In an all-too-brief life of 31 years, Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) was an immensely prolific composer. Our first thought of him may well be the quality and importance of so many of his almost 600 solo songs (in addition to the three great song-cycles, Die schöne Müllerin, Die Winterreise, and Schwanengesang), but those are only the beginning of the rich legacy of music he left us.Some other highlights are the 4th, 5th, 8th, and the last of his nine symphonies; the final three of the 15 string quartets; the last four of his 21 piano sonatas; the Trout Quintet; the Wanderer Fantasy, the eight impromptus, and the six Moments musicaux, all for piano solo. And, today’s Fantasie. If these are among the “cream” of his output, it must be said that all of his music exhibits an extraordinary spontaneity and fluidity of melodic gift and invention (consider his almost 400 dances for piano alone!) which continue to delight, inspire, and astonish us.

There are some 60 Schubert pieces for piano duet; all of them were written between 1810 and 1828. Today’s program begins with what is probably the most popular of them (in fact, one of the most popular of all Schubert pieces), and it ends with the most profound of them - a work one writer referred to as “not only one of the most significant works Schubert wrote, but one of the greatest pieces in the whole history of music.”

Schubert composed his brace of three Marche militaires in 1822. We’ll hear the first of them, its jaunty, inventive demean depicting what seems to be a happy and spirited militia.

Between the Marche and the Fantasie we’ll have several brief, delightful Schubert pieces. The Valses nobles certainly are warm-hearted if “noble.” Ländler are Austrian dances in waltz time, the five we hear written in homage to “the beautiful women of Vienna.” The final waltz programmed is from a set of 20 Schubert composed between 1815 and 1824.

Program notes for these concerts rarely go into the inner workings of the compositions performed, but there are so many facets to the Schubert Fantasie in F Minor - accessible as it is just in the listening - that we would like to tell you some details of it, borrowing from program notes for a recording of the piece by Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem (on the Summit label).

“This work is the final example of a form which is uniquely Schubertian: the extended ‘cyclical’ fantasy which is comprised of movement-like sections of varying character played continuously. Its formal treatment has its roots in the toccatas and fantasies of the Baroque composers. It contains a largo (slow) section with strongly double-dotted rhythms in the French (Baroque) overture style, and ends with an extended fugue. It also shows the deepest emotional spirit in its memorable collection of ‘sighing’ melodies. The scherzo (fast) section, with its Ländler (Austrian dance)-like trio (middle portion) is one of his most monumental, and the fugal sections are grimly energetic and impassioned. Harmonically, the piece stays surprisingly close to the ‘home’ keys of F/F-sharp minor and major. The haunting principal theme of the Fantasy recurs several times throughout and seems to gather new depth and meaning with each repetition, ultimately bringing the piece to its close.”

Reflection on the accomplishments of short-lived individuals is often linked with our speculation as to what more they might have given to the world had they lived longer. One readily applies such thoughts to Schubert. In the last year of his life alone, he composed many works, some of which are among his greatest, including the final version of his “Great C Major” Symphony, the last three piano sonatas and the Three Piano Pieces, the Mass No. 6 in E-flat, all the songs of Schwanengesang, and today’s Fantasie in F minor.

Franz Lachner (1803-1890), a composer and conductor who was a close friend of Schubert, called on him one day, when Schubert was not in the mood for work. Schubert said, “Let’s have some coffee,” and grabbing hold of an old coffee mill (he called it “my most precious possession”), measured out the beans and began to grind. Suddenly he shouted, “I have it! I have it! You rusty little machine!,” and threw the mill into a corner. “This coffee mill is a wonderful thing. Melodies and themes come flying in. You see, it’s the ra-ra-ra, that’s what…You search for days for an idea, and the little machine finds it in a second.” He began singing themes for what became his Death and the Maiden string quartet, which Lachner wrote down.

Beethoven biographer Anton Schindler wrote of Beethoven’s admiration of Schubert’s music, so much so that even in his last days, weaker by the day, Beethoven insisted on seeing the scores of Schubert operas and piano pieces. Quoting Schindler: “…but his illness already had made such headway that it no longer was possible for him to gratify this desire. Yet he often prophesied that ‘he would yet attract much attention in the world,’ while he regretted that he had not made his acquaintance at an earlier date.’”

Schubert was one of the pallbearers at Beethoven’s funeral.

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July 10: The Pipa’s Musical Journey

The pipa, one of the oldest Chinese instruments, is a lute-like instrument enjoying a history of more than two thousand years. Prototypes of the pipa already existed in China in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC). The modern pipa is closer to the instrument which originated in Persia/Middle-East (where it was called barbat) and was introduced through the Silk Road from little Asia into China beginning in the late Jin Dynasty (265-420 A.D.).

Today’s instrument consists of twenty-six frets and six ledges arranged as stops, and its four strings are tuned respectively to A, D, E, A. The name “pípá” is made up of two Chinese syllables, “pí” (琵) and “pá” (琶). The two most common ways of playing this instrument are a forward plucking motion and a backward plucking motion.

The pipa’s many left and right hand fingering techniques, rich tonal qualities and resonant timbre endow its music with an extremely expressive voice and a delicate soul. Bai Ju-yi, a poet in Tang Dynasty, vividly captured the sound of pipa in his poem “Pipa Xing” (Pipa Play):

The bold strings rattled like splatters of sudden rain,
The fine strings hummed like lovers’ whispers.
Chattering and pattering, pattering and chattering,
As pearls, large and small, on a jade plate fall.

The pipa is mainly a solo instrument and its traditional repertoire consists of ancient Chinese pieces whose composers are mostly anonymous. There are numerous pipa pieces in the common repertoire which can be split into four distinctive styles: wen (civil), wu (martial), da (suite), and xiao (solo). Many of them often refer to sophisticated music or classical music as opposed to folklore. Traditional pipa music in this sense is intimately linked to poetry and to various forms of lyric drama. In the same manner as poetry, this music sets out to express human feelings, soothe suffering and bring spiritual elevation.

…back to program notes.