For this week, of course, I listened to the sole piano concerto by von Henselt (or does one just say "Henselt?) -- and I gotta say right up front, the work is full of sound and fury. I don't mean to imply that the concerto "signifies nothing," for it is quite a work with a great deal of virtuosic fireworks for the pianist, but it is no overstatement to say that this work is full of sound and fury. The full orchestra opens the first movement with three decisive and dramatic chords, as if you're entering at the climax of some film noir drama -- like coming into "Double Indemnity" just when Walter Neff is confronting Phyllis Dietrichson at her home near the end of the movie. Almost two and a half minutes into the piece, the piano enters with the same overly-dramatic chords, and the piece takes off. The piece was written in the mid-1840s and was premiered by Clara Schumann herself in 1844, but not published until 1847. The work is in three movements: 1. Allegro patetico – Religioso – Reprise 2. Larghetto 3. Allegro agitato When researching this piece, I found an interesting site with the clever name "Fugue for Thought." That blogger's comments on the concerto are HERE. The blogger notes that the piece is "hard, and uncomfortable, and challenging, and even to the ear, sounds incredibly virtuosic, to say nothing of the …. ergonomics or execution." True, one cannot accuse Henselt of being austere or spartan when it comes to composition. No minimalist, he. If there are four beats to a measure, put in not four notes or eight, but sixteen or thirty-two. Then spice it up with grace notes and trills, mordents, turns and other embellishments. If there's space in the measure, then blacken it with notes and more notes. The blog I cited above mentions that the "first movement is really everything… everything you could want in a piano concerto. There is roar and fire from the piano, but also breathtaking Romantic melodiousness and expression" -- but oddly enough, in the final six bars (and ten seconds) of the first movement, Henselt returns to the opening chords but shifts from F Minor to F Major. It's an abrupt but resounding deep breath of optimism in a final "TA DAH!" It's a bit bewildering.
The second movement is lush and somewhat reminiscent of works by Rachmaninoff -- just not as enduring (hence his place on the list of "underrated composers"?). The pyrotechnics return in the third movement as the pianist races the orchestra to the end. It's all very dramatic, but perhaps a bit "too." I'm sure it's a fun piece to play, though. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Henselt's work. I just wouldn't include the piece were I to compile a list of favorite piano concertos.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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