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econciliation to resignation-and all
of these experienced not just once, but
repeatedly. The circular nature of this
chain of emotions prompted me to
cast the music as a cycle which stops
(rather than concludes) at the point
where it started and might very well
begin allover again.
The decision to use only percussion
for the accompaniment was made
primarily to avoid any specific
historical connotations; like the
human voice, percussion instruments
can be both ancient and modern, a
quality of timelessness they share
with Catullus' poetry which, two
thousand years before Freud, was
examining the thin line that separates
love from hate and the perplexing
ambiguities of those passions.
- Dominick Argento
Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52
by Johannes Brahms
At thirty-six years of age Johannes
Brahms made the decision to call
Vienna his home, despite tempting
offers of secure music positions in
Germany. As if to affirm his spiritual
affinity to Austria's "City of Dreams,"
he composed eighteen stylized waltz
songs - Vienna's earmark! Composed
on texts of Friedrich Daumer, the
songs describe the ups and downs of
love in both folk-like convention and
nature imagery. But unlike a song
cycle, the pieces display no tight-knit
organization or progression. Instead,
they are short masterpieces of melodic
invention, chromatic harmony, and
rhythmic shifts all set to three-quarter
time.
Brahms provides contrast
throughout by varying the ensemble
with solos, songs for men and then
women only, and inventive piano
accompaniments. Worthy of any
Strauss waltz, Brahms' songs capture
the alluring, arched melodies and coy
harmony of Viennese popular music,
while exhibiting his own highly
developed penchant for rhythmic and
linear complexity. Uncharacteristically,
Brahms expressed real satisfaction with
these songs. They were so successful,
he composed another set (op. 65) in
1874.
- Alice Hanson
Liebeslieder Polkas
by P.D.g. Bach
The Liebeslieder Polkas is the first
opus of P.D.g. Bach's to be discovered
in which he inflicted his music on the
work of well-known poets, or even
known poets for that matter. The fact
that all the poets represented are
English leads one to surmise that
P.D.g.'s drinking companion
Jonathan"Boozey" Hawkes had
something to do with instigating the
piece; Hawkes eventually married
P.D.g. 's cousin Betty-Sue Bach and
returned to his native Liverpool,
where the two of them spent their
senility publishing most of the
unmourned composer's vocal music.
As far as observing the integrity of
these already-famous poems is
concerned, P.D.g.'s attitude ranges
from indifference to contempt. Some
of the poems are set complete, others
are rather haphazardly cut, some
contain completely spurious
interpolations, and in one case - Ben
Jonson's beloved "Song to Celia" -
the poem has been extensively
rewritten to reflect the composer's
besotted Weltanschauung.
A word about the fifth hand in the
piano part; when Brahms wrote his
Liebeslieder Waltzes (in obvious
imitation of P.D.g. Bach, but, as
usual, without giving the earlier
composer any credit) he scored the
accompaniment for piano four hands;
by adding a third person at the piano
P.D.g. not only expanded the range of
the accompaniment, but he also made
sure that there was always one hand
free for turning pages. Or, to look at it
another way, he made life much more
interesting for the page-turner.
- Professor Peter Schickele
19