Concertino – 2

Composers will always be attracted to an intimate orchestral sound. At the early summer event of its Concertino series, the BFO will justify this contention with compositions from three distinct periods of music history. The program, with which the season comes to a close, will be framed by two arrangements of poems. In Summer Night, arguably his most popular instrumental work, Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck reacted to the cataclysm of World War II with a message of solidarity. Probably Schubert’s most effective chamber piece, the String Quartet in D minor, offers insight into the concept of death in the Romantic mind. Between the two works, the audience will be treated to a performance of Mozart’s only concerto composed from the outset for the flute. When one hears a piece of such charm, it can be difficult to believe that Mozart himself was not fond of the instrument. The soloist will be Gabriella Pivon, a prominent member of the orchestra, with the ensemble led by concertmaster Daniel Bard, a passionate advocate of chamber music performance.

In the spring of 1945, Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck, known primarily for his Lieder, was commissioned by the Bern Music Society to compose an orchestral work. First, he hesitated due to his poor health, but eventually he agreed, and the work flowed from his pen surprisingly quickly. The theme was recommended to him by Gisela, his twelve-year-old daughter, who was fond of a poem she had learned at school. The poem, by Swiss poet and novelist Gottfried Keller, tells of an ancient rural custom: on summer nights, the young men of a village help harvest the fields of those who are unable to do the work on their own. The pleasantly tonal three-part “pastoral intermezzo” presents scenes of arrival at the field, the nighttime harvest, and departure in the morning using numerous onomatopoeic gestures: we hear the sounds of crickets, fireflies, the silver shimmer of sickles, and the bird calls of dawn.

Three flute concertos and four flute quartets in just two months? Considering the pace at which Mozart usually composed, the commission from Dutch businessman Ferdinand De Jean seemed far from impossible. The ever-restless composer was distracted, however, by a passionate love affair, and furthermore, he didn’t even truly like the instrument. Eventually, he managed to complete two concertos and three quartets by the deadline. While the second of the two concertos is a reworking of an earlier oboe concerto, the one in G major is an original piece, where the flute shines despite every Mozart’s reservations and hesitations. This three-movement work is characterized by beautiful highs, expressive lows, showy cadenzas, and “simply great” solutions, featuring aria-like melodies, measured elegance, and a quiet ending that radiates modesty.

Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor, ending with Death striking abruptly and ruthlessly, belongs to a completely different world. In the poem by the German poet Matthias Claudius (which could hardly be called a masterpiece), Death attempts to convince a terrified girl that she has nothing to fear, promising her peaceful sleep in his arms. Schubert incorporated the musical theme and atmosphere of his own earlier song into his 1824 quartet. At the time, he was deeply preoccupied with his own mortality (though he only died four years later). The piece’s expansive slow movement presents the famous theme in five variations, with Death lingering in the demonic key of D minor, the aggressive gestures of the opening movement, the unexpected accents of the rhythmic scherzo, and the sweeping music of the finale, leading to its abrupt conclusion. The piece was arranged for strings by Mahler in 1896.