Andrew Wan / Charles Richard-Hamelin BEETHOVEN Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5

VIOLIN SONATAS Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5

 

Andrew Wan / Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal / Kent Nagano GINASTERA - BERNSTEIN - MOUSSA Works for Violin and Orchestra

WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA

 

OSM Chamber Soloists FRANZ SCHUBERT Octet in F major, D. 803

For the OSM Chamber Soloists, recording Franz Schubert’s Octet in F major, D. 803, was the logical next step after Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20. Indeed, many have remarked on the similarities between the two works, composed 25 years apart. Both use similar forces, with Schubert merely adding a second violin to Beethoven’s ensemble of violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, and horn; both have six movements connected by identical key relationships; and both feature a generally optimistic character. Given these resemblances and the Septet’s renown in early 19th-century Vienna – a popularity that even Beethoven himself found irritating – some musicologists have mused that Beethoven’s model was imposed upon Schubert by Count Ferdinand Troyer, a clarinettist who commissioned the work in February 1824.

In early 1824, Franz Schubert’s world began to change. The death of Ignaz Sonnleithner’s wife – in whose home many of the young composer’s works were premiered for a select group of music lovers – marked the end of a concert series that had started in 1816. Many of Schubert’s friends were leaving Vienna, either temporarily or for good, and (as Schubert wrote to his friend Schober) their younger replacements in Schubert’s reading circle were more interested in talking about “riding and fencing, and horses and dogs” than in literary themes, outnumbering those with more artistic sensibilities. In this rather solitary period, Schubert lost himself in work. As noted by the young artist Moritz von Schwind, an acquaintance of Schubert’s since 1821 whose friendship became closer during this time, “Schubert has for a time been working on an octet with the greatest enthusiasm. If you go and see him during the day he says ‘Hello. How are you? Well?’ and carries on writing, whereupon you leave.” And indeed, it would appear that the Octet was composed quite quickly, since it had been completed by March 1. (Florence Brassard)

Andrew Wan / Charles Richard-Hamelin BEETHOVEN Violin Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 8

In this first volume of the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), Andrew Wan and Charles Richard-Hamelin present the three opus 30 sonatas, which highlight three facets of the composer’s personality. While Sonata No. 6 shows Beethoven’s calmer side, Sonata No. 7 reveals a more tempestuous and tormented man, and the charming Sonata No. 8 displays a touch of humour.

Beethoven had been living in Vienna for about 10 years when he composed these three sonatas in 1802. Having made a name for himself as a pianist, piano teacher, and composer, he gradually began to focus on the latter endeavour, in particular by only performing his own works (or improvisations) in public starting in 1797. By the early 1800s, his renown was such that he was financially comfortable. “My compositions are very profitable, and I may really say that I have almost more commissions than it is possible for me to execute,” he wrote to his friend Franz Wegeler in June 1800. Beethoven also benefitted from the patronage of several important aristocrats, which only added to his financial security.

Despite this outward success, Beethoven was going through great inner turmoil at the time he composed these sonatas, mostly due to his increasing deafness. The first signs of his condition appeared in 1794 and gradually progressed until, seven years later, he could barely hear high frequencies at all, and his ears rang until late at night. To hide his hearing impairment, Beethoven isolated himself; and fearing he would not hear people’s answers, he avoided conversation. Thus, in addition to the psychological distress of losing his hearing, he also greatly suffered through his diminished involvement in society.

By the spring of 1802, Beethoven was quite dejected. On top of his hearing loss, he had had several professional setbacks, prompting his doctor to suggest a treatment of silence and solitude away from the cares of everyday life. So in late April he travelled to the quiet village of Heiligenstadt, north of Vienna, where he remained until the fall and finished, among other works, his Symphony No. 2 and the three opus 30 violin sonatas. (Florence Brassard)