The three composers whose works we play in this concert of musical variations are united by one characteristic: they were all superb technicians of composition. Does this mean that their music isn’t fun to listen to? Not at all! It means that their music really “works” and will continue to give more and more enjoyment each time you hear it, for there will always be fresh aspects of it that you didn’t notice before. Britten and Ginastera were almost exact contemporaries, though from different parts of the world, while Pachelbel lived a quarter of a millenium before them, in a third country. Each of the pieces that we play is a set of variations on a theme. This is a very popular musical form, especially in a chamber music setting and, indeed, in jazz too. Whether or not the variations are improvised at the time of playing, or whether set down, such a form typically gives the performers a chance to make their own statement on the music. Other well-known orchestral themes and variations include Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Theme (“Twinkle twinkle little star”) and of course Ravel’s Bolero, although in this case there is no variation in the notes on each playing, only in the instrumentation.
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
In the 21st century, Pachelbel’s name is one of the best-known names amongst all composers. Yet the vast majority of music lovers know his name in connection with just one piece of music, the Canon in D, and most probably know precious little about the composer himself. Your writer is no exception.
In fact, and we really should not be surprised at this, Pachelbel was an important and influential organist and composer of his time.
He was born in Nuremburg, Franconia, in the then loosely-defined German Empire, though he spent much of his working life in the Thuringia region to the North. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 which ended the Thirty Years’ War, and which legitimized the Protestant faith in this area (not far from Martin Luther’s home), generated a great demand for sacred music settings in German instead of Latin. Pachelbel was therefore extremely busy creating music not only because he was contractually obligated but also presumably, given his large output of secular music, because he enjoyed it. Thuringia was also the home of the Bach family and, later, the adopted home of Goethe. Pachelbel was very close to Ambrosius Bach (father of Johann Sebastian), godfather to one of J.S.’s sisters, and teacher to brother J.C.
Having some familiarity with the Italian school of music gained from his first appointment, deputy organist of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Pachelbel was extremely innovative in his compositions. For example, he cultivated the use of fugues, gigues, and other secular devices in church music.
The three-part canon over a bass (also known as the Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Continuo), his most famous piece, is technically brilliant and equally pleasing to the ear. The bass, a two-measure “ostinato” (Italian for obstinate) or ground bass is the foundation of 28 variations. Above, the three violin parts sing in a relentless canon (first violin I, then violin II followed by violin III). Notice how the bass is built around three falling fourths (like the call of the cuckoo): D-A, B-F#, G-D and comes back to the tonic note (D) via two pairs of rising fourths: D-G, A-D. The fact that he uses only the four most closely related notes (F#,G,A,B) to the tonic, skipping the more tricky 2nd and leading notes (E and C#), makes it relatively easy for the violins to do just about anything related to the key of D and still fit in the harmony.
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Britten stands out as an example of that rarest of beasts: the British composer of operas. Not since Purcell, a contemporary of Pachelbel, and Handel, an expatriate German and contemporary of Bach, had such a creature existed. Britten himself was well aware of the oddity of the concept, but he had not only the determination, but also the talent to succeed. Several of his operas are regularly produced in the world’s leading opera houses, and by that measure he was undoubtedly successful. However, he did not limit himself to opera. Indeed, he wrote for many different forms and ensembles and applied himself to each with the same level of skill and dedication. My personal favorites are the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and the Nocturne.
He was born on St. Cecilia’s day, November 22nd, 1913 in Lowestoft in East Anglia, about as far East as it is possible to go within the British Isles. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music and the serendipity of Britten’s birth was not lost on his mother, herself a keen musician. He entered the Royal College of Music in 1930 and excelled there. His idols were at that time Mahler, Berg and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky. At the other end of the spectrum, Brahms, Elgar and, particularly, Vaughan-Williams represented to Britten everything that was bad in music.Nor did he take any care to conceal his opinions. After graduating, he got a job working on films for the government. In 1937, he met the tenor Peter Pears with whom he would form a partnership, both personal and professional, for the rest of his life. After a three-year sojourn in North America, especially New York, Britten and Pears returned to England in 1942 right in the middle of the war. It was then that he began in earnest his operatic career, beginning with Peter Grimes. During preparations for the production of Peter Grimes, he was asked by his old boss to write some music for a Ministry of Education film on the orchestra. He chose a rather good dance tune by Purcell – the Rondeau from the opera Abdelazar – for the theme and The Young Person’s Guide was born. The commentary is rather stiff by today’s standards but together they do an excellent job of showcasing not only the individual instruments of the orchestra but also, and this is its really great contribution, how to put them together. It may not have the same charm as Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, but its coverage is more comprehensive in terms of instrumentation. The concluding fugue in which all the instruments build up to a great climax with the main theme, is a tour de force. We are fortunate tonight in having a narrator, so it is unnecessary for me to add any further detail.
By way of a personal footnote, I discovered as I was researching the history of this piece that it was dedicated to the four children of John and Jean Maud. As it happens, although I never met any of the dedicatees themselves, I did get to know their parents, Lord and Lady Redcliffe-Maud, as they were by then. Music was a big part of their lives and they were good friends of Britten over a long period. Above all, they enjoyed life to the full and were tremendous fun to be with. So it seems to me very fitting that they were part of this very uplifting and family-oriented work.
Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alberto Ginastera was a gifted youngster who, like Britten, was pretty sure early on that he wanted to be a musician. After graduating from the National Conservatory of Music, his reputation grew and grew until he became not only one of the leading composers of Argentina, but also soon established himself as an important composer worldwide. He was a frequent traveler, especially to the U.S.A, though he lived most of his life in Argentina. His musical style was rooted in the “gauchesco” folk elements and nationalism of his native country. In the late 1950s, however, he developed a more avant-garde style that he retained for the rest of his life. The stability of his life in Argentina as a teacher and composer was broken more than once. Twice he was forced to resign important positions because of his opposition to the dictatorial government of Peron. In 1968, he left his homeland in order to teach at Dartmouth College and then moved to Switzerland in 1971 where he remained for the rest of his life.
His music has been well received here in the United States, and it is no small honor that two of his operas were chosen to inaugurate each of the opera houses at Lincoln Center in New York!
Symphony Pro Musica has often performed music from South America, including Ginastera’s Harp concerto (Op. 25) in November, 1990, as well as works by Brazilians Villa-Lobos, Fernandez, Jobim and others.
The Variaciones Concertantes for Chamber Orchestra were composed during one of Ginastera’s most productive periods and at a time when his international reputation was well established. The work is in twelve sections: the theme; an interlude for strings; seven variations for solo instruments (variations 4 and 5 are for pairs of instruments); a second interlude, this time for wind choir; a reprise of the theme; and finally a frenetic orchestral conclusion based on the “malambo”, a gaucho (cowboy) dance. The work contains musical allusions to the gauchesco guitar, particularly in the theme sections. So that you can have some fun identifying the instruments used in each of the solo sections, I have not named them here in the program. See our web site, www.symphonypromusica.org for the “solution”.
The "solution":