Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante

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Franz Joseph Haydn Listen to Audio

Franz Joseph Haydn

Symphony No. 49 in F minor, La Passione

When Prince Nikolaus Esterházy completed a lavish country palace in 1766, the workload for his tireless Kapellmeister, Joseph Haydn, increased dramatically. The “summer” seasons at the estate stretched to be nearly year-round, and all the while Haydn had to produce operas, provide music for church services, mount concerts and attend to any other musical needs for his insatiable patron. “In Eszterháza,” Haydn later acknowledged, “I was forced to become original.”

Some of Haydn’s most original efforts in the late 1760s and 1770s reflected an artistic trend that has been dubbed Sturm und Drang (“Storm and Stress”) after a play of the same name. From literature to painting to playwriting, artists dared to explore emotional extremes and dark discomfort; for Haydn, it led to his first symphonies constructed in minor keys.

The Symphony No. 49 was among Haydn’s earliest minor-key symphonies, and it is arguably his darkest. Instead of the usual order of movements, this F-minor symphony begins with a devastating Adagio in F minor, a practice in line with the older “church sonatas” that arranged the movements slow-fast-slow-fast. A rather fast second movement continues in the same key of F minor, its theme marked by aggressive leaps and driving counterpoint. The key persists for the Menuet third movement, at least until the contrasting trio section in F major provides the symphony’s only substantial relief. The brisk, throbbing finale confirms this symphony’s F-minor fate.

This symphony’s nickname, “The Passion,” did not come from Haydn, and there is no indication that the symphony had any religious connection other than a performance during Holy Week in 1790 that advertised “La passione.” Another early source labels this symphony “Il quakuo di bel’humore” (“The Waggish Quaker”), which puts a completely different sheen on this symphony’s musical mood. If accurate, it suggests that Haydn may have originally created this music for the stage, to accompany a popular satire featuring a pious Quaker character. In that version of history, Haydn’s over-the-top emotions would have played as comedy, not tragedy!

Aaron Grad ©2017

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George Tsontakis

George Tsontakis

O Mikros, O Megas (This Tiny World, This Enormous World) for String Orchestra (SPCO Commission)

My title, O Mikros, O Megas was inspired by the opening lines of Axion Esti, by the great contemporary Greek poet, Odysseas Elytis: “Aftos O Kosmos, O Mikros, O Megas” (This tiny world, this enormous world). There are no direct literal connections to the words, only the feeling of the intended ambiguity; certainly no superficial dynamic nor density parallels. In fact, it is to me that within the quietest and most inwardly moments of the work, the world seems to fully impose its power and enormity. At the same time, the figurative “flip-side” of my work's title could well be “This tiny fleeting life, this huge eternal life” – a reflection on recent world circumstances including the tumbling world, loss of friends and my own personal advancement into the foothills of an ageless maturity.

Thinking and hearing into the sonic qualities and potentials of the string orchestra, my creative and inward sensibilities seemed to eschew many “fast and loud” possibilities for those of quietude and grace. I fought with this tendency, frankly, during the word's composition, however, in the end, textures of long, quietly floating tensions won out, for the most part. There are faster movements among the four and imploding episodes, but the heart and largeness of the work are made manifest in the second and last. All movements end quietly and the last, with my most preferred ending, a “dot dot dot” figure. In fact, in the score, the performers are given the option of repeating the final phrase for as long as desired, until the “end” of the work is felt.

George Tsontakis ©2016

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra

Eunice Kim, violin
Hyobi Sim, viola

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sinfonia concertantes blend the style of the Classical solo concerto with the instrumental configurations of earlier Baroque orchestral works, such as George Frideric Handel’s concerto grossi and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg concertos. Scored for two solo instruments — the violin and viola — and oboes, horns, and strings, this piece was inspired during Mozart’s visit to Paris. Concerto-like works for a group of two or more solo instruments and orchestra were quite popular in Mannheim and Paris, leading Mozart to compose several such works in the late 1770s and early 1780s.

The Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra was likely written in late 1779. Although we have surviving documentation detailing the premieres of many of Mozart’s other works, all information about who he wrote this particular piece for and who may have first performed it remains speculative. Contemporary scholars place it stylistically in the early part of Mozart’s middle period. While it is the culmination of his writing for solo strings, it demonstrates musical characteristics of his more youthful works.

This piece is divided into three movements that alternate between fast and slow tempos. The viola, an instrument which is often somewhat overlooked in music from this time period, plays an especially important role as both a soloist and a member of the orchestra. Mozart creates a rich harmonic texture and full orchestral timbre by dividing the orchestral violas into two separate parts. Additionally, the solo viola part is written in D major, while the remainder of the parts are in E-flat major. Thus, the viola is to be tuned one half step higher than usual, a technique called scordatura. This increases the brilliance of the solo viola’s sound.

The grand first movement begins with an opening tutti section made up of six contrasting melodic themes, and the solo passages add an additional five themes. The development section of the first movement is unusually based on a significant amount of new material, rather than being derived from the opening themes. The Andante second movement portrays a profound sense of tragic power. The work concludes with a brisk and triumphant Presto movement, which features horn calls and alternations of thematic material between the winds and strings.

Paula Maust ©2022

About This Program

Approximate length 2:00

Hear the full spectrum of the SPCO’s skills as an unconducted ensemble on a program that stretches from Classical to contemporary. Haydn’s Symphony No. 49 is a prime example of his emotional and evocative Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) symphonies. George Tsontakis’s reflection on recent turbulence in the world was a 2016 SPCO commission. Finally, SPCO musicians Eunice Kim and Hyobi Sim are the soloists and leaders for Mozart’s most masterful example of a hybrid symphony plus concerto, written when the prodigy composer was touring Europe at the age of 23.