BRAHMS Double Concerto + ENCORE @ChloeChuaviolinist & Ng Pei-Sian
#thebestclassicalmusic, #music, #classicalmusic, #Relaxingmusic
When composers write their works, they usually have a specific sound in their minds, whether it be for a certain voice/instrument, or combination of instruments and/or voices. Sometimes, a composer conceives an idea that a single existing instrument cannot adequately cover, and so it was with Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102. Much like how individual robots in Japanese anime join to make a giant super-robot with increased powers, Brahms seems to imagine the violin and violoncello merging musically to form a single super-instrument, with a massive five-octave range.
This work was Brahms’s last orchestral work after his Fourth Symphony in 1885, and he was not to write any more till his death in 1897. The catalyst for this work appears to have been an 1887 request from Robert Hausmann to write a cello concerto. Now, Hausmann was cellist in a string quartet with Brahms’s longtime friend and collaborator Joseph Joachim, but Brahms had fallen out with Joachim in 1884. Joachim had initiated divorce proceedings from his wife Amalie for suspected adultery, and Brahms, who was friends with both, had written a letter to Amalie stating his belief that she was innocent. This letter became evidence in the court proceedings and caused a rift between the two men. Brahms saw the request from Hausmann as a chance to repair the damaged friendship and produced a double concerto for violin and violoncello.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102 (1887)
I. Allegro 0:00
II. Andante 18:39
III. Vivace non troppo 26:09
Applause 34:29
Encore: Halvorsen's Passacaglia 37:00
Applause 43:42
Bonus 45:56
Chloe Chua, violin
Ng Pei-Sian, cello/Principal Cello, SSO and The HEAD Foundation Chair
Hans Graf, conductor/Quantedge Music Director
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
The Allegro begins in dramatic fashion, with the cello solo setting the scene before the violin enters and almost merges with the cello, offering chordal combinations and smoothly passing phrases to the other, showing that the combined instruments made for a true super-instrument. It is not hard to see Brahms expressing in music his desire for reconciliation. Extensive use of the A-E-F motif may be explained by it being a permutation of F-A-E, Joachim Joseph’s personal motto "Frei aber einsam" (“Free but lonely”). As Joachim and Hausmann were the soloists at the premiere, the former could not have missed these clues. Here, the violin and violoncello work together, sometimes playing in tandem, sometimes in counterpoint, completing each other’s phrases, but always as a team against the orchestra.
The Andante slow movement is in ABA form, with the first theme introduced by the soloists playing in unison octaves, the purest expression of unity. Warmth, nostalgia, and ease in D major are tinged with a touch of melancholy, giving us one of Brahms’s most moving melodies. Joachim and Hausmann were consulted extensively during the creative process, as Brahms played neither instrument. Clara Schumann wrote in her diary, “The Concerto is a work of reconciliation. Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again.”
A rather exotic Hungarian-style melody starts the final movement, a rondo finale that runs through a wide range of moods. Perhaps the Hungarian mood was the result of diffusion — at the time of its composition, Brahms was concurrently writing a set of 11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs) for vocal quartet and piano. After much drama, the work ends with a rather unexpected touch — a Tierce de Picardie — an A major chord, illustrating happy reconciliation.
Audience and public reception were lukewarm, and this resulted in Brahms throwing away the sketches he had prepared for a second double concerto, a loss for the world of music. Nevertheless, the concerto had restored a broken friendship, and is now widely recognised as one of the greatest of the genre. (Edward C. Yong)
Recorded live at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore, on 25 July 2024.
Audio & Video: msm productions (Singapore)
Additional/backstage footage: Playpunk
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra makes its Australian debut this Feb 2025 with performances at the Sydney Opera House, Hamer Hall (Melbourne) and Queensland Performing Arts Centre (Brisbane), featuring this very concerto with Chloe, Pei-Sian, and Hans Graf. Click on the (i) icon in the video for information.