Music Chamber

Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) Serenade in E major Op 22

Moderato ~ Tempo di Valse ~ Scherzo: Vivace ~ Larghetto ~ Finale: Allegro vivace

 

 

Dvorak combined the classical tradition of German Romanticism with elements of his native folksong. In 1875 he wrote the Serenade in just twelve days. The piece is filled with rich sonorities and sentimentality verging on melancholy. Dvorak often employed two or three differing rhythms simultaneously in the same passage. This occurs in the first movement when the first violins play an ornamented eighth and two sixteenth note melody, while the second violins add ascending eighth notes, as the cellos skip in an ascending octave pattern. The dance-like rhythm keeps the texture alive, although the passage becomes softer. The second movement is a waltz and trio, which is like a mazurka in structure. Dvorak uses hauntingly beautiful melodies that are emotionally charged. Movement three is a scherzo that makes use of frequent imitation. The rhythmic verve provides the movement with sparkle. The middle section is melodic, but in the accompaniment there are many rhythmic figures used simultaneously. In contrast to the scherzo, the fourth movement begins introspectively and is like a reflective romanza. It has a wide dynamic range with multiple and florid rhythms in the melodic lines and rich harmonic sonorities, which all create a sweeping emotional message. In the last movement, the vibrant accented rhythms, often heard in imitation, are like the fiery Czech dance the furiant. The dotted rhythm that drives the movement is an example of the Lombardic rhythm of which Dvorak was fond.

 

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Serenade No 2 in A Op 16

Allegro moderato ~ Scherzo. Vivace - Trio ~ Adagio non troppo ~ Quasi menuetto - Trio ~ Rondo. Allegro

 

 

Brahms scored this, his second Serenade for Orchestra, for just double woodwind (plus a piccolo which plays only in the Finale), two horns, violas, cellos and basses. With no violins to give out or double thematic statements, almost all the principal melodies are assigned to the wind, and the violas are used with unusual freedom. The closely-knit first movement seems to grow organically from the initial statement of the first subject. There is no repeat of the exposition, instead Brahms feigns one by opening the development with a restatement of the first subject in the tonic. There follows a brief and uninhibited Scherzo in the manner of a fast country dance. The other dance movement in the work is the fourth, marked 'Quasi Menuetto', - delicate and pensive. These two movements enclose the Serenade's chief glory; the central Adagio non troppo, which is among the most poetic things that Brahms was ever to write. The movement is an elaborately worked-out ternary form, full of contrapuntal ingenuity, with a somberly dramatic central episode. But what stays in the memory is the shadowed, introspective lyricism, suffused with more than a hint of tragedy. The work ends with a good-humoured Rondo with a march-like main theme, in which the bright clear timbre of the piccolo plays an important part.

 

Blaze Ensemble was established in 1997 and aims to give high quality chamber music concerts featuring a diverse range of works: from the baroque to the contemporary and popular mainstream repertoire through to the less familiar. It draws on a mix of professional and non-professional players from in and around London to perform from trios to large ensemble chamber works. The name derives from the group's association with the music production company, Blaze Music.