Gustavo Dudamel Jian Wang Dvorak Cello Concerto

Gustavo Dudamel Jian Wang Dvorak Cello Concerto 1st Mvt.

 

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Cello Concerto (Dvořák)

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The Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191 by Antonín Dvořák is the most often performed and recorded cello concerto.^{[citation needed]} It was Dvořák's last solo concerto, and was written in 1894-1895 for his friend, the cellist Hanuš Wihan, but premiered by the English cellist Leo Stern.^{[citation needed]}

Contents [hide] 1 Structure 2 History 3 The work 4 Media 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Structure

The piece is scored for a full romantic orchestra containing two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle (last movement only), and strings, and is in the standard three-movement concerto format:

1. Allegro (B minor then B major; about 15 minutes)
2. Adagio, ma non troppo (G major; about 12 minutes)
3. Finale: Allegro moderato - Andante - Allegro vivo (B minor then B major; about 13 minutes)

Total duration: Approximately 40 minutes

[edit] History

In 1865, early in his career, Dvořák started a Cello Concerto in A major, (B. 10). The piece was written for Ludevít Peer, whom he knew well from the Provisional Theatre Orchestra in which they both played. He handed the cello score (with piano accompaniment) over to Peer for review but neither bothered to finish the piece. It was recovered from his estate in 1925.
Hanuš Wihan, among others, had asked for a cello concerto for quite some time, but Dvořák always refused, stating that the cello was a fine orchestral instrument but totally insufficient for a solo concerto. According to Josef Michl, Dvořák was fond of the middle register, but complained about a nasal high register and a mumbling bass. In a letter to a friend, Dvořák wrote that he himself was probably most surprised by his decision to write a cello concerto despite these long held reservations.
Dvořák wrote the concerto while in New York for his third term as the Director of the National Conservatory. In 1894 one of the teachers at the Conservatory, Victor Herbert, also a composer, finished his Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30, and premiered it in a series of concerts, commencing on 9 March.^[1] Dvořák heard at least two performances of the piece and was inspired to fulfill Wihan's request in composing a cello concerto of his own. Herbert had been principal cellist in the orchestra that premiered Dvořák's "New World" Symphony^[1] on 16 December 1893, and wrote his concerto in the same key, E minor. Herbert's middle movement was in B minor, which may have inspired Dvořák to write his concerto in the same key.^[2] It was started on 8 November 1894 and completed on 9 February 1895.^[3]
After seeing the score, Hanuš Wihan made various suggestions for improvement, including two cadenzas, but Dvořák accepted only a few minor changes and neither of the cadenzas. He was very particular about ensuring that there should be no deviations from the score as he conceived it, and he wrote to his publishers:

I give you my work only if you will promise me that no one - not even my friend Wihan - shall make any alteration in it without my knowledge and permission, also that there be no cadenza such as Wihan has made in the last movement; and that its form shall be as I have felt it and thought it out.

The finale, he insisted, should close gradually with a diminuendo

... like a breath ... then there is a crescendo, and the last measures are taken up by the orchestra, ending stormily. That was my idea, and from it I cannot recede.

Hanuš Wihan first privately performed the concerto with the composer in Lužany in August 1895.^[3] Although he had not accepted most of Wihan's suggested changes, Dvořák still wanted Wihan to publicly premiere the work in London during his visit there in March 1896, and as late as 14 February 1896 he was adamantly refusing to be involved in the performance unless Wihan was the soloist.^[4] Why the English cellist Leo Stern was finally chosen as the soloist instead of Hanuš Wihan has been the subject of various theories:

• Wihan refused to play the work after Dvořák had forbidden him from playing the two cadenzas he had proposed
• the London date clashed with concert dates for the Bohemian Quartet, to which Wihan was already contracted
• the Philharmonic Society had engaged Leo Stern without consulting Dvořák, and the composer had not made it clear to the Society that he had promised the first performance to Wihan
• Stern had come into contact with Dvořák in Prague and when it became clear that Wihan was unable to play the premiere, Dvorak selected Stern to take his place^[3]
• Stern was given permission only after sending Dvořák two rare breeds of pigeon^[5] (the composer was a great pigeon lover).^[6]

There may be some element of truth in each of these theories. However, whatever happened, it is not true (as has often been reported) that Wihan and Dvořák had any sort of falling out over the matter. Wihan went on to perform the concerto with great success, including under Dvořák's baton in Budapest on 20 December 1899^[7] and they remained firm friends.
The concerto's premiere took place on 19 March 1896, in Queen's Hall in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dvořák, with Leo Stern as the soloist. The cello played by Stern was the 1684 "General Kyd", one of only about 60 cellos made by Stradivarius. It was purchased by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association in the 1970s, and became the instrument of their principal cellist Peter Stumpf. In April 2004, Stumpf left the cello on his doorstep after returning home from a concert. It was stolen by a passing cyclist, who tried to turn it into a CD rack. It was later saved from a dumpster, after a news alert told of its absence. It was badly damaged and it took six months to complete the repairs.
The concerto was published in 1896 by N. Simrock, Berlin.

[edit] The work

The large-scale sonata form first movement starts with a lengthy introduction by the orchestra, which states both themes and allows the soloist to expand on each. Following this opening essay is the lengthy Adagio, a lyrical movement which is both pastorale and troubled in character.
A great feeling of nostalgia pervades the third and final movement, formally a rondo. The material grows ever more passionate and yearning throughout, until the piece ends by bringing back musical material from the first and second movements in a slow, quiet fashion, finally culminating in a jubilant B major.
The dedicatee Hanuš Wihan suggested several changes to the score of the concerto, in particular the cadenza at the end of the third movement. Other minor changes, many of which are presented as alternate passages in modern editions of the score, are simplifications of the challenging solo part. However the composer steadfastly rejected all but minor changes, including the cadenza, largely for personal reasons: the third movement was a tribute to the memory of his recently deceased sister-in-law, Josefina Čermakova. Specifically, the slow, wistful section, before the triumphant ending, quotes his series of songs "The Cypresses", Čermakova's favorite piece.
Dvořák's friend and mentor Johannes Brahms had written a double concerto for violin and cello in 1887, eight years before Dvořák's cello concerto. He corrected the proofs of Dvořák's concerto for the composer and hence he knew the work intimately from the score.^[8] He praised it: he is reported as saying: "Why on earth didn't I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!"^[9] Brahms died just a year after the London premiere and it is unlikely he ever heard it performed, so his comments would have been made from the score alone.
Dvořák's original score, before it was altered with Wihan's suggested changes, has been described as "much more musical", and this version has been performed from time to time.^[10]

[edit] Media

	Cello Concerto in B minor, 1st movement Performed by John Michel Cello Concerto in B minor, 1st movement Performed by Hans Goldstein with the Milwaukee Youth Orchestra Cello Concerto in B minor, 2nd movement Performed by John Michel Cello Concerto in B minor, 3rd movement Performed by John Michel
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• European Archive Copyright free LP recording of the Dvorak Cello Concerto, performed by Zara Nelsova (cello), Josef Krips (conductor), and the London Symphony Orchestra (for non-American viewers only) at the European Archive.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Michael Steinberg, The Concerto
2. ^ Guild Music
3. ^ ^{a b c} Classics and Jazz
4. ^ Music 33
5. ^ The Independent
6. ^ Extract from Steven Isserlis’s book Why Handel Waggled His Wig
7. ^ Hanus Wihan
8. ^ Unearthing Johannes, Robert Kameczura
9. ^ Mandel, Marc. "Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor." Boston Symphony Orchestra program book, 2001-2002 season, April 4-6.
10. ^ Dimitry Markevitch, Some Thoughts on More Rational Cello Fingerings

[edit] References

• Clapham, John. "Antonín Dvořák, Musician and Craftsman". St. Martin's Press, New York, 1966.
• Smaczny, Jan. Dvořák: Cello Concerto. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999.
• Dvořák, Antonín: Violoncellový koncert op. 104. (Violoncello e piano) Praha: Editio Bärenreiter, 2004. H 1200

[edit] External links