Veronika Eberle -  Daniel Müller-Schott

BEDŘICH SMETANA (1824 ̶ 1884) finished writing the third symphonic poem Šárka from the cycle My Country in Prague, on the 20^th February 1875. Set between two countryside-inspired poems, Vltava and From Bohemian Fields and Groves, this overtly dramatic poem depicts a heroic folk tale about the maiden-warrior Šárka. The composition describes the main events of the tale and is particularly effective in reflecting the latent changes the heroes go through. Šárka’s character is clear from the first bars of the symphonic poem, just as the short motif of Ctirad, rising above the rhythmically charged and muted triplets, succinctly describes the character of a young warrior. From this motif develops an episode before the love-scene, with the clarinet representing Šárka and the cello representing Ctirad. This love scene is one of the most beautiful portrayals of love in music. In breath-taking beauty, the melody surges and the burning desire for love is almost palpable. After a sudden horrifying prediction of destruction (Šárka sounding a horn), Smetana inserted a woeful clarinet recitative – the voice of Šárka’s conscience - a late sorrow at Ctirad’s imminent death.  The poem’s finale is marked by the brutal sound of trombones calling for the death of Ctirad’s soldiers.  

The Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102,was the last orchestral piece composed byJOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897). The premiere took place on the 13^th October 1887 in Cologne am Rhein with the composer conducting and Joseph Joachim and Robert Hausmann as soloists.

The first movement, Allegro, is written in sonata form and after a short orchestral introduction the cello begins, later joined by the violin. Their unaccompanied dialogue creates an intimate, chamber-like atmosphere and the ideas hinted in this unusually early cadenza are developed by the orchestra into two main themes: the dramatic theme provided by tutti, and the second melodic theme played by the wood-winds and violins. This technically demanding first movement has remarkable solo passages and much imitation between the orchestra and soloists. The slow movement, Andante, with its stark simplicity, provides a strong contrast to the first movement. It is based on only one broad theme which is frequently played in parallel octaves by the two solo instruments. The virtuosic finale Vivace non troppo, similar to a rondo in form, is developed on three themes. The main theme has an almost comical character due to the constant changes in articulation from legato to staccato. The second theme’s hymn-like character is rather different to this comical main theme whilst the third theme belongs to the two soloists accompanied by the bassoons and clarinets.

There exists no other symphony so frequently played nor so popular amongst audiences across Europe, Japan, America and Australia as the Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’, Op. 95,byANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904). It was composedin America between October 1892 and spring 1895 whilst Dvořák was the Director of the National Conservatoire in New York. The themes he composed for this symphony belong undoubtedly to some of the most beautiful themes that his rich melodic imagination ever created.

A notable feature of the outer movements, Adagio. Allegro molto and Allegro con fuoco, is the way Dvořák captured the atmosphere of the busy city life, with its advance technologies and diverse people. The poetic mood of the second movement, Largo, depicts the image the composer had of pre-colonised America, an image partly influenced by the Longfellow epos The Song of Hiawatha, which he already knew from Sládek’s translation and whose charm also influenced the first and the last parts of the third movement, Scherzo, Molto vivace. The outline of the final movement is broadly based on a sonata form with three main themes, in to which Dvořák also incorporated themes from the whole symphony. The reprise is a shortened version of the exposition and it leads to an extended coda which uses the characteristic introductory chords of the second movement, eventually ending on an open E-major chord played by the wind instruments.