Review: Complete works for violin and piano, Linus Roth and José Gallardo

March, 2013. Challenge Records - €25.95.

This latest recording brings us several treasures in an exquisitely presented anthology set.

Almost everything about this release is verging on the realm of extraordinary. A 3-disc boxset of Weinberg works is a first, to begin with. Then there was the press announcement, just six days ahead of release at the end of last month. Furthermore, reading through the liner notes, we see that the 3 hours of material on this release was recorded over just six days in January - February at the start of this year. Even more, Linus Roth plays a Stradivari violin on this recording, a contributing factor to his excellent tone throughout. Of course, the world premiere recordings of Sonatas 2 and 6 go without saying. Currently, this set is tucked away on the internet, though I am sure it will emerge into the mainstream markets. I am so sure of this because this is one of the best recordings I have heard for a long while.

Disc 1
Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
Sonata No. 4, 39
Rhapsody on Moldavian themes, Op. 47

    The set opens with Weinberg's fifth sonata for violin and piano, a work that could lay a reasonable claim to being one of the masterpieces of his chamber music. The combination of gentle rocking textures in the first movement is perfectly contrasted by the searching Allegro molto second movement. Roth takes the demanding violin part all in his stride - complete with fiendish double and triple stopping passages. Of course, Weinberg's writing in these works sets the two instruments on an equal footing, Gallardo's piano part every bit as difficult as the violin's.
    Weinberg's fourth sonata is a direct predecessor to the character of the fifth, opening with a contemplative first movement before a fiery middle movement. The range of dynamic contrast and playfulness on display here does full justice to Weinberg's demanding writing.
    The Rhapsody on Moldavian themes, Op. 47, is a rarer work to hear (having not been recorded since the 1960's). A favourite of David Oistrakh's, Roth rises above the daunting challenge of this work. Listen out for the spirited Jewish-inflected dancing throughout (especially just after the four minute mark). 

Disc 2
Sonata No. 3, Op. 37
Sonatina Op. 46
Sonata No. 2, Op. 15

    The Third Sonata begins with a searching character, but shifts to more searching themes in its remaining movements. It has long proved a rich source for the tender lyricism that sets Weinberg apart from his contemporaries. The balance between the two players is generally excellent throughout this set, but occasionally the piano can sound dull in comparison to the violin - arguably a minor fault of recording than anything to do with the performances. My particular favourite moment in this first work is the Allegretto cantabile third movement, here performed with a pleasing rubato.
    The Sonatina Op. 46 is a sister-work to the Sonatina for Piano, Op. 49, although in this case, the music is much more fully developed (in the piano Sonatina, a wide combination of themes fizzle out of energy before they achieve synthesis - here, the work is a fully realised piece). The pair perfectly sum up the wistful character of this piece, which demands a certain innocence in its interpretation. The Lento movement is particularly beautiful (and perhaps owing a debt to the Shostakovich cello sonata, slow movement).
    And onto the first premiere of this set - the Second Sonata, Op. 15. Capturing something of the childlike innocence of the Second String Quartet, this work presents Weinberg during his first forays into maturity with the instrumental sonata form, and indeed, the beginnings of mastery for writing for the violin. It opens with tender high notes beneath a churning piano, which increases in intensity towards the minor mode. Weinberg's thematic development is excellent here, abandoning classical sonata structures for his first movement, which instead resembles a rhapsody in character. The Lento movement explores the lower registers of the piano with a heavily romantic mood in the violin soloist (similar to that heard in the Aria for String Quartet, Op. 9). Indeed, this movement could be compared to Schubert in its singing character, as well as the great contrasts established between major and minor modes. The final movement takes a slightly sedate pace at first, increasing in textural complexity to give the sense of climax to finish the work. Roth and Gallardo prove admirable pioneers for the work.

Disc 3
Sonata No. 1, Op. 12
Sonata No. 6, Op. 136bis
3 pieces (without Opus)

   The opening of Weinberg's First Sonata gives the pair the chance to demonstrate their impeccable ensemble work. Beginning with gentle octaves, before a piano counterpoint against the violin briefly creates a three-part texture, perfectly balanced in this recording. The biting character of this whole movement is perfectly maintained with virtuosic control. However, the tender love-song of the Adagietto is not neglected, but performed with beautiful elegance.
  The Sonata No. 6 is here numbered Op. 136bis, since the Op. 136 was assigned to both the Fourth Solo Viola sonata and this work. The most elegant solution seemed to be to dub this work 'Op. 136bis'. It begins with an extended passage for solo violin, placing us firmly in Weinberg's harmonic language of the 1980's, with all the tonal and post-tonal structures that that includes. The violin line is punctuated with several double-stopping chords, establishing a two-part texture resembling a demonic Bach. The piano only joins in in answer to painfully high notes in the violin, almost continuing the line in conversation. A densely rhythmic dialogue begins between the two, interrupted with tritone chords in the violin. This world premiere certainly presents a work that proves a challenging listen. The Adagio continues the pained character, with a constant focus on the minor mode, though within more tonally-centered means than those seen in the opening movement. The pain throughout distorts into outright anger in the final movement, with connotations of violence in the near-wailing violin line. A struggle is acted between the two parts, with wrestling counterpoint and violent cluster chords in both voices. Roth and Gallardo prove themselves adept even in this most challenging of works.
   To finish the set, Weinberg's set of pieces written still in Warsaw, at the age of 14/15. Without opus number, they portray a great sense of ambition in the young composer, firmly grounded in the impressionistic style that marks his very earliest works. Influence of Debussy and Szymanowski can be heard throughout these three pieces - Weinberg had not undertaken any composition tuition at this point, so took his inspiration from the piano music that he loved. The Nokturn that opens the set builds in character, from the rhapsodic opening, towards to Lisztian textures - perhaps betraying the young writer's lack of experience in writing for solo violin, however. The Scherzo movement certainly owes a great deal to the fast sections from Bartók and Prokofiev, with a youthful energy, further exacerbated by triplet rhythms and dotted accompaniment in the high register of the piano. The final movement's opening figuration in the violin still further betrays the composer's inexperience in writing for the violin - the alternating chords are simply lifted from a standard piano texture. The movement continues dreamily, with a Debussy-esque lack of centre and movement. For a young composer's first forays into the form, these pieces show great promise, and they prove an excellent trio to finish this set.


------------------------------

Altogether, then, these discs are remarkable. The performances of both artists are virtuosic and commendable, while the recording quality is generally excellent - though with one or two issues between balance as I have mentioned above. The premiere recordings couldn't be handled more expertly. I recommend this recording to anyone with an interest in Chamber music, or in twentieth-century music in general. In addition to all this - I cannot fault the price, a 3-disc set for the price of one CD! Jens F. Laurson also provides generally excellent liner notes, complete with footnotes. I would also hold it up as an excellent introductory set into the music of Weinberg - while it contains great contrasts between the pieces (including a near-thirty year gap between the 5th and 6th sonatas!!), I believe it sums up the main elements of Weinberg's perfectly in an accessible and attractive 3-disc set, suitable for all listeners.

Link to buy the boxset at Challenge Records

P.S. - here is a Youtube interview with the two artists, discussing the release.

The question of influence

There are many ways to be introduced to Weinberg's music, but by far the most common must be by recommendation based on our current interests in similar composers. Throughout his works, we can hear parallels to many composers, some of whom Weinberg knew and some who formed an important part of his musical knowledge.

     As a listener, these similarities can often be striking. As a writer, however, the topic is notoriously difficult to pin down. It is certainly valuable to identify Weinberg's influences, and the music that gave him inspiration. Identifying parallels to other works is a good way to increase accessibility to his music, as well as helping to form our responses to it. But if a writer is not careful, a study of influence can easily turn into a list of similarities between works. In this post, I hope to sum up some of my current work on the concept of influence in music and to comment on some of the big influences in Weinberg's music itself.

Parallels between works

Shostakovich is the most obvious influence on Weinberg's music. Weinberg himself said that encountering his music was like 'the discovery of another continent'. Other notables include Prokofiev and Bartok, though the parallels can sometimes be more subtle.

   The most valuable musical influences for musicology are ones that are either:

a) - identifiable through comparison between musical scores themselves

or

b) - described directly in written sources by the composer

The ideal parallel then is a combination between the two.

Before I pick through some Weinberg influences, a few bits of theory on influence itself.

   An excellent book on the topic of influence in art is 'The anxiety of influence' by Harold Bloom. This work takes poetry as its focus, but Bloom's theories can be applied to any creative activity. In a nutshell, Bloom states that any poet who follows a great poet (or a 'genius') must wrestle with their predecessor's work and overcome it if they are to create anything worthy of following it. It is this pressure to overcome that is the 'anxiety' of influence. He goes on to say that the artist has such little room left for original thought that any creative endeavour they undertake must stem from a 'strong misreading' of the poetic tradition itself. Many writers have commented on the difficulty of escaping their overbearing influences in order to create an entirely new work. The notion of an oppressive predecessor can be found throughout art and music history (for example, the struggle to write a symphony after Beethoven). Of course, this brings up wide-reaching questions about our ideas of artistic progress, or even our idea of 'genius' itself.

   Bloom's book proved consequential in its claim that influence in art wasn't just something that critics and historians note but is an active concern in the creative process itself.

   When we apply this to music, there are several obvious implications. We know that musical works can be responses, and when we identify similarities between works we can conjecture about the origins of the composer's creative processes. If we can identify the influences on Weinberg's music, we can begin to understand his music's origins and his knowledge-base when contemplating the piece.


Weinberg and Shostakovich

As an introduction to Weinberg's links to Shostakovich, here's an abstract for a paper I'm working on detailing instances where Weinberg's music had an influence on Shostakovich's.

‘Weinberg & Shostakovich - competition or exchange?’

The close friendship between Weinberg and Shostakovich is well documented, particularly concerning their string quartets. The pair discussed their works during compositional gestation, and a friendly ‘competition’ for writing quartets started between them in the 1950s. Each was winning at different points in time, but Weinberg was the ultimate victor with seventeen by the time of his death in 1996. The strong influence of Shostakovich in Weinberg’s music has been grounds for criticism and even dismissal, but what is less known is the truly reciprocal nature of their creative relationship. Weinberg was thirteen years his junior, but his first quartet predates Shostakovich’s by a year. Weinberg’s early work was prolific, having written six quartets by the time of Shostakovich’s third in 1946. Examining Shostakovich’s scores following these works reveals a great exchange of ideas between the two friends, with an undeniable influence from Weinberg in several pieces. This paper explores this complex relationship, with specific examples from the music of both composers.

The 'undeniable' influence from Weinberg is based on strong parallels between scores, and in several cases is also documented in Shostakovich's correspondence.  As work on the paper continues, I'll post a full break-down on this blog.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope that the above proves for interesting reading. In discussions of specific works, please feel free to comment on the posts with your suggestions for parallels between pieces.

I'll leave you with these two pieces. The first is from Weinberg's Fourth Quartet. The second is Bernard Herrmann's suite from the film 'Psycho'. Following a few weeks writing on the Fourth Quartet, all I can hear in my head is Herrmann's music to the film. Share your thoughts!

Upcoming release: Complete works for Violin and Piano

I'm delighted to inform you of a very exciting upcoming release:

A 3-CD set of the complete works for Violin and Piano - some recorded for the very first time.

Tracklisting available here: Link

Here's a fantastic video with the two artists.

The whole package is released this Saturday, 23rd March.

And - even more exciting, there will be a launch event if anyone is in Amsterdam this Saturday. More details here.

Check back to this blog for a full review of the release.

Bolshoi Theatre Quartet

This is a short history of an ensemble that I'm trying to write about at the moment, the Bolshoi Theatre Quartet.


---------

The group was founded in 1931, uniting four soloists from the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. They gave their first concert on December 11th, and soon took the name The State Quartet (GABT). They were sometimes informally referred to as the 'Gabtovtzi'.

The original lineup was:

Isaak Zhuk - First Violin
Boris Weltman - Second Violin
Moris Gurvich - Viola
Isaak Buravsky - Cello

They gained fame throughout the 30's with extensive radio play. They won joint-first prize at the Composer's Union Quartet competition in 1936, sharing with the Komitas Quartet.

Shostakovich wrote their praises in 1938, saying:

"The artists of the Bolshoi Quartet are notable for their individual qualities and as a whole present an excellent ensemble that shows high musical culture. Their performance of Debussy's quartet was excellent, and equally outstanding was their Haydn. Since Haydn's and Mozart's pieces are commonly the weakest spot in the repertoire of string quartets, this performance is noteworthy."

Shostakovich performed with the group several times, playing his own Quintet, Op. 57.

The Bolshoi Theatre Quartet and Shostakovich

On 18th March 1945, the Bolshoi Quartet premiered Weinberg's Piano Quintet, Op. 18, with Emil Gilels. Weinberg's Fourth Quartet is also dedicated to them - they premiered that work on 19th January, 1946.

The group went on to make many notable recordings, focusing on 19th and 20th century Russian repertoire. They disbanded in 1968.

I shall be updating this post with more info as and when I come across it.

N.B. - picture and Shostakovich quote can be found on Valentin Zhuk's page: Link

Animation of Weinberg's life

The Canadian ARC Ensemble have produced an animated video detailing the events of Weinberg's life up to 1953. (The ARC Ensemble will be familiar to you from their excellent CD 'On the Threshold of hope'.)

The video uses the music from this CD together with animations depicting Weinberg to tell the story of his early life. The video is somewhat over-dramatic in places, but gives an excellent introduction to Weinberg's biography.

Featuring snippets from the Clarinet Sonata, Op. 28, and Piano Quintet, Op. 18.

Director James Murdoch, illustrations by Thomas Dannenberg.

(The only aspects I take issue with are the brief suggestion that Stalin could have been poisoned, which is near-spurious, and also the depiction of Shostakovich and Weinberg at the piano - they ought to be the other way around, Shostakovich always played the lower part in their duets.)