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Program Notes sergei prokofiev (1891–1953) Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Double Bass in G Minor, Op. 39 (1924) While living in Paris in the mid 1920s, Prokofiev was eager to compose a Second Symphony far different from his first, the witty “Classical” Symphony of his school days. He was widely regarded as an enfant terrible, writing in an advanced and difficult musical style, but some of his works had already been performed in Paris under the sponsorship of conductor Serge Koussevitzky, so he had hopes of attracting attention. In order to support himself while working on the new symphony, he accepted a commission from Romanov’s Wandering Ballets, a company that planned to tour a series of short ballets with an “orchestra” of but five instruments. Prokofiev proposed that the ensemble consist of oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and double bass, and for that unusual quintet he composed a circus ballet entitled The Trapeze. All the while he intended the music should also be performable as a self-sufficient concert work. The Trapeze was performed in Italy and Germany with fair success, although Prokofiev recalled that the dancers had difficulty with his unusual rhythms, such as a 5/4 measure, consisting of ten eighth notes, divided into 3 + 4 + 3 eighths. But if that was indeed the case, these dancers must have been out of touch with current trends in ballet scores; Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring made far greater demands on dancers for over a decade, though it was rarely performed as a ballet. That the complicated metrical patterns of the third movement caused trouble not only for the dancers, but also for the players, is indicated by the fact that the score prints the third movement twice—once in Prokofiev’s original notation, once in a “simplified” form, of which the only change is to break up the long 5/4 bars into more readily apprehended 3/8, 2/4, and 3/4 bars. The composition of the work gave Prokofiev no trouble, unlike the Second Symphony, over which he slaved for months. But as a concert work, separated from the visual elements of the ballet, it was regarded as one of the composer’s most advanced and daring, often turning polytonal and remaining intensely chromatic virtually throughout. Years later, after he returned to Russia where he had perforce to accommodate his musical style to Soviet demands for simplicity and lyricism, Prokofiev confessed in his memoirs that the quintet, along with the Second Symphony, his most chromatic works, had been tainted by his contact with the West: “This was the effect of the Parisian atmosphere where complex patterns and dissonances were the accepted thing, and which fostered my predilection for complex thinking.” We may wonder whether this scapegoating of Paris is to be taken at face value. To be sure, Prokofiev was never again so far advanced in harmonic complexity, but the more lyric side he showed in his later years had been a part of his personality from early in his career as well. In any case, it is always fascinating to hear a piece in which the composer steps outside his normal habits and attempts something quite new. In Prokofiev’s case, that step took him to the edge of an abyss, from which he quickly recoiled. wolfgang amadeus mozart (1756–1791) Selections from Don Giovanni, K. 527 for Wind Octet and Double Bass (1787) Arranged by Josef Triebensee We no longer have much opportunity to hear ensembles of oboes, horns, and bassoons in pairs, nor some of the larger and more varied wind ensemble possibilities, but they were among the most frequently encountered musical groupings in the late 18th century, employed especially in the households of wealthy patrons to provide background music for parties or banquets. Mozart himself gave a good illustration of the practice in the final scene of Don Giovanni, where the Don has his own private ensemble playing selections from popular operas. The instruments in the Harmonie conventionally sustained the chords in symphonies and other orchestral works. These ensembles could be employed indoors or outside, where dampness or sudden changes of temperature could wreak havoc with string instruments, and would produce a sound that carried well over the noise of conversation and the clatter of eating utensils. One of the masters of composing for the harmonie ensemble was Josef Triebensee (1772– 1846), a Bohemian oboist and composer who from early youth was oboist in the Emperor’s wind ensemble in Vienna. In 1791, he played second oboe in the world premiere of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an opera with a demanding second oboe part. He composed original Harmoniemusik and also made arrangements of the work of other composers, especially including his friend Mozart. Less well known are 12 comic operas he wrote for Vienna and Prague. The date of his arrangement of eight selections from Don Giovanni is not known, but it is quite likely not long after the successful premiere of the opera in Prague because there would have been a demand for opportunities to hear and play the music. His arrangement is for eight or nine instruments—pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons, with an optional contrabassoon. The arrangement includes the overture and seven vocal selections in a wide range of moods, to produce a thoroughly satisfying suite of music from what was then the very latest thing. ludwig van beethoven (1770–1827) Octet for Two Horns, Two Oboes, Two Clarinets, and Two Bassoons in E-flat Major, Op. 103 (ca. 1792) In the Classical era, one of the most popular forms of musical entertainment, especially in social situations like dinners and parties, was the wind ensemble, often consisting of six instruments (pairs of oboes, clarinets, and bassoons) or of eight (the same ensemble with the addition of two horns). The crisp sound made by this ensemble could penetrate the noise of conversation better than that of a string ensemble. And on occasions when the performance might be outdoors, a touch of humidity did not risk harming the wind instruments as badly as it did the strings. The kind of music that such an ensemble would play tended to be less complex in organization than the elaborate first-movement sonata forms of symphonies and string quartets; they could provide a background of cheerful sound to mute the sound of dishes and conversation, but not require close attention to enjoy. Beethoven’s Octet, which was not published until long after he wrote it (hence the high opus number), was one of the pieces he brought with him from Bonn when he moved to Vienna in 1792. It reveals the attention that Beethoven has paid to Mozart’s works in this genre—and indeed, no better model could possibly be required. The first movement does follow the expected sonata form, but is so cheerful with its staccato articulations, repeated eighth-note chatter, and forward pressing character that someone at a party could enjoy it while still only catching bits and pieces. The Andante, gently lilting in 6/8 time, wears a delicate robe of melancholy. The Menuetto has a straightforward vigor pushed along by the downward octave drop in the first measure of many of its phrases. The Finale is jaunty in a light-hearted Haydnesque way. A few years later, in Vienna, after further study, Beethoven rewrote this wind octet as a quintet for strings, Op. 4. A comparison of the later version reveals something about the growth of his technique, but the Octet remains a delightful example of the very early Beethoven taking stock of the classical tradition and making ready to place himself in direct competition with his great forebears, Haydn and Mozart. © Steven Ledbetter (stevenledbetter.com)