Program Notes: Schumann & Brahms
Robert Schumann: Concerto in A minor, Opus 129
Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem, Opus 45
In an era when our research capabilities and wealth of knowledge seem to be so inclusive, it is always amazing when a musical gem is finally discovered after 150 years. This is the case with Robert Schumann's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor (after the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 129), which was only recently discovered by Joachim Draheim.
During Schumann's last years, the young Brahms and the violinist Joseph Joachim caught Schumann's attention, with both having a profound impact on him. Some of Schumann's last works were inspired by his admiration for Joachim, and speculation is that this arrangement for violin was conceived with Joachim in mind.
The concept of transcribing a work for a different instrument is by no means an anomaly. Schumann had already published several works, Funf Stücke im Volston für Violoncell und Pianoforte and Vier Stücke for Pianoforte und Viola, both with “Violone ad libitum”; and Beethoven had made an arrangement of his own Violin Concerto into a piano concerto. Although Schumann did not live to see the publication of his arrangement for violin, manuscripts clearly show he was actively involved in making such a version and that it is not just the work of a copyist or some ardent violinist.
That this arrangement was not published is also not surprising, considering that little notice was taken of the Cello Concerto itself. The only documented performances that have been found took place twenty-five years later in 1867 in Breslau and Moscow. This is somewhat surprising considering Clara Schumann's enthusiasm for the work. She wrote in 1851,
"How captivating is the Romanticism, the drive, the freshness, the humor, not to mention the fascinating interplay of the cello and the orchestra! And all the lyrical parts in it are so mellifluous and so profoundly touching."
The premiere of this violin version of the Cello Concerto took place in Cologne, Germany on November 29, 1987.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote for every major musical genre except opera. His symphonies and piano works are an integral part of the “basic“ musical repertoire. He also composed some of the most enduring choral music in a wide variety of choral voicings, including canons, partsongs, motets, psalm settings, cantatas and works for voice and orchestra. The Requiem is unique in Brahms' total musical output for it is his longest work and his only large oratorio-like work. It was completed at the age of thirty-five, eight years before his first symphony.
A German Requiem was inspired by the death of Brahms' very close friend Robert Schumann, with the final impetus for its completion being the death of Brahms' mother. The fifth movement was completed after the first performance and was dedicated to his mother. This perhaps explains the decision to have the words of Christ sung by a soprano. The final lines of the movement would confirm this motivation: "I will give you comfort, as one whom his own mother comforts".
This requiem is not a liturgical requiem and draws its text from the Biblical translation of Martin Luther. The focus of the work is upon comfort of the living, "Blest are they who are sorrowful", rather than upon the dead as in the Latin rite ("Grant them eternal rest"). This absence of doctrinal theology was criticized, as there is no mention of the crucifixion, resurrection, or even of Christ by name in the text. Brahms resisted all attempts to insert more traditional theological elements and stressed that this was a human, personal statement written for mankind as a whole. The word "German" refers not to the language but to the people. The work is devoid of the traditional fearful sections expounding upon the terrors of damnation and the last judgment but rather is a statement of consolation for "those who sorrow" and a blessing of peace for the dead. This requiem moves from offering comfort to man to establishing man's triumph over death.
Our translation was made by Lara Hoggard, Hinshaw Publications, in 1984. Many earlier translations used English poetic settings of the scripture, such as King James as their basis rather than the original German Lutheran Bible used by Brahms. This new translation corrects some textual errors; for example, it correctly uses the word Lord for Herrn instead of Christ, and provides a more accurate relationship of rhythm and text to the original German.
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