FRA BALTASAR MARRADAS TRIBUTE CONCERT
By HALÍŘ TRIO (Prague, Czech Republic) & Ester Garcia Salas (Spain)
HALÍŘ TRIO are:
Barbora K. Sejáková, piano
Jana Podolská, cello
Eduardo García Salas, violin
In collaboration with:
Ester García Salas, viola
PROGRAMME:
ENRIQUE GRANADOS, OP. 50
ANTONIN DVORAK, OP. 87
With an introductory overview on the life of Fra Baltasar Marradas by Dr Christine Muscat.
Free Entrance
Details of the Programme:
Piano Trio in C major Op. 50 Enrique Granados
Poco allegro con espressione
Scherzo – Vivace molto; Trio alla pastorale – Allegretto
Duetto – Andante con sentimento
Allegro final – Molto allegro
Piano Quartet in E flat major Op. 87 Antonín Dvořák
Allegro con fuoco
Lento
Allegro moderato, grazioso
Finale. Allegro mà non troppo
NOTES TO THE PROGRAMME:
Piano Trio in C major Op. 50 Enrique Granados
Although historically Enrique Granados has remained in the shadow of both Manuel de Falla and Isaac Albéniz, both of whom are considered symbols of modernity in the first decades of the 20th century, the most recent musicalogical investigations rediscover a Granados of his time, an artist regeneracionist completely dedicated himself to the cultural renovation of his country through his compositions. A prime example of one of these works is his Trio in C Major.
It is important to note that in 1895 he presented himself to the Madrid musical social scene, a city where he looked to base himself and develop his career, by presenting the premieres of two of his chamber compositions, something which was considered slightly out of the ordinary: the 25th of January his Quintet in G Minor and the 22nd of February his Trio in C Major in the Salon Romero, a hugely important hall for chamber concerts towards the end of the century. These representations displayed his modernity as both works were pioneer in the musical panorama in the last years of the 19th century, next to, for example the Trio by Tomas Breton (1887).
The composer considered his Trio for violin, cello and piano his best composition to date and dedicated it to his wife Amparo Gil: ” My sweet love, a think I mentioned to you that I would dedicate my great trio to you (…) You should see what a Trio!! It’s up until now my best work and for this reason I dedicate it to you, companion and love of my life”. (Madrid, 25th of January 1895).
After the premiere of the Quintet the critics had a divided opinion, those that critisised the lack of clasicism, understood as Vienese clasicism, and those that completely favoured and supported his decision to compose in a more modern approach towards his art as did composers such as Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns or Edvard Grieg, Granados wrote to his wife: ” How badly some maestros have seen my Quintet! But you can’t imagine what a damper I am going to put on you with my Trio! Dear Lord, thid is my greatest work”. Madrid (28th of January 1895).
Granados presents an ambitious work in its language, both in its form, theme- motif construction and harmonisation, as well as the way he shares the instrumental dialogue equally between all of the instruments. The language is clearly romantic and it is worth noting his continuos use of pedal notes and the use of stylised folkloric music. Its particularly noticable in the second movement where the principle theme in the piano reminds us of his own composition, Canto Gitano. It also includes typical motifs from Spanish music such as the hemiola or the imitation of strumming guitars. The first movement (“I have now finished my first movement to the Trio, it’s divine”. He wrote to his wife on the 11th of January of the same year of its first performance) starts with a C pedal note and in its almost rondo form uses a delicate melody with different bar lengths. It is named in the score as canción popular.
Piano Quartet in E flat major Op. 87 Antonín Dvořák
The Piano Quartet in E flat major is Dvořak’s second, and also his last, work for this instrumental ensemble. Fourteen years separate this work from his previous Piano Quartet in D major. Dvořak was finally goaded into writing the piece after his publisher Simrock had spent a long time trying to persuade him to do so, reminding him in letters on several occasions: “I should like to receive a piano quartet from you at last – you promised me this a long time ago! Well? How is it faring?” The quartet was written in the summer months of 1889 at Dvořak’s country residence in Vysoká. The first documented performance took place in Frankfurt on 17 October of the following year, followed by performances in Munich on 3 November, in Prague on 23 November in Dvořak’s presence, and in Manchester on 24 November. Simrock published the work that same year. It should be emphasized that among the four musicians who performed for the first time the Piano Quartet of Dvořák, we find the cellist Hugo Becker, who was a member of the Halíř Quartet and played several times the double concert of Brahms with Karel Halíř.
The Piano Quartet in E flat major is a prime example of the composer’s absolute maturity and one of the most conclusive testimonies of Dvorak’s exceptional ability to introduce innovation and originality into the Classical form. The character of the first movement in sonata form is chiefly determined by the brisk main subject which is exposed right at the start in strong unison from all the instruments. It also stands as the closing theme and forms the basis of the development section. The second subject, which alters the mood of the movement, only figures in the exposition and recapitulation, otherwise it plays no part in the thematic development. Typical for Dvořak is the “false” coda: after the broad escalation towards the close of the recapitulation, the listener expects the movement to end, yet it suddenly breaks off, and the music is apparently left to wind down gradually; it then rears up once more from pianissimo, gaining momentum for several glittering bars, and ends with a flourish. The second part of the quartet, one of Dvorak’s loveliest slow movements, comprises two almost identical tracts of music, which expose the same thematic material. During its repetition, however, it undergoes various instrumental and partly also modulatory transformations. Each of the tracts progressively introduces five connected themes, of which the fourth adds a dramatic accent to the otherwise tranquil atmosphere. The form of the movement may be illustrated by the scheme A-B-C-D-E-A’-B’-C’-D’-E’. The third movement is often compared to a piece of similar disposition, the scherzo movement from Dvorak’s Symphony in G major. It shares its three-part formal arrangement and, above all, the character of the thematic material is analogous: a main section rendered as a quasi-melancholic waltz, and a more lively middle section. The subordinate theme in the main part is unusual for its oriental tone, which is achieved through the use of an augmented second, E flat-F sharp, in the melodic line above a sustained G minor chord. The final movement of the quartet is one of Dvořak’s most vivacious, dazzling for its highly rhythmical main theme which dominates the movement. The movement features a remarkable harmonic progression: it begins in the “incorrect” key of E flat minor, and only in the recapitulation does it work its way towards the fundamental key of E flat major.
Text: Eduardo García Salas
