Program Booklet
RO NOW: Brahms 1
Saturday , March 29
20:30
hour until approximately 10:00 p.m.
Timeless music poured into a short, powerful evening. Tonight: Johannes Brahms' meticulously forged First Symphony, with which he proved himself irrevocable.
Programme
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Danse sacrée et Danse profane for harp and orchestra (1904)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 1 in c, op. 68 (1854-1876)
Un poco sostenuto - Allegro
Andante sostenuto
Un poco allegretto e grazioso
Adagio - Più Andante - Allegro non troppo ma con brio
After the concert, shine like a diamond yourself, too, at the Silent Disco in Foyer 2!
In RO NOW: The Podcast, get an exclusive preview of the concert RO NOW: Brahms 1 by host Christiaan Kuyvenhoven.
What are you going to listen to?
A frightened Brahms and two bickering piano builders over a harp.
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.
Beethoven's Tenth
Whereas one composer wrote one orchestral work after another with 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
Prefer it on paper? Download a condensed printable version of this program.
Biographies
Residentie Orkest The Hague
Jun Märkl
Mathilde Wauters
Christiaan Kuyvenhoven
The Residentie Orkest offers the conductor and soloist at this concert a linocut by The Hague artist Mariska Mallee.
RO QUIZ
Question: Which instrument inspired Brahms for his "First Symphony"?-
Oboe d'amore
Good answer: alpine horn
Eight years before the premiere of his First Symphony, Brahms was vacationing in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, near the mighty Jungfrau. There he heard an alpine horn blaring through the mountains. In the summer of 1868, he sent Clara Schumann a birthday card featuring an alpine horn melody, with the accompanying text "Hoch auf im Berg, Tief im Thal, grüss ich dich viel tausendmal." Exactly this alphorn theme is played in the fourth movement of the First Symphony, just before the famous Beethoven paraphrase.
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Pan Flute
Good answer: alpine horn
Eight years before the premiere of his First Symphony, Brahms was vacationing in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, near the mighty Jungfrau. There he heard an alpine horn blaring through the mountains. In the summer of 1868, he sent Clara Schumann a birthday card featuring an alpine horn melody, with the accompanying text "Hoch auf im Berg, Tief im Thal, grüss ich dich viel tausendmal." Exactly this alphorn theme is played in the fourth movement of the First Symphony, just before the famous Beethoven paraphrase.
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Alpine Horn
Good answer: alpine horn
Eight years before the premiere of his First Symphony, Brahms was vacationing in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, near the mighty Jungfrau. There he heard an alpine horn blaring through the mountains. In the summer of 1868, he sent Clara Schumann a birthday card featuring an alpine horn melody, with the accompanying text "Hoch auf im Berg, Tief im Thal, grüss ich dich viel tausendmal." Exactly this alphorn theme is played in the fourth movement of the First Symphony, just before the famous Beethoven paraphrase.
Good answer: alpine horn
Eight years before the premiere of his First Symphony, Brahms was vacationing in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, near the mighty Jungfrau. There he heard an alpine horn blaring through the mountains. In the summer of 1868, he sent Clara Schumann a birthday card featuring an alpine horn melody, with the accompanying text "Hoch auf im Berg, Tief im Thal, grüss ich dich viel tausendmal." Exactly this alphorn theme is played in the fourth movement of the First Symphony, just before the famous Beethoven paraphrase.
Today in the orchestra
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