groteske.pdf

Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Charpentier

When Jonathan Swartz commissioned me to write a quartet for two violins, cello, and piano " stipulating only that it should "feature the two violins equally, my mind immediately went back almost eighteen years, to 1989 and the Interlochen Arts Camp. That summer, I accompanied Jonathan and another violinist in a performance of J.S. Bach's Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, an experience I've never forgotten.

Although I considered adopting the form of Bach's masterpiece, I ultimately decided to write a theme and variations. It didn't take long to choose the perfect subject: Marc-Antoine Charpentier's exquisite Ritournelle from his cantata, In Nativitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum, a movement I've always greatly admired.
The piece first presents Charpentier's theme in its original form, then freely varies the material in a set of eleven variations, concluding with a rondo-scherzo that further develops and recapitulates all of the music. The variations are grouped in a three-part arch structure (4-3-4), each part separated by a cadential break, while the variations within each part flow smoothly, one into the next. Like a "Fantasy," the variations continuously reconsider Charpentier's theme, often discovering worlds unrecognizable from its baroque origins: Variation I turns the opening violin melody into a short rocking gesture that later evolves into an impressionistic cascade; Variation II gives prominence to a cello gesture taken from the middle of the theme; Variation III develops one of Charpentier's short canonic subjects into a pizzicato string accompaniment while the piano adds a rolled-chord melody drawn from a completely different part of the theme; and so on. The only clear unifying factor is that each variation borrows the ritournelle form of the original, with the two violins regularly switching parts to maintain equality and balance.

These Variations clearly reveal my eclectic musical influences: you're bound to hear Ravel, Prokofiev, Morricone, Mozart, Reich, Barber, Messaien, Adams, Sondheim, Harbison, Tchaikovsky, Saint-SaíŽns, and even the Funk Brothers. Of course, you'll also hear Bach - in perhaps the clearest and shortest homage - and Charpentier, from whose brilliant gem this whole piece emerged.

- Kieren MacMillan


Suite Opus 23, for 2 violins, cello, and piano

A child prodigy named partly in homage to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it is fitting that Erich Wolfgang Korngold found fame in Hollywood. Hailed as one of the great film composers of all time, the young Korngold - like Mozart - demonstrated a knack for musical drama through opera. Korngold's relocation to America because of the Nazi regime, along with the advent of the film industry, led to the symbiotic match that is ultimately responsible for his recognition today.
While Hollywood made the world aware of this brilliant composer, others trumpeted his gifts all along. Gustav Mahler declared Korngold a "genius," and stories abound similar to Mozart of Korngold's compositional prowess, unparalleled ear and memory, and unique creativity. Many of Korngold's non-film compositions were rediscovered and explored upon his fame, uncovering the work of one of the most gifted classical composers of all time.

Suite Op. 23 is one of Korngold's masterworks that has yet to receive its deserved acclaim. Commissioned in 1928 by pianist Paul Wittgenstein - who had lost his right arm during World War I - and completed in 1930, Op. 23 is a tour de force for the piano. It explores a range of sounds and virtuosity hardly imagined possible using only one hand. Korngold's compositional genius here extends beyond musical creativity, using arpeggiations, rolled chords, and grace notes in the piano - musically reminiscent of a Mahler symphony - to create an expansive range within its practical limitations.

Korngold relies on traditional forms in this composition, despite the innovative sounds. The opening movement is a Prelude and Fugue, with roots hearkening back to Bach while seemingly overturning the earth from which they emanate. The second movement is a charming Waltz, transporting the listener back to Korngold's hometown, Vienna. The third movement, Groteske, is a whirling Scherzo interrupted by a longing Trio, with a combined magnetic musical force, making it the title track of this recording. The fourth movement is a tender song - "Was Du mir bist?" (What You Are to Me) from Korngold's own Op. 22 - that counters the previous movement's grotesque with the sublime. And the final movement is a set of variations, encompassing the entire work from simple to profound, while celebratory throughout.

- Jonathan Swartz

Label: Soundset Recordings
Item Number: SR1033
Format: CD
Year Recorded: 2010

A new CD of chamber music featuring busy Canadian violinists Mark Fewer and native Torontonian Jonathan Swartz contains a pretty compelling mix of new and obscure.

The new is Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Charpentier, which allows Toronto composer, teacher and director Kieran MacMillan to show off what a clever boots he is. The theme, borrowed from a Ritournelle from Marc-Antoine Charpentier's nativity cantata, is laid out in a way so simple as to sound primitive, but MacMillan quickly turns it into a freewheeling set of 11 variations that cover just about every art music style imaginable.

The obscure is the five-movement Suite, Op. 23, for two violins, cello and left-handed piano commissioned by left-handed pianist Paul Wittgenstein from Erich Wolfgang Korngold "" completed in 1930. (The album's title comes from the middle movement, "Groteske".) It is a remarkable showcase of a very creative composer. Korngold managed to somehow fuse the new aesthetic of the 20th century with late Romanticism. Sometimes it sounds as if he's trying to underpin serial tone rows with traditional harmonies. it's a fascinating interplay.

This excellent quartet of players delivers all the music on this disc with zest, flawless technique and a lot of care in the shaping of the music. Pianist Wendy Chen engages with the piano with red-blooded gusto.

It may seem like a risk to take a chance on this disc, but it's well worth it.

John Terauds, Musical Toronto


Erich von Korngold's Suite, Op. 23 (1928) is a remarkable though lesser-known work, commissioned by one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and ably performed here by Jonathan Swartz and Mark Fewer, violins, Andrés Dí­az, cello, and Wendy Chen, piano. The viola's absence de-clutters the middle register, letting Korngold's left-hand piano writing shine. At the Prelude and Fugue's opening flourish the piano announces its full and equal participation, delivered here with superb virtuosity by Wendy Chen. Violinists Fewer and Swartz capture the disoriented giddiness of the Waltz while cellist Dí­az leads similarly into the almost hallucinatory Groteske, which carries us through turbulent mood contrasts. The intense, post-Mahler Lied followed by the ingenious, energetic variations of the Rondo-Finale complete this exciting performance.

In Toronto-based Kieran MacMillan's Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Charpentier, commissioned by Swartz for the same instruments, fantasy is the key element. The work weaves in and out stylistically from its theme, taken from a Marc-Antoine Charpentier cantata. I enjoyed the atonal flights in the evanescent Variation 3 and Messiaen-like piano flourishes in Variation 6. The tonal variations are evocative too, some tending to magic realism in suggesting glimpses of the past or the beyond. Mixing styles has been accepted since the 1960s when Foss, Rochberg, Colgrass, Kagel and others started quoting, re-working, or re-creating in the styles of earlier composers. And through being tasteful, aptly conceived for the instrumentation, and welcoming to the listener, these fantasy-variations are worth hearing too.

Roger Knox, Wholenote


Groteske hardly describes this album as a whole, but it is the name of the scherzo, the middle and longest movement in Korngold's Suite, Op. 23, for two violins, cello, and piano (left hand), that is the strangest and most musically fascinating track on the CD. Korngoldwrote the quartet for Paul Wittgenstein, the pianist who lost his right arm in the First World War and was responsible for commissioning a raft of exceptional compositions for the left hand. The scherzo recalls the fast movement of the Debussy String Quartet in its obsessive, manic gyrations, and its slow middle section is also pretty creepy; it's a real tour de force. The remaining movements of the Korngold may not be grotesque, but they are highly attractive examples of the composer's best work: forward-looking but sumptuously lyrical, full of saturated harmonies, and frequently rhapsodic. The fourth movement, "Lied," based on one of the composer's early songs, is especially gorgeous. Canadian composer Kieren MacMillan (born 1969) wrote his Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Charpentier for the performers who play it here, violinists Jonathan Swartz and Mark Fewer, Andrés Dí­az, and pianist Wendy Chen. It's an appealing, mostly gentle work based on a very lovely Ritornello by the Baroque French composer. MacMillan's inventive variations are largely tonal, and some of them can be stylistically linked to the works of other composers. The performers play both works with polish, spirit, and obvious affection. There are some chair creaks, but otherwise the sound is clear, present, and well-balanced.

Stephen Eddins, allmusic