The eras of music represented in this concert span the Classical era, the Early Romantic period and Early 20th-century Modernism. The circumstances in which the composers found themselves are very different. Mozart was at the height of his critical acclaim and creative power in Vienna; Schubert was furiously writing repertoire that was only known to a small circle of friends and admirers; and Gideon Klein was a driving force in creating beauty amid the horrors of the Theresienstadt Ghetto.
In 1784 Mozart was 34 years old and doing very well as a freelance musician in Vienna. After eight years of chafing in the employ of others in Salzburg and failing to reignite his youthful success as an itinerate virtuoso performer, he was now settled in one place and in command of his own fate. In Vienna he was in demand as a piano soloist, participating in public and private concerts. He had established his own concert series at which he premiered his latest concertos three or four times each season, and he was writing music without the restrictions that came with fulfilling commissions for others.
Between February and April of 1784, Mozart composed four piano concertos (K. 449, 450, 451, 453) and the Quintet for piano and winds, K. 452. In April he learned there was to be a concert presented by Italian virtuosi violinist Regina Strinasacchi that Emperor Joseph II would attend. Mozart was very eager to impress the emperor. He very quickly composed the Sonata K. 454 for the occasion. He had so little time to finish the piece that he wasn’t able to write down the piano part. At the concert he performed from memory with a blank manuscript propped up on the music desk.
There is good reason to believe the famous story that the emperor had asked to see the score after the concert and Mozart was forced to admit he hadn’t actually written it down (yet). In the original manuscript of the work the violin part is written clearly in bold black ink with the bar lines neatly spaced and drawn. Below this line, on the grand staff, the piano notes appear in a different color ink. They are scrawled hurriedly and, when the piano part gets particularly florid, they do not fit in the allotted space. Notes spill off the staff.
This sonata is written for a pair of virtuosos with the violin and piano functioning as full equals. Strinasacchi was renowned for her gorgeous lyrical sound, and Mozart wrote to that strength. The piece begins with a slow introduction that Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein compared to a grand arch through which a listener passes on the way to the majestic Allegro. The interplay of the two instruments in that Allegro seems like that of a duo concerto.
The second movement takes advantage of the violin’s singing voice as Mozart writes one of his most deeply expressive slow movements. The music is full of surprising harmonic shifts and is deeply introspective. The final rondo is not particularly fast but wonderfully exuberant. Critics have identified B-flat Major as Mozart’s key of choice for expressing joy and serenity. The two outer movements certainly fit this description.
Gideon Klein was born in 1919 in Přerov, Moravia. He displayed great musical talent very young, and piano lessons began at age six. In 1931 (at 12 years old) he went to live with his older sister in Prague to advance his studies. In 1938 he entered the Prague Conservatory, received a degree in piano in 1939, and immediately began a masters program in musicology and composition.
In March 1939 the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, declaring the region to be the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Restrictions on the Jewish population began gradually. By November, universities were shuttered. Klein already had a successful career concertizing, and for a time he carried on performing under a pseudonym in private concerts in Jewish homes.
In November 1941, the Nazis established a ghetto in the town of Terezín (Theresienstadt), which is located 30 miles north of Prague) . Klein was deported to the camp by early December. Some 140,000 people passed through this camp, with an estimated 33,000-35,000 dying there from disease and starvation. The prisoners were incredibly resilient despite the horrific conditions. They quietly organized themselves to create art, present concerts, and provide educational events to help sustain each other. Gideon Klein was heavily involved in these activities. He performed as a soloist and chamber musician and wrote many vocal works. His String Trio was completed nine days before he was deported to Auschwitz and, from there, to the labor camp Fürstengrube in Silesia. The circumstances of his death are unknown. It is presumed he was among those murdered as the Germans “liquidated” the prisoner population while liberation armies closed in.
Prior to his interment, Klein’s music was described as Expressionist and utilized microtonality and 12-tone serialism. The String Trio is far more classically inspired and less complicated than his earlier work. The first movement has an upbeat drive and dark harmonic colors. Likewise, the final movement has a wonderful folk feel and powerful energy. These two outer movements are quite succinct. The middle movement is much larger in scale, comprising a theme and pair of variations on a Moravian folksong, “The Knezdub Tower”. Like many folk songs, there are several known versions of the text, but all begin with the same image of freedom and soaring: “The Knezdub tower is high, A wild goose flew up to it”.
The piece may have been rehearsed in Terezín just after it was completed but its official premiere came on June 6th, 1946 (one year after D-Day), at a concert organized by Klein’s sister Eliška. She was the only member of the family to survive the Holocaust.
Franz Schubert was born and raised in Vienna, making him the only master of the Classical Era who was a native of the city. Vienna was brimming with music making. There were public concerts, parties, musicales, and a thriving market for published musical scores for use by a well-educated middle class. His father, a schoolmaster, taught him to play the violin, but was quickly surpassed by his son. At age nine, Franz began studies in violin, piano, organ, singing, and harmony with Michael Holzer, a parish organist. Holzer said of his student, “If I wished to instruct him in anything fresh, he already knew it. Consequently, I gave him no actual tuition but merely conversed with him and watched him with silent astonishment”.
The timeline of Schubert’s early life is not exactly a direct line toward success: 1808 a choirboy in the imperial chapel; 1810 already composing mature pieces; 1812 his mother dies; 1813 returns home when the family can no longer afford his school tuition; 1814 begins teaching at his father’s school; and 1818 takes the leap to be a full-time freelance musician.
The reality of Schubert’s professional life is that he was never very successful. He was a distracted teacher known for abandoning students mid-lesson to go write down an idea that flashed into his head. Commissions were infrequent. He did not perform a public concert until late in his life. And then there were the struggles to get music published. Only a fraction of his music made it into print during his lifetime: about one-fourth of the songs, one-fourth of the dances for solo piano, fewer than half of his four-hand piano pieces, and a tiny fraction of his chamber music. Despite being one of the most extraordinary talents of all time, Schubert would not have survived without the support of friends and family who housed him, loaned him money, and championed his music.
Die Forelle (“The Trout”) is a song Schubert wrote in 1817. The text is a poem by Christian Schubart and tells the story of a trout getting caught. The song was extremely popular with contemporary audiences. In 1819, when Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy music lover and amateur cellist, commissioned Schubert to write a piece for the combination of violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano, he specifically requested that a set of variations on Die Forelle be included. Musicologist Alfred Einstein described the piece as music “we cannot help but love.” The quintet uses original and innovative harmonies and interesting chromaticism. The piece has a unique sonority. The addition of the bass deepens the string resonance, and Schubert writes extended sections in which the piano is played in octaves in the highest register.
The first of the Quintet’s five movements is richly lyrical and expansive. The Andante is a sort of extended song in two large stanzas. After the delightful Scherzo comes the set of variations on Die Forelle for which the piece is named. The fifth and final movement, Allegro giusto, is an extremely satisfying romp full of Gypsy-like tunes.