Sonata No.7 in B-flat Major, Opus 83

The June 22, 1941, Nazi bombing attack against the Soviet Union had a tremendous impact on the Soviet people. Prokofiev was affected by the patriotic fervor sweeping the country, and he immediately discontinued all current compositional projects to begin a symphonic suite entitled The Year 1941 and an opera based on Tolstoy’s epic War and Piece. The composer wrote in his essay “The Artist and the War”: ”The whole Soviet people rose to the defense of their native land. Everyone wanted to do his bit without delay. We composers at once began writing songs and marches of the heroic type, that is, music that could be sung at the front. I wrote twosongs and a march, and turned to the idea I had been nursing for some time of writing an opera on the subject of Leo Tolstoy’s great novel, War and Peace. The pages describing THE STRUGGLE OF THE Russian people against the Napoleonic hordes in 1812 and the expulsion of Napoleon’s army from Russian soil had somehow a particular poignancy at this time.” The opera would serve to rally Prokofiev’s countrymen during the present siege.

Despite valiant opposition, the Nazi threat on Moscow intensified, prompting the Arts Committee to order prominent artists and musicians, including Prokofiev, to leave the city for their own protection. Stopping temporarily at Nalchik in the Caucasus, the company continued on to Tbilisi, the capital of the Georgian republic. Prokofiev completed his two patriotic works and the Sonata No.7 in 1942, a work whose musical material originally was sketched in 1939. This piece became the second of his so-called “war trilogy” piano sonatas. Sviatoslav Richter presented the work in Moscow on January 18, 1943; it was the first sonata that was not given its premiere by the composer. Prokofiev later was awarded a Stalin Prize for this composition.

Sonata No.7 in B-flat Major contains some of Prokofiev’s most uncompromisingly dissonant writing, although there are memorably lyrical moments as well. The Allegro inquieto movement commences with a nearly atonal melody in 6/8 time. A slower theme in 9/8 time, marked “expressive and sorrowful”, offers character contrast. The rapid tempo returns in the development, out of which grows the recapitulation. Prokofiev restates his slower second theme in a condensed form.

The slow movement opens with a warm-hearted theme cast in the triple meter of popular 19^th-century piano music. An expressive second theme begins with a steady unison melody, gradually becoming more animated. The opening theme returns briefly.

Although the final movement is the shortest of the three, its irregular 7/8 meter, non-stop rhythmic motion and strident harmonies create an exciting climax to the sonata. Its initial idea is built on an insistent ostinato bass pattern and syncopated chords. The central section breaks from the repeated motive, presenting figuration in the high register. Electrifying material from the beginning concludes the movement.

 

 

♫ Read the text and say what other famous orchestras you know. Give some facts from their history.

 

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

In its second century, the Chicago Symphony enjoys an enviable position in the music world. Performances are greeted with enthusiasm both at home and abroad. Best-selling recordings continue to win prestigious international awards, and syndicated radio broadcasts are heard by millions nationwide.

In September 1991, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began a new collaboration with Daniel Barenboim, who assumed leadership as its ninth music director. Barenboim’s tenure has been distinguished by highly praised productions of the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas, virtuoso appearances with the Orchestra in the dual role of pianist and conductor, and seven international tours. The most recent, completed in June 1997 in Leipzig and Cologne, Germany, was greeted by extraordinary audience and critical acclaim. In March 1995, Pierre Boulez was named the Orchestra’s third principal guest conductor.

The Orchestra’s 106-year history began in 1891 when Theodore Thomas, then the leading conductor in America and a recognized music pioneer, was invited by Norman Fay, a Chicago businessman, to establish a symphony orchestra here. Thomas’s aim to establish a permanent orchestra with performance capabilities of the highest quality was realized at the first concerts on October 16 and 17 of that year. Maestro Thomas served as music director for 13 years until his death in 1905—just three weeks after the dedication of Orchestra Hall, the Chicago Orchestra’s permanent home.

Thomas’s successor was Frederick Stock, who began his career in the viola section in 1895 and became assistant conductor four years later. His tenure at the Orchestra’s helm lasted 37 years, from 1905 to 1942 – the longest of Chicago’s nine music directors.

Dynamic and innovative, the Stock years saw the founding of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the best training orchestra in the United States affiliated with a major symphony orchestra, in 1919. He also established youth auditions, organized the first subscription concerts especially for children, and began a series of popular concerts.

Three distinguished conductors headed the Orchestra during the following decade: Desire Defauw was music director from 1943 to 1947; Artur Rodzinski assumed the post in 1947-48; and Rafael Kubelik led the Orchestra for three seasons from 1950 to 1953.

The next ten years belonged to Fritz Reiner, whose recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are still considered performance hallmarks. It was Maestro Reiner who invited Margaret Hillis to form the Chicago Symphony Chorus in 1957. During this time Carlo Maria Giulini began to appear in Chicago regularly; he was named principal guest conductor in 1969 and served in that capacity until 1972. The second principal guest conductor in the Orchestra’s history was Claudio Abbado, who held the position from 1982 to 1985. For the five seasons from 1963 to 1968, Jean Martinon held the position of music director.

Sir Georg Solti, the Orchestra’s eighth music director, served from 1969 until 1991. He now holds the title of music director laureate, and as such returns for several weeks each season. Maestro Solti’s arrival in Chicago launched one of the most successful musical partnerships of our time. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first international tour came in 1971 under his direction, and subsequent European tours as well as tours to Japan and Australia have reinforced its reputation as one of the world’s finest musical ensembles.

Radio broadcasts and recordings are an important part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s activities. Full-length concerts, taped at Orchestra’s Hall and the Ravinia Festival, are broadcast over 200 stations across the country under the sponsorship of Amoco Corporation, with Chicago-area broadcasts sponsored by The Northern Trust Bank, United Airlines and the Amoco Corporation.

Since 1916, when the Chicago Symphony became the first American orchestra to record under its regular conductor, the Orchestra has amassed a discography numbering over 900 recordings. Recordings by the Orchestra have earned 53 Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, including several Classical Album of the Year honors as well as a number of Best Classical Performances in the orchestral, choral, instrumental and vocal soloist, and engineering categories.

 

 

♫ Read the following text. Be ready to discuss it.

So Very Young

When you are very young, there are many things that you are not expected to know or be able to do. Most of us take many years to learn complicated things like composing music or playing a musical instrument. Some people don’t take as much time as others, however. When someone learns something difficult and can do it well at a very early age, we say that a person is prodigy.

There have been many musical prodigies. Wolfgang Mozart is probably the most famous example. He composed music at the age of four and began performing in public when he was only five. By the time composer Camille Saint-Saens was 10 years old, he had memorized all 32 of Beethoven’s sonatas!

There are still many prodigies in the world of music. Violinist Sarah Chang was performing with orchestras in Philadelphia when she was only five. Now 16 years old, she performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Cellist Hai-Ye Ni made his first recording when she was 10 years old. Pianist Jonathan Gilad entered the conservatory to study music when he was only eight. And pianist Alicia de Larrocha has been performing for over 65 years. She gave her first public performance at the age of six.

There’s no minimum age for playing music. If you love it, you’re never too young to begin.

 

What is your opinion about prodigy children? Is it normal? Can any child be a genius?

 

 

♫ If you’ve ever had a question about anything having to do with classical music (and no doubt most of us have had plenty), one way to get first-rate answers is to surf to CultureFinder’s website on the Internet (http://www.culturefinder.com or at AOL Keyword: CultureFinder) and ask David Hurwitz, their official Classical Music Answer Wizard.

 

Classical Music Answer Wizard

I would like to know what chamber music is.

Chamber music means, essentially, any music using few enough instruments so as to be playable in a small room. This means anything not written for orchestra or chorus, more or less, including music for solo piano, sonatas for various combinations of instruments, trios, string quartets, quintets, songs with piano or guitar accompaniment, etc. However, it’s important to remember a couple of things. First of all, the difference between chamber and orchestral music is not clear in the Baroque period (1600 to 1760 or so), because all so-called “art” music that was not played in churches took place in the large homes and palaces of the nobility. Thus, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.6, for example, which we consider to be an orchestral work, technically only requires seven players, though this is a minimum.

One of the great writers on music, Sir Donald Francis Tovey, proposed a somewhat different definition that makes a lot of sense. In his view, chamber music is anything written for an instrument or group of instruments in which each part is necessary and independent, and requires nothing beyond the single instrument that plays it. This definition leaves out true orchestral music, like a symphony, for example, where 20 violinists may all be playing the same thing. It also leaves out the Bach mentioned above, where seven players is a minimum, but more would be better, and does no harm to the music itself. Tovey’s definition is also useful because it implies that the music written for a chamber ensemble, whatever its components, must also be somewhat special.

This brings up the second point, which is: just because the number of instruments is small, that doesn’t mean that the music is either short, trivial or lighter than orchestral music. In fact, the opposite is more often true. Chamber music is frequently more formally varied, longer and grander in scale than orchestral music. The reasons for this are several: (1) An orchestra can make a big statement in a very short span of time using huge contrasts in volume, or instrumental color. Chamber music has more limited resources in this respect, so if a composer wants to emphasize a particular tonality, or rhythm, he’ll probably dwell on it longer to give it time to make an impression. (2) Chamber music audiences, being smaller than orchestral audiences, tend to be more musically educated, and expect a more sophisticated and extended musical statement. (3) Practically speaking, composers often reserve their biggest and most experimental ideas for chamber music because, economics being what it is, they can never be sure of getting an orchestra together to play their music. A single piano or string quartet presents less a problem, and if a composer is also a performer, he can play himself, or with a couple of friends.

So there are essentially two components to the definition “Chamber Music” as we use the term today. One involves the instrument or instruments which perform the music, and the other the type of music written for these performers to play. As you listen to chamber music in practice, you will develop a sense of how this style sounds. I don’t usually do this, but I devote a whole chapter in my book Beethoven or Bust to this topic. You may purchase it through CultureFinder, and along with the discussion there is a recommendation of some music to listen to. If you are really interested, I suggest you start there.

-- Dave

 

 

¯ Divide into two groups and read the texts “The New Music”. Then answer the questions that follow and be ready to supplement each other.