1968 LP text:
The Violin Concerto is one of the most famous instrumental works by Alban Berg (1885–1935), composed in the year of his death and his final composition. Alongside the renowned opera "Wozzeck" (1917–1922) and the "Lyric Suite" for string quartet (1926), Berg's Violin Concerto is a crucial link in the series of deeply tragic and lyrical works by the artist.
The genesis of the concerto is closely tied to Berg's profound personal grief over the untimely death of 18-year-old Manon Gropius, daughter of Alma Mahler (the widow of the great Mahler, for whom Berg harbored not only friendly feelings but also reverence throughout his life) and her second husband, the renowned architect Gropius. On the title page of the concerto's score, Berg made a poignant inscription: "To the memory of an angel." This girl, afflicted with tuberculosis, full of youthful charm, still brimming with childlike enthusiasm and joy at discovering the world, deeply impressed and inspired the famous conductor Bruno Walter (also a friend of the Mahler family), who dedicated a touching passage to her in his memoirs. Evidently, she was indeed a poetic being. Knowing Berg's extraordinarily sensitive, receptive, and "troubled" soul, it is not hard to understand why her death was perceived by him as a manifestation of the tragic injustice in human fate.
The concerto's vivid emotionality and psychological intensity are rooted both in the art of late Romanticism and in the expressionist art that flourished in Vienna's artistic life in the 1920s and 1930s.
Among the circumstances contributing to the concerto's creation, one should note the role played by the violinist Louis Krasner, who was not only the first performer of the concerto but also, to some extent, its inspirer and even consultant, a co-author "in terms of virtuosity."
The concerto's two movements clearly reveal the composer's artistic intent. It should be noted that Alban Berg, who already composed slowly and painstakingly, searched long and hard for the form and composition of his new work, as the programmatic nature significantly influenced the process of organizing the musical material. These searches did not provide the desired satisfaction for the artist, who made it his creative "super-task" to overcome the contradiction between the spontaneity of emotions and the rationality of constructions. Such problems were posed to him by his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg; they run like a red thread through all the works of the artists of the so-called "Second Viennese School" (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, and others). In Berg's Violin Concerto, these problems find one of their most interesting and least dogmatic solutions. Precisely because adherence to the principles of serial organization of sound material and dodecaphony in Berg's concerto is relatively free, the lyrical element in it overcomes the constraints of artificially imposed "laws of composition," and Berg succeeds in creating music that is remarkably sincere, inspired, and expressive, despite the usual abundance of dissonances.
The first movement (Andante. Allegretto) embodies the charming image of youth, girlhood, and the bright dreams of a young being about happiness. The concept of this movement is akin to the idea of "Juliet the Girl" in Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet."
The concerto opens with an introduction, written with astonishing delicacy and strictness. The finest "crystal" droplets seem to be strung on an invisible orchestral thread: these sounds form a specific series and immediately introduce the harmonic atmosphere of the work.
The subsequent narrative is filled with romantic tenderness and enthusiasm, imbued with the spirit of cloudless perception. Into the musical fabric, the rhythms and intonations of waltzes are subtly interwoven – a reflection of the everyday life of "merry Vienna," Berg's hometown. Overall, the radiant mood of the first movement remains unshadowed, and the lyrical atmosphere prevails until the end.
The world of images in the second movement (Allegro. Adagio) is divided by the composer into two spheres, which he defined as "catastrophe" (the beginning) and "liberation from death, enlightenment" (the end). From the very beginning, the breath of impending dramatic events is felt. The tragedy of death inexorably approaches. In the second section of this movement, the composer introduces the melody of Bach's funeral chorale: "Es ist genug" (the first four notes of the chorale theme coincide with the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th notes of the basic series). Sometimes the chorale motif counterpoints the lyrical-tragic outpourings of the solo violin. Occasionally, reminiscences of waltz intonations arise, but now they sound sad and lonely...
The concerto concludes with music full of lyrical enlightenment. The composer seems to strive to overcome dramatic, sorrowful emotions, dissolving them in the lyrical element.
Victor Delson
The violin concertos of W.A. Mozart hold a central place in his rich and diverse violin oeuvre. Composed during his tenure as a violin soloist and concertmaster in Salzburg, these works were created when Mozart was not only a leading virtuoso on the keyboard but also a remarkable violinist.
Mozart's violin concertos belong to the early period of his creative work. In 1775, the nineteen-year-old composer wrote five violin concertos one after another, and in 1777, he composed a sixth concerto.
Through these works, Mozart established the form of the classical instrumental concerto. Characteristic features of Mozart’s concertos include tender and agile lyricism, the brilliance of improvisation, capricious and whimsical changes of musical episodes, elegance, and clarity of composition.
Concerto No. 5 in A major is the last in the series of violin concertos composed by Mozart in 1775.
The first movement (Allegro aperto) begins with a powerful orchestral chord that seems to give an initial push. Against the backdrop of a smoothly "rustling" motion (tremolo of the second violins and violas), sharp, staccato, clear notes (in the first violins) scatter, seamlessly transitioning into a graceful and playful secondary theme. Suddenly, the orchestral introduction is interrupted by a "poetic digression" – an expressive melody by the solo violin, accompanied by a delicate, intricate accompaniment from the first and second violins (the Adagio episode). Only after a prolonged general pause does the soloist present the main theme of the first movement – energetic, full of enthusiasm and zest.
The second movement (Adagio) is marked by the emotional intensity of the music. The instrumental melody in Mozart's hands gains a depth and strength, enabling it to convey infinitely subtle and diverse emotional movements.
The third movement (Tempo di Menuetto), written in rondo form, is one of Mozart's most original creations. The rondo theme, entrusted to the solo violin, is graceful and delicate, with traits of coquettish refinement typical of the era of wigs, curls, and hoops. This theme is replaced by an Allegro episode in a duple meter, characterized by the "stomping" rhythms of a lively folk dance. All traces of refined sophistication disappear. It is as if the violin has passed from the hands of a dance master to a folk improviser, and the music, escaping the aristocratic salon, resounds in the open, free spaces.
The folk dance abruptly halts, and the minuet theme reappears, bringing the listener back to the ambiance of the gallant "rococo" style.
Israel Yampolsky
