Brahms's Symphony No. 1

What are you going to listen to?

A frightened Brahms and a vacationing Saint-Saëns are encountered in this concert. But after the One Minute Symphony, it begins with two bickering piano builders over a harp.

Forging a symphony

Opening tonight is young Spanish composition student Hugo Fejgielman Garcia. He looked for inspiration for his One Minute Symphony at a goldsmith in downtown The Hague. At Odinski Jewels, he met goldsmith Sonja Hunefeld. Hugo was fascinated by the process of jewelry making and got the chance to watch with Sonja. Together they cast a silver ring, with Hugo allowed to assist. In both composing and forging jewelry, technique and preparation are important, but it is the beauty of the end result that defines the magic. With this thought in mind, Hugo allowed himself to be guided in his composition process.

Greek ancient dances

As a composer, one will only end up in a quarrel between two instrument makers. It happened to Debussy in the struggle between Erard and Pleyel. The first had been building harps for decades that could be quickly tuned with a pedal mechanism. It kept the instrument manageable but certain tone combinations were not possible as a result. Competitor Pleyel therefore invented a harp in 1897 with a separate string for each note. Although this instrument was more difficult to play, it also had more possibilities. In 1904, he knocked on Debussy's door to compose a piece for his harp for promotion. Debussy came up with two contrasting dances. One was sacred and evoked the atmosphere of the harps of antiquity. The other was a distinctly profane sensual dance entirely suited to the time of the Fin de siècle. Erard, of course, could not be left behind and asked Ravel to write a virtuoso piece for his pedal harp. In the end, Pleyel lost the battle, mainly because the pedal harp had long been fully established. Fortunately, Debussy's dances were spared and, with a few modifications, could also be played on Erard's harp.

Trip down the Nile

Unlike Debussy whose life took place mainly in Paris, Camille Saint-Saëns was a true globetrotter. Not only as a piano virtuoso, but also as a tourist, he traveled everywhere. Especially the oriental world of North Africa fascinated him immensely and he often stayed there for an entire winter. In 1896 he spent a long time in Egypt where he enjoyed the country and Eastern culture. He began his Fifth Piano Concerto there, so it is not surprising that this work is steeped in Egyptian couleur locale. In the opening movement, you imagine yourself in a truly vibrant Eastern souk. For the second movement, Saint-Saëns found his inspiration during a boat trip down the Nile near Luxor. He heard the rowers singing their traditional songs and he used one of them in the slow middle movement. It is easy to imagine the composer in this music, in the languid heat of the sweltering desert sun, reveling in the rhythm of the singing boatmen.

But even this vacation came to an end and Saint-Saëns set sail again on his way home. In the joyful finale, we see him enjoying all the conviviality aboard the great ship. Things get tense for a moment when a strong breeze suddenly picks up, but fortunately the wind soon dies down and the gaiety returns.

Beethoven's Tenth

Whereas Saint-Saëns spent his entire life writing one orchestral work after another with apparent ease, Johannes Brahms was more reserved in this regard. By now he had a nice reputation, but the public demanded more. If you really wanted to count as a composer you had to write a great symphony. Brahms hesitated. After the monumental nine symphonies by such greats as Beethoven, how could you write another symphony that could compete with those masterpieces? Brahms had already gained some orchestral experience with two serenades for small orchestra and his First Piano Concerto , which had quite a few symphonic touches. As early as 1854 he was walking around with plans for a real symphony, but it wasn't until 1862 that something workable appeared on paper. His close friend Clara Schumann was delighted and implored the composer to continue above all else. But Brahms again abandoned it for years and did not pick it up again until 1876, after which the symphony was finished within a few months. At the premiere, Brahms' uncertainty proved unjustified, as Symphony No. 1 was an overwhelming success. Conductor Hans von Bülow even excitedly called it "Beethoven's Tenth. And though Brahms might still grumble that that was an open door because he had used a literal quote from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in his work, he was pleased with this compliment. At least it gave him incentive enough to write three more symphonies over the next few years.

Kees Wisse