Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–4 · Seven Variations Op. 9 · Grande Polonaise
Seven Variations on the Aria “Vien’que dorina bella” Op. 7
Aufforderung zum Tanz Op. 65 · “Max” Waltz
Michael Endres, piano
Michael Endres has been awarded the “Choc de Musique” and the “Diapason d’Or” for his celebrated recordings of works by Franz Schubert and W.A. Mozart (OehmsClassics 253). Now he presents his new recording: piano works by Carl Maria von Weber.
The piano works
of Carl Maria von Weber
200 years after their creation Carl Maria
von Weber’s highly virtuosic and dramatic
piano works are still in the shadow of
his operas, despite these four piano sonatas
are among his longest works.
Weber’s own original musical language
is based on his early colourful romanticism
in combination with an effective dramatic
sense.This can be seen in his 1st Sonata
Opus 24, composed in 1814, which is one of
his most audacious and original compositions.
The four movements are – similar to Chopin’s
Sonata in b-flat minor Opus 35 – a group
of four heterogenous dramatic situations,
which hardly justify the term ‘sonata’.
The first movement can be seen as a model
for Weber’s unorthodox pianistic writing and
the constant change of scenery:
By using a highly virtuosic style including
using the complete range of the keyboard,
Weber creates a dramatic atmosphere
which nearly overextends the possibilities
of the instrument, as orchestral colours are
missing. The dramatic situations change
apruptly rather than develop in a homogenous
way.
In the slow movement finally a perfect
belcanto style is achieved.The aria style
opening and the orchestral culmination are
in harmony with each other.
The Scherzo surprises by being in e-minor
(after the F-major of the previous slow
movement) and also contains a Trio which
uses specific orchestral effects.
The fourth movement is of a special kind:
for many years it belonged to the standard
repertoire of the vituoso pianists of the early
20th century (being called “Perpetuum
Mobile”), and it is a restless, uninterruptedly
stormy piece, which was not designed
as an etude, but contatins lots of charme
and esprit.
After this experiment the Sonata in A-flat
major, opus 39, composed between 1814 -
1816 is a much more homogenous and romantically
charged work.
Far from the rebellious elan of the first
sonata one finds organic structure and atmospheric
images, despite some agitated
explosions in the middle section.
The slow movement is structured in a
more classical way, as the dramatic balance
between its sections is more coherent
and Weber doesn’t use dramatic extremes
here. Despite that the writing is again orchestral.
The Scherzo, an exalted virtuoso piece,
uses dark registers and an operatic melodic
line in the trio, without losing its dramatic
impetus.
The final movement asks to be played
“molto grazioso”. But it is not so much the
melodic quality but the eloquent musical
conversation which defines it. It characteristically
finishes in a pp fade-out.
These two contrasting designs of the
first two sonatas were to be combined in
the grandiose three-movement d-minor Sonata
Opus 49, which was composed 1816 in
Berlin.
Here Weber achieves a synthesis of classical
form and early romantic daemonic
qualities.
The two themes in the first movement
are clearly set apart in the traditional classical
sense.
The slow movement is a set of variations,
a musical form Weber was very fond of: he
composed ten sets of variations.
It is remarkable how skillfully Weber
manages to use the different registers of
the piano and how he interrupts, twice,
the variations: with a sombre tremolando
and a heroic fortissimo section. In the last
movement Weber demands the utmost virtuosity-
making almost unplayable demands
– but also one can observe an effective
structure by the introduction of a serenadestyle
second theme.
While the d-minor Sonata had already
distanced itself from the First Sonata with
its highly charged fantasy, the following
late Fourth Sonata in e-minor Opus 70, composed
in 1822, was a further step towards
concentration of form and content in combination
with a melancholic undercurrent.
Both main and second themes are of lyrical
character, only the development allows
for an explosive section, which stands in
sharp contrast to the general mood.
Surprisingly the second movement is
an extroverted Scherzo. This order makes
sense to constitute a dramatic contrast to
the melancholy of the first movement. Despite
writing in a brilliant style here Weber
demands in the restless middle section
“murmurando”, which generates a strange
diffuse effect.
The slow movement is true Weber: a
simple folk style tune, which is set in a more
restrained way than its predecessors. The
final prestissimo is an inspired and witty
dance, which makes one forget the more
elegiac mood of the first movement.
The two sets of variations presented
here show the theme in different dramatic
shades rather than contrapunctual or polyphonic
writing. In the Variations Opus 9,
composed in 1808. Weber closes the cycle
with an extended belcanto (‘singing’) variation,
which is much longer than the other
variations.
The importance of belcanto is shown
even more in the 7 Variations “Vien qua, Dorina
bella”, composed in 1807. Here Weber
notated the theme as a song, by separating
the top line from the accompaniment. It is
reported that he sang in performances that
very theme with a “voice capable of finest
shadings” (Jähns). The special charme of
this piece, the mysterious twilight of the
first variation and the enormous variety of
the final variation (an extended polacca)
makes this one of Webers early masterpieces.
In 1808 Weber composed the Grande
Polonaise in E-flat major, which shows his inclination
towards the splendoured and effective
dance style. A highly charged demonic
introduction creates a suitable contrast.
The famous “Aufforderung zum Tanz”
Opus 65, composed in 1819, shows more the
poetical idea behind a valse than the actual
dance. Weber wrote down a program for
this piece: from the first invitation to the
slight refusal of the dancer, then acceptance,
dance and finally a gracious farewell
at the end.
The Waltzes included on this disc are a
suitable addition to the charming quality
of this concert waltz, the only piano piece
which ever achieved a similar status among
audiences as Weber’s famous opera Der
Freischütz .
The four grand sonatas though are in oblivion,
and it can only be hoped that these
wonderfully audacious and pianistically
challenging works of the founder of romantic
opera will one day see a renaissance.
They deserve a place next to Schubert’s
completely different sonatas.
Michael Endres