Festival of Classical Music

The second meeting of the Festival of Classical Music course was held at the Knysna Hope building in Church Street, Knysna, on 7 November 2024 and presented by Dr François de Villiers.

Here is a summary of the meeting:

Festival of Classical Music - The Classical Era 

Thursday, 7 November 2024

At the first meeting (October 2024) we got acquainted with the Baroque period in classical music, from ca. 1600 to 1750. The word is derived from a Portuguese word which means an irregularly shaped pearl. In the musical context Baroque is not very precise suggesting an ornate, rather theatrical style. Much of the music was polyphonic, in other words several independent voices. By contrast monophonic means a single voice and homophonic means one melodic voice supported by the other voices as subordinate harmonic support. 

The Classical Era, from the mid 18th to the mid-19th century (ca. 1750-1820), followed in reaction, and exemplified clarity, moderation, simplicity, balance and restraint.  In the arts and architecture the era is called the neo-classical period, and it harks back to the Graeco-Roman style of art and architecture. 

We made the acquaintance of Emmanuel Bach, who was Sebastian Bach’s second son and far more famous than his father. He wrote in the Style galant, music of a sentimental character.  He wrote a famous textbook of keyboard playing, and introduced his father, who had previously only played the harpsichord, to the piano. We listened to several pieces of music all of which (and more) are noted on the separate discography. This is also the case with the other composers that we dealt with.

We learned that Christoph Willibald Gluck was an important composer of Operas, in fact he modernized the Opera. 

Franz Joseph Haydn was born 24 years before Mozart.  He modernized a great deal of classical music. He is known as the father of sonata form. Sonata form is a more sophisticated type of ternary form (A-B-A’) of a musical movement. After Haydn, virtually all composers use sonata form in some of their works. He also modernized the symphony and the string quartet, popularizing them as four movement works, starting with a fast movement usually in sonata form, a slow second movement, a third movement in triple time as a menuet and trio, and a fast final movement. He is accordingly also known as the father of the symphony as well as the father of the string quartet. He wrote 104 symphonies, the last 12 for performance in London. He also wrote more than 80 string quartets, and many other works for chamber groups. He also wrote Oratoria, most notably Creation.

Luigi Boccherini was born 13 years before Mozart. He was a cello virtuoso and famous throughout Europe. He wrote more than 10 cello concerti, and a menuet by him (op11 no5) is very popular.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), was born 6 years after Sebastian Bach’s death. He was precocious and hugely talented. His 7 mature operas are still extremely popular;  they include the Marriage of Figuro, Don Giovanni, the Abduction from the Seraglio and the Magic Flute. He wrote 41 symphonies throughout his career; the last three of them are his greatest works in this genre. He wrote many concertos, 21 for piano, five for violin and four for the French Horn, as well as a beautiful concerto for flute and harp. His last was the clarinet concerto which exemplifies his ripest compositional style. He wrote a great deal of chamber music including 23 string quartets - the last 10 of which are considered truly exceptional - and lighter works such as serenades, and a great deal of vocal music. One of his last vocal works was the Requiem which was a mysterious commission from an unknown person, according to his wife Constanze; she also claimed that he thought it was intended for his own funeral. He only completed the first two and a half of the 8 sections. It was completed by his student Süssmayr.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was born in Bonn 14 years after Mozart. When he moved to Vienna at the age of 22 Mozart had already died. In his earlier years his style is similar to that of Haydn and Mozart.  He was a piano virtuoso and wrote 32 piano sonatas and 5 piano concertos in all. From 1803 it was a very productive period; he wrote six symphonies including the third Symphony, the Eroica, the fifth symphony, with the well-known four-note motif, and the sixth symphony, the Pastorale.  He wrote only one opera Fidelio for which he had written four overtures; the first three called Leonora 1, 2 and 3 did not suit the Opera.  He also wrote other freestanding overtures eg Egmont and Corolianus. He wrote 16 string quartets of which the last five are his mature works. The string quartets number 13, 14 and 15 (Op 130, 131, & 132) are considered to be a set because he uses a similar cell motif. String quartet number 14 in C sharp major, opus 131, consists of seven movements, rather than the usual four. It was Beethoven's own favorite work. It was the last work that Schubert requested to hear before his own death. It has been called “the saddest of all works”. 

Franz Schubert (1797 to 1828) was born 41 years after Mozart. He was born and died in Vienna, the son of a school master, himself trained as a teacher, but gave up teaching for music. He composed more than 600 lieder (art songs).  His song cycle Winterreise is reckoned to be his best song cycle and also one of the best song cycles in all history. He wrote eight symphonies, 15 string quartets, a considerable amount of piano music and several operas and operettas. His piano quintet, the Trout quintet, contains a set of variations on the theme of the lied with the same name.

The Romantic Era which followed during the 19th century, had little to do with romantic love but more with outpourings of human emotion and the power of nature. In 2025 we will start with a discussion of the Romantic Era.

Discography: Classical Era

1.1 Bach (CPE)- Harpsichord Concerto in G Minor, Wq. 6, H. 409- I. Allegro

1.2 Bach (CPE)- Harpsichord Concerto in G Minor, Wq. 6, H. 409- II. Largo

1.3 Bach (CPE)- Harpsichord Concerto in G Minor, Wq. 6, H. 409- III. Allegro

1.4 Bach (CPE)- 12 Variationen_auf_die_Folie_d'Espagne Harpsichord

1.5 Bach (CPE)- 12 Variationen_auf_die_Folie_d'Espagne Piano

1.6 Bach (CPE)- Fantasia in F-sharp minor, H.300

1.7 Bach (CPE)- Solfeggio_in_C D Koomans Performed on the 1774 Hilgers organ of 'de

Boomkerk' in Amsterdam

1.8 Bach (CPE)- Magnificat in D major Wq. 215 H.772 I Magnificat anima mea Dominum

1.9 Bach (CPE)- Heilig - Nézet-Séguin Rundfunkchor Berlin - Berliner Philharmoniker

2.1 Gluck- Orfeo Ed Euridice - Dance Of The Blessed Spirits Flute&Harp

2.2 Gluck- Orfeo Ed Euridice - Dance Of The Blessed Spirits

2.3 Gluck- Orfeo ed Euridice, Wq. 30  Act III Che farò senza Euridice - Teresa Berganza

2.4 Gluck- Paride ed Elena, Wq. 39, Act I O del mio dolce ardor - Ellie Ameling

3.1 Haydn Symphony No 94 In G Major, 'Surprise'- Andante

3.2 Haydn - Die Schöpfung - Erster Teil - 2. Rezitativ mit Chor. Raphael, Uriel - 'Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde'

3.3 Haydn - ‘Emperor’ String Quartet Op 76 No 3. II Poco Adagio Cantabile - Amadeus Quartet

3.4 Haydn- Cello Concerto #1 In C, H 7B-1 - 1. Moderato, Cadenza

3.5 Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major III. Allegro (rondo) Tarkövi (trumpet) Berlin Phil · Minkowski

3.6 Haydn- Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-Flat, Hob. XVI 52 - I. Allegro

3.7 Haydn- Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-Flat, Hob. XVI 52 - II. Adagio

3.8 Haydn- Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-Flat, Hob. XVI 52 - III. Finale. Presto

4.1 Boccherini - Minuet from Quintet in E major - Minuetto - Trio

4.2 Boccherini- Cello Concerto In B Flat - 1. Allegro Moderato

4.3 Boccherini- Cello Concerto In B Flat - 2. Adagio Non Troppo

4.4 Boccherini - Cello Concerto No.9 in B Flat - Rondo- Allegro

5.1 Mozart Clarinet Concerto in a K622- II. Adagio

5.2 Mozart - Ave Verum Corpus (K. 618)

5.3 Mozart The Magic Flute Queen of Night – Damrau

5.4 Mozart- Horn Concerto #4 In E Flat, K 495 - 3. Rondo- Allegro Vivace

5.5 Mozart- Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Requiem Aeternam

5.6 Mozart- Requiem In D Minor, K 626 – Kyrie

5.7  Mozart- Exsultate, Jubilate, K 165 – Alleluia

5.8 Mozart- Piano Concerto #20 In D Minor, K 466 - 2. Romance

5.9 Mozart- Symphony #41 In C, K 551, 'Jupiter' - 1. Allegro Vivace

5.10 Mozart- Concerto For Flute & Harp, K 299 - 1. Allegro

5.11 Mozart- Concerto For Flute & Harp, K 299 - 2. Andantino

5.12 Mozart- Concerto For Flute & Harp, K 299 - 3. Rondeau- Allegro

5.13 Mozart- Oboe Concerto In C, K 314 - 1. Allegro Aperto

6.1 Beethoven- Piano Sonata #21 In C, Op. 53, 'Waldstein' - 1. Allegro Con Brio 

6.2 Beethoven- Piano Concerto No. 5 Emperor (Op. 73) – Rondo

6.3 Beethoven- Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 55, 'Eroica' - 1. Allegro Con Brio

6.4 Beethoven- Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 55, 'Eroica' - 2. Marcia Funebre

6.5 Beethoven- Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 55, 'Eroica' - 3. Scherzo

6.6 Beethoven- Symphony #3 In E Flat, Op. 55, 'Eroica' - 4. Finale- Allegro Molto

6.7 Beethoven- Egmont Overture, Op. 44

6.8 Beethoven- Concerto In C, Op. 56, 'Triple' - 1. Allegro

6.9 Beethoven- Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61 - 1. Allegro Ma Non Troppo

6.10 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo

6.11 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- II. Allegro molto vivace

6.12 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- III. Allegro moderato

6.13 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile

6.14 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- V. Presto

6.15 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante

6.16 String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131- VII. Allegro

6.17 Beethoven Chorfantasie Op80

7.1 Schubert- An Silvia, D 891

7.2 Schubert- Trinklied, D 888

7.3 Schubert- Piano Quintet In A, Op. 114, D 667, 'Trout' - 4. Andantino, Allegro

7.4 Schubert- 6 Moments Musicaux - 3. Allegro Moderato In F Minor

7.5 Schubert- String Quartet #13 In A Minor, Op. 29-1, D 804, 'Rosamunde' - 2. Andante