocacy he carried on not only as a composer, but also as a teacher, notably at the Darmstadt summer school, as joint founder (with Luciano Berio) of the influential RAI electronic studio in Milan, and in the course of a conducting career which was still gathering momentum when he died at the age of 53.

"Maderna's conducting activities had an important influence on his compositions: in particular on the way he offered performers the opportunity to make a creative contribution to many of his works. Indeed, the amount of interpretative freedom allowed not only to the soloist, but also to individual orchestral players and to the co-ordinating conductor, is a striking feature of all three of Maderna's oboe concertos. But, while their scores contain many sections which seem to require a high degree of intuition (and perhaps also a knowledge of how Maderna organised them in performances which he directed himself), they also include many other passages of extremely precise and detailed notation. And the overall shape of each single-movement work remains firmly under the composer's control. 

"The three concertos are all products of the final period of Maderna's life, in which the oboe clearly became an instrument of particular importance to him — it also plays a leading role in several of his other orchestral and chamber works. The solo parts make remarkable demands on the player's technique, in their rapid, irregular flurries of activity, in some passages requiring unconventional tone production (for example multiphonics, or chords, and glissandi — not to mention playing on the reed alone), and above all in their sustained use of the extreme high register. 

"The 'Concerto No. 1' was originally written in 1962 as a 'composition for oboe, chamber ensemble and tape'; but after one performance in Darmstadt that year Maderna revised the score, expanding it considerably but omitting the tape part. The new version was first performed at the Venice Biennale in April 1963. The conductor was Maderna himself; the soloist (as at the premieres of most of Maderna's works for oboe) was Lothar Faber — indeed the score is dedicated 'to Lothar Faber and his oboes.' 'Oboes' is in the plural because the solo part calls not only for the standard instrument, but also for the oboe d'amore and the cor anglais, pitched respectively a minor third and a fifth lower. The soloist is accompanied by an ensemble of six woodwind, three brass, celesta, two harps, two pianos, four percussionists and five solo strings. 

"After a rarefied introduction for oboe d'amore and strings (joined by harp, pianos, played directly on the strings, and celesta), the concerto proceeds by alternation between ensemble sections and sections labelled by Maderna as cadenzas. These cadenzas are the principal carriers of the solo line, which is frequently disjointed but always expressive in character: there are six of them, the first for oboe d'amore, the next four for oboe, and the last for cor anglais. The soloist is sometimes unaccompanied, but more often is joined by various instruments or groups of instruments from within the ensemble. In these passages, individual instrumentalists play mostly in free time, with loose co-ordination, and frequently from graphic notation — that is, with symbols designed to indicate the kind of sounds required rather than precise notes. The cadenzas are separated by episodes of, mostly, fully notated music: some of these are for the full ensemble (joined at one point by the solo oboe), and are teeming with activity: others are for smaller groupings, and are varied in character. As the work proceeds, the cadenzas increasingly predominate; some of the punctuating tuttis are very slight indeed. At the end, the reflective cor anglais is supported for a while by a sustained string chord, and finally by a quiet (graphically notated) continuum of percussion.

"Maderna's 'Oboe Concerto No. 2' was composed in 1967, to a commission from WDR, West German Radio. It is again dedicated to Lothar Faber, who was the soloist in the first performance, conducted by the composer, in Cologne in November 1967. In this concerto, the soloist plays oboe, oboe d'amore and musette, a piccolo oboe (of folk origins) pitched a fifth higher than the standard instrument. The accompanying orchestra is larger than that of the 'First Concerto', but unusual in its composition: complete wind 'families' made up of two oboes and cor anglais, three clarinets and bass clarinet, and four horns; guitar and electric bass guitar, two harps and celesta; again a large percussion section; and a string group of six violins, three violas, three cellos and three double-basses.

"Unlike the 'First Concerto', the Second contains substantial 'mobile' sections, in which different groups of instruments play different blocks of material in free time, at the conductor's direction. The work starts with the first of these; as it continues, the percussion enter, following the conductor's beat, but playing from graphic notation. The soloist initially plays the musette; first in tempo with celesta and harps; then in a cadenza (like those of the 'First Concerto'), supported by plucked strings of various kinds; then, after a short, subdued passage principally for the strings, finding common cause with the orchestral oboe section; and eventually emerging from a mobile of violins and percussion into another solo passage. After a notated episode for woodwind and strings, combining scurrying activity with a sustained chordal background, the soloist re-enters on the oboe, at first in an extrovert cadenza, then adding fragments in free time to a densely notated string passage. Finally, the soloist changes to oboe d'amore for a sustained, elegiac melody, supported by a mobile involving guitars, harps and double-basses (all extremely quiet) and graphically notated percussion, but bringing the concerto to a gentle close on its own.  

"The 'Oboe Concerto No. 3' was Maderna's last completed work. It was commissioned by Netherlands Radio, and first performed at the 1973 Holland Festival: Maderna conducted once more, but the soloist this time was Han de Vries. This concerto, unlike the previous two, entrusts the solo part throughout to the standard oboe. However, the orchestra is large and richly coloured, consisting of triple and quadruple woodwind, a brass section of 14, a percussion section entirely of pitched instruments (glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone), celesta, two harps and a string section of 39 players, divided into three equal groups.

"The concerto begins with the soloist completely in-dependent from the orchestra: in fact, his opening free cadenza is not even shown in the conductor's score. Against it, after a while, various orchestral sections peel off from a unison E in different directions, with the three string groups gradually coming to the fore. The oboist is then brought under the conductor's direction in dialogue with different sections. A strident unison A-flat on the brass introduces a passage of pointillist staccatos. Over this, the soloist resumes his opening cadenza, now loosely co-ordinated with an extended sequence of orchestral mobiles of greatly varied character. Towards the end, the orchestral cor anglais emerges from this activity as a kind of melancholy alter ego to the soloist. Maderna's instruction on the last page of the score is so characteristic of his open, collaborative approach to composition and performance that it is worth quoting in full:

"The oboe soloist should interpolate the boxed frag-ments at will, and repeat them many times. By agree-ment with the conductor, the soloist's interventions should occur during pauses (the conductor stopping the orchestra, gently or abruptly), or during the de-velopment of the material entrusted to the various instrumental groups. The cor anglais should inter-vene only on the conductor's cue: the part is ad libitum, and may even be omitted. In the repetitions, the solo oboist should try to vary the character of each individual fragment as much as possible, making use of phrasings, tempos, dynamics and ac-cents completely different from those indicated. Manifold expressive relationships should be estab-lished between orchestra and soloist: contrasts, pro-tests, acquiescences, agreements, integrations, af-fection. In this atmosphere, the composer intends and hopes that the soloist and conductor will 'find' a successful way to bring the piece to an end." (Anthony Burton. From the liner notes.)

Performers: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Gary Bertini, Heinz Holliger

1. Oboe Concerto No. 3

2. Oboe Concerto No. 1

3. Oboe Concerto No. 2

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Bruno Maderna - Satyricon

"The inconsistent nature of the succession of the episodes taken from 'Satyicon' by Petronio as foreseen by Maderna allows a distribution of different variable tableaux from one performance to another. The following synopsis therefore regards the choices made for today's performance. (In squared brackets are the titles of each section and the insertion of the five episodes on magnetic tape, which are also subject to a change of order). 

"We are in the house of Trimalcione. On an introductory tape ['tape no. 1'] we can hear music, various voices and the sounds of animals. Scintalla sings, followed by Criside who sings of the ecstasy of love ('Love's Ecstasy'). Flabinnas, one of the guests, begins to tell the story of Efeso's matron ['La matrona di Efeso'], a woman of exceptional beauty as well as virtue. When her husband died she refused to leave his grave and stayed there for days without eating until she let herself be comforted by a soldier who had abandoned his post in a fit of passion. The latter had been the guard of some crucified thieves and since one of the bodies had been struck with a dagger the poor soldier had considered committing suicide. The widow had been quick to suggest replacing the thief's body with that of her husband. 

"Trirnalcione's wife, Fortuna enters. She tells everyone how she has total control of her husband, so much so that she can make him believe it is night when it is really day [Fortunata]. Trimalcione is immensely wealthy and this enables him to buy whatever he desires: wool, honey and even chicken's milk! 

"The guests continue their orgy ['Food Machine']. Trimalcione starts to tell his guests of his intestinal disorders, asking for medical advice and claiming to know people who have died by trying to retain their flatulence ['Trimalchio and his flatulence' + 'tape no. 4 'Music a la Webern with pigs'']. Trimalcione then begins to remember his past, from humble servant to his life as a trader that brought him such wealth so quickly. In a delirium of uncontrollable megalomania he begins to repeat the word 'millioni' ('millions') in an increasingly loud voice ['Carriera di Trimalchio']. He is interrupted by Eumolpo, Criside, Nicero and Scintilla who smoothly take up the song that was heard at the beginning of the opera — of the ecstasy of love ['Love's Ecstasy']. 

"Fortunata tries to seduce the philosopher Eumolpo by praising his looks excessively and declaring she is aroused by his intellectual powers whereas other woman are aroused by vulgarity and have pleasure just watching servants embracing ['Fortunata e Etimotpus']. Meanwhile, Eumolpo heedlessly recites some Latin verse in which he claims the cause for the ongoing civil war in Rome is to be found in luxury and the craving for power ['Eumolpus Fuga' + 'tape no. 3 'Awakening'']. 

"However, he is stopped by Trimalcione who insults Fortunata with the most vulgar of behaviour ['Trimalchio contro Fortunata']. This is interrupted by Criside's song that solemnly warns of not overestimating ones own resources, whether intellectual or physical since all men are in the frauds of Fortune ['Lady Luck']. Once again Trimalcione starts singing' about his flatulence ['Trimalchio e le flatulenza']. When he has finished Habinnas takes the word to praise money ['The money']. The guests continue their erotic games ['tape no. 2 'Erotica'']. Trimalcione then decides to make his testament public, informing the sculptor Nicero how he wants his funereal monument ['Trimalchio e il monumento']. There should also be an inscription on the tomb, exalting Trimalcione, his wealth and the fact that he never paid heed to philosophers ['Marcia funebre' + 'tape no. 5']." (From the liner notes. Translated by C. Cawthra.)

Performers: Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, Jürg Henneberger

1.1. Tape
1.2. Scintilla
1.3. Niceros (Perdu)
1.4. Criside II
1.5. La Maratone Di Efeso
1.6. Lady Luck
1.7. Erotica
1.8. Fortunata
1.9. Trimalchio E Le Flatulenze
1.10. Carriera Di Trimalchio
1.11. Vierzehn Miliionen
1.12. Love's Ecstasy

2.1. Eumolups Fuga
2.2. Trimalchio Contro Fortuna
2.3. Trimalchio E Le Flatulenze (Instrumental E Party Returns)
2.4. Funeral March E Tape No. 5

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Gian Francesco Malipiero - Giulio Cesare

"With Giulio Cesare Malipiero he discovered the need for new musical forms, far from 'panel' compositions and capable of articulating a continuous, changing and yet logical discourse in its uninterrupted flow. It is the period that Malipiero himself called a 'lyrical parenthesis'. It goes from 1935 to 1941 and, coinciding with a season of cultural obscurantism in Italian society, it is probable that the master wanted to expose himself as little as possible to the occasion of a controversy.

"The plot. Act one. On a street in Rome, Cesare, followed by a procession, goes to the celebration of the Lupercali. A fortune teller approaches him and warns him to beware of the Ides of March. Brutus, Cassius and Casca comment on the cheers of the crowd and express their fear that Caesar will be offered the imperial crown. During the night the three, gathered in the garden of Brutus together with other conspirators, continue to express their fear about the danger that represents the popularity of Caesar for the security of the Republic. Porzia, Brutus' wife, begs her husband not to keep her in the dark about what's going on. 

"Act two, scene one. Meanwhile, in Caesar's palace, his wife Calpurnia has made premonitory dreams that have put her in great agitation. It urges her husband not to go out, since the response of the wishes during the propitiatory sacrifices was also unfavorable. Cesare decides to stay home, but when Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators go to him, he fears that he is accused of cowardice and goes with them. 

"Second scene. In the Senate room on the Capitol, the conspirators established that Casca was the first to strike Caesar. Metellus Cimbro prostrates himself before Caesar to ask for grace for his brother in exile. Cesare remains impassive and Casca hits him in the neck with a stab: the other conspirators are immediately on him. Brutus is the last to strike and Caesar falls at the foot of the statue of Pompey. Antonio is ready to fall too at the hands of the conspirators, but they declare that they intend to spare him. He shakes their hand, then asks forgiveness from the memory of Caesar, for having had to come to terms with his assassins. He asks Brutus for permission to give Caesar a proper burial and to speak with the people. 

"Act three, scene one. Caesar's funeral takes place in the Forum. Brutus speaks first and explains to the people the reasons why he was forced to kill Caesar. When the word falls to Antonio, he knows how to maneuver the feelings of the crowd, and when he announces the testament of Caesar with which he has arranged that all his belongings go to the people, it is all a burst of invectives against the conspirators. Meanwhile, in a street, some citizens, meeting the poet Cinna and exchanging him for the homonymy with a conspirator, chase him to kill him. 

"Second scene. On the battlefield the opposing forces are about to collide; on one side Ottaviano and Antonio, on the other Bruto and Cassio. The battle begins. Cassio appears followed by Pindaro; he asks him to go up the hill to dominate the situation and give him news. Pindar accepts and from above, seeing Brutus surrounded, believes him prisoner. Cassius cannot bear the idea of ​​defeat and kills himself; so will Brutus. The victorious troops of Antonio and Ottaviano praise the greatness of Rome." (Comment and synopsis by Maria Simone Mongiardino. Translated with Google from the Italian. See here.)

Performers: Orchestra e Coro di Milano della RAI, Nino Sanzogno, Anselmo Colzani, Silvana Zanolli, Renato Capecchi, Aldo Bertocci, Saturno Meletti, Afro Poli

1.1. Preludio
1.2. Atto I: 'Va Di Qua, Poltroni. Tomate Alle Vostre Case'
1.3. Atto I: 'Calpurnia!... Olà, Silenzio! Cesare Parla!'
1.4. Atto I: 'Venite A Vedere La Corsa'
1.5. Atto I: 'Antonio!... Cesare!'
1.6. Atto I: 'Casca! Diteci Perchè Cesare'
1.7. Atto I: 'Ehi, Lucio! Non Riesco A Capire'
1.8. Atto I: 'C'è Vostro Fratello Cassio Che Desidera Vedervi'
1.9. Atto I: 'Mio Signore... Porzia, Che Volete'
1.10. Atto I: 'Lucio, Vattene. Ebbene, Figlio Mio'
1.11. Atto II: Preludio
1.12. Atto II: 'Nè Il Cielo, Nè La Terra Sono Stati In Pace Questa Notte'
1.13. Atto II: 'O Cesare, Queste Sono Cose Inaudite'
1.14. Atto II: 'Ho Avuto Torto Di Farmi Attenddere Così'

2.1. Atto II: 'Potrei Commuovermi Se Fossi Come Voi'
2.2. Atto II: 'Possente Cesare! Sei Tu Caduto Tanto In Basso'
2.3. Atto III: 'Romani, Compatrioti E Amici'
2.4. Atto III: 'Dunque Non Ho Offeso Nesuno'
2.5. Atto III: 'Ancora Ieri Sera La Parola Di Cesare'
2.6. Atto III: 'Se Avete Lacrime, Ora Preparatevi A Versarle!'
2.7. Atto III: 'Il Vostro Nome... Dove Andate'
2.8. Atto III: 'Ecco Le Forze Nemiche In Vista'
2.9. Atto III: 'Anche La Voce, Chè Alle Api Voi Avete Preso'
2.10. Atto III: 'Pindato, Sali Più In Alto Su Quella Collina'
2.11. Atto III: 'Lo Spetto Di Cesare M'è Apparso Due Volte!'
2.12. Atto III: 'Alme. Sol, Curru Nitido Diem Qui'

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Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra

"It was as an obedient pupil of his father, the celebrated horn player Franz Strauss, that Richard Strauss began his musical career – entirely in the spirit of the classics and early Romantics, with proven forms and traditional genres. Strauss senior loathed Richard Wagner’s monstrous music dramas as well as the achievements of the 'New German School' around Franz Liszt, with its avant-garde tone poems and extra-musical programmes. As Richard grew up, he shared his father’s views unquestioningly – but then found a mentor in Hans von Bülow, who, of all people, had once worked together very closely with Wagner. In 1885, Bülow engaged the 21-year-old Strauss as conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra. Its concert master, the radical Wagnerian Alexander Ritter, took the young man under his wing and acquainted him with the blessings of 'progressive music' – with the result that Richard Strauss soon began composing symphonic poems himself.

"Strauss’s devotion to this new genre was unquestionably an act of rebellion with which he freed himself from his father’s influence. Fittingly, almost all of the nine tone poems written by Strauss up to 1915 revolve around the theme of self-actualisation, with their protagonists having to assert themselves against hostile forces. The composer initially chose subjects with complex plots from world literature, such as 'Macbeth', 'Don Juan' and 'Till Eulenspiegel', before turning to a philosophical text for the first time: Friedrich Nietzsche’s 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'. The initial impetus for this project dates back to the winter of 1892/1893, when Strauss was on an extended Mediterranean cruise recovering from a severe bout of pneumonia. He had a lot of time to read, spending much of it in intensive study of Nietzsche’s oeuvre – and in the concept of unlimited self-determination, as propagated by Zarathustra, he found exactly what he was looking for.

"Curiously, Strauss’s enthusiasm for 'Zarathustra' was very similar to his fondness for 'Till Eulenspiegel', the legendary rogue and practical joker from North German folklore. The composer styled his hero as a fighter against all those living in the past, and as an intellectual to put narrow-minded members of the bourgeoisie in their place. For Strauss, the newly-converted advocate of progress, this Till must have been every bit as much of a kindred spirit as the philosopher Nietzsche, who seemed to him to be an anarchical troublemaker par excellence: an opponent of Wilhelminian constraints, 'backworldsmen' and philistines. Nietzsche had broken with the church, and wrote fierce diatribes in support of a new ideal – the creative act of self-overcoming and self-perfection by humanity. The figure of the free-thinking Zarathustra, descending from the mountains after ten years as a hermit to manifest his wisdom to humanity, was an ideal with which Strauss could readily identify.

"It did of course come across as very daring to deal with such philosophical concepts within the framework of a musical work of art. This had never been done before, not even by Franz Liszt, the founding father of the symphonic poem. When Wagner’s widow Cosima read about Strauss’s 'Zarathustra' project, she initially believed it to be a newspaper hoax. And one critic went so far as to ask Strauss whether his upcoming plans included setting Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' to music as well. Strauss had planned ahead here, however, having wisely added the subtitle 'freely adapted from Friedrich Nietzsche' to his work, which was composed between February 1894 and August 1896. He did indeed take several liberties: even though he assigned the original titles of selected chapters from Nietzsche’s work to the eight sections of his score following the introduction, he changed their order. Strauss explained that his main intention had been to portray 'the evolution of the human race from its origins, through its various stages of development (religious and scientific)'. 

"And since nature in its unadulterated state stands at the beginning of existence, Strauss begins the tone poem with a scene from nature: a sunrise. It is perhaps the most famous piece of music he ever wrote. The first sound – a sustained contra-octave C played on the organ, joined by contrabassoon, and double-bass and bass drum, both playing tremolo – is so deep to be almost inaudible and is transmitted more by vibration than by sound. This C is so low that it cannot be played on a piano keyboard, and conveys a sense of primordial matter. Then, above it, the trumpets sound the elementary intervals of the natural overtone series: the fifth and the fourth, C-G-C, openly and without defining any mode. This fanfare sounds three times, first in the minor, before finally dissolving into a radiant C major chord. It is easy to imagine the sun gradually rising behind the mountain, its rays penetrating the clouds until it fills the sky with all its splendour and magnificence. The prophet can now appear, bringing his wisdom down from the high mountains to the people below.

"This opening to Strauss’s Zarathustra is a stroke of genius – no wonder it has been adapted so often in film music or advertisements. C major, the pure, unadulterated key without any sharps or flats that Strauss presents at the very start, is an apt symbol for nature. Yet the key he uses to characterize human beings is a long way from here in the circle of fifths: it is B major, marked or 'contaminated' by its five sharps. In Zarathustra, man and nature also appear as opposites, and remain irreconcilable until the end of the work. It is as if Strauss wanted to pick up on Nietzsche’s concept of 'eternal recurrence' – the possibility of everything happening again from the very beginning, and the
possibility of the development process portrayed in the course of the work not being sustainable, but man being incorrigible – that possibility is addressed by this constellation.

"In the eight sections of his tone poem, Strauss takes the various options for self-actualisation that are offered to people and puts them to the test. Baptised as a Catholic but having lost his faith early in life, Strauss begins with the backworldsmen, presenting them as God-fearing Christians and having them sing the Gregorian 'Credo in unum Deum' or intoning the Magnificat. True desires and dreams, described by Strauss with an ascending motif in broken triads, will not allow themselves to be fulfilled in this way. Unnbridled indulgence in passion, marked by bold leaping tenths, or the gloomy depths of the 'Song of the Grave' with its plaintive oboe melody, bring no solution either. Strauss’s portrayal of the sciences is utterly satirical: he distorts the nature theme from the beginning of the work into an eerie-sounding fugue and unmasks this compositional principle, the model of musical erudition, as something brittle and dry.

"So what is left for a person who has lost his faith and is disgusted by things academic? The convalescent takes refuge in the joy of dancing – and here Strauss gives a friendly nod to his namesake Johann, the Viennese waltz king. The wild dance swells up ever higher before finally subsiding into the night – and, at the end, Zarathustra vanishes into distant worlds of the beyond, where an answer to the riddle of existence might perhaps have really been found." (Wolfgang Stähr, tr. David Ingram. From the liner notes.)

Peformers: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons

1. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: I. Einleitung
2. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: II. Von Den Hinterweltlern
3. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: III. Von Der Großen Sehnsucht
4. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: IV. Von Den Freuden Und Leidenschaften
5. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: V. Das Grablied
6. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: VI. Von Der Wissenschaft
7. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: VII. Der Genesende
8. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: VIII. Das Tanzlied
9. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: IX. Nachtwandlerlied

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Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Piano Concerto in C Major; Rondo Brillant, Op. 56; Rondo Brillant, Op. 98

"The case of Hummel is sadly typical of that of many early nineteenth-century composers. Accorded the greatest respect as composer and performer and showered with gifts and honours for most of his life, Hummel fell into near-oblivion soon after his death, his œuvre largely neglected apart from representations in conservatory curricula. Happily, he and others like him are now beginning to enjoy the popularity they deserve. A most versatile composer, his output embraces all genres with the significant exception of the symphony – unsurprising, perhaps, in view of Beethoven’s ongoing contribution; compare Brahms’s reticence in embarking on his own first essay in the form. Born in what is now Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, in 1778, Hummel moved with his family to Vienna where Mozart, impressed by the eight-year-old prodigy, apparently took him as a live-in pupil for two years, treating him like a son. He also advised Hummel's father to take the boy on a concert tour, and the pair left at the end of 1788, taking in, among other cities, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen. After visiting Edinburgh, Durham and Cambridge, they settled in London, a city always open to foreign musicians in spite of its not-so-latent xenophobia. During Hummel’s two years there he met Haydn, Pleyel and Clementi (with whom he probably had lessons) and published his Op. 1 and Op. 2, each containing three sets of variations on popular and folk tunes. His autograph score is signed 'Master Hummel from Vienna – only Twelve years of age', although, in time-honoured fashion with child prodigies, the published score claims that he was eleven!

"[...] There are about eighteen works for solo piano and orchestra in Hummel’s output, of which eight are concertos. The present work, 'Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 34' – also known as Op. 34a and Op. 36 – is his first mature work of this kind. It is half as long again as any other of his concerti, the symphonic cut of much of the orchestral writing, the effective instrumentation and the piano's restrained virtuosity all showing that the young composer was intent that this would not be just another concerted firework-display. In fact, the parallels with a much more famous concerto, Beethoven’s last (No. 5 in E flat, the 'Emperor'), are striking. Both were written in 1809, which saw the occupation of Vienna by Napoleon’s troops and, interestingly, both were dedicated to Beethoven's patron, the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Hummel's receiving its first performance during the celebrations for the Archduke’s marriage. The work, published in 1810, could possibly be called Hummel's 'Military' concerto, not only in the more barnstorming sense as in the 'Emperor', but also in that found in Haydn's 'Nelson Mass', with which it shares its occasional use of soft timpani and muted trumpets, a slightly unnerving reminder of the 'wars, and rumours of wars' so prevalent in this period.

"[...] The 'Rondo brillant in A, Op. 56' was published (in solo-piano form) in about 1814 in a periodical series called 'Répertoire de musique pour les dames', and it says much for the dames of Vienna that amateurs such as themselves could tackle a work of this difficulty. The 'Larghetto maestoso' introduction alternates pomposity with lyricism and the piano enters with one of those long-breathed effusions so characteristic of the genre – and, indeed, of Hummel – and whose effect can be clearly seen in the works of later composers, particularly those of Chopin. The horns announce the rondo-theme, appearing like thistledown in the higher register of the piano. There are episodes in the dominant and in the remote key of B-flat before the work concludes with a long coda full of trills and arpeggios and a cheekily distorted reference to the theme.

"The 'Rondo brillant in B flat, Op. 98' was published in Vienna in 1824 and in his letter offering it to the publisher Peters, Hummel describes it as 'one of my nicest works… and not fiendishly difficult'. It was composed for his Russian tour of 1822 and dedicated to 'Mme. de Peroffska, née Princesse Gortschakoff' in St. Petersburg. The slow introduction opens with a plaintive and very Slavic theme on solo oboe with a hymn-like accompaniment. The piano follows with a long cantabile solo full of improvisatory embellishment and beauty, leading directly into the Rondo's main theme, a Russian folksong extolling raspberries. The returns of this theme are separated by episodes in related keys, one with military overtones, the other in the more sombre minor mode, and the piece ends with a faster section and several surprises." (Derek Carew. From the liner notes.)

Performers: London Mozart Players, Howard Shelley

1. Piano Concerto In C Major, Op. 34: I. Allegro Con Spirito
2. Piano Concerto In C Major, Op. 34: II. Adagio
3. Piano Concerto In C Major, Op. 34: III. Vivace Assai
4. Rondo Brillant In A Major, Op. 56
5. Rondo Brillant In B-Flat Major, Op. 98

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