5.10. Arcadi Volodos

About the programme

Franz Schubert:
Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959

Franz Schubert’s (1797–1828) piano sonatas reflect the composer’s entire life in Vienna: his deep admiration for Beethoven, his love of songs and poetry, echoes of Viennese dances, and the immediacy and charm of small character pieces played in homes. Schubert was like a child of nature in his phenomenal talent for creating touching melodies, which he knew how to colour with his subtle harmonic treatment to suit the mood of the moment. This skill, combined with his tendency to be inspired by the poems he read, made him an unsurpassed master of the art of lied. Alongside his lieder, however, he also found a grand, mature piano style in his piano sonatas, partly inspired by Beethoven. In 1822, the year Beethoven's last sonatas were published, Schubert composed his famous piano masterpiece, the Wanderer Fantasy, which can be seen as the beginning of a new era in Schubert's pianism.

Sonata in A major, D 959, is the middle one of the last three sonatas that Schubert wrote in a short period in 1828. Despite his declining health, he managed to create several beloved masterpieces during the last months of his life. In addition to the three piano sonatas, this period also saw the creation of the great Mass in E-flat major, the song collection Schwanengesang, and a string quintet. The sonata trilogy is considered to form a whole due to its many structural similarities, and each sonata, like Beethoven's, also weaves internal connections between the movements. Other hallmarks of his mature style include a rare depth of emotion, extremely expansive formal structures, and chamber music-like textures. In his sonatas, Schubert also looks back and reuses his own themes, as if making a testament to his life's work.

The great A major sonata begins with a majestic theme of large chords, whose solemnity is emphasised by the low bass note “A” repeated throughout. In an unusually extensive development section, Schubert makes the most of a small part of the secondary theme, spinning it in many different ways. The second movement, Andantino, is like a lied – touchingly beautiful, intimate and disconsolate. In the middle section, the music becomes stormy and poignantly painful, only to return to the original melody in a varied form, resigned to its fate. The third movement, a playful Scherzo, is based on material from the first movement and also returns briefly to themes from the second movement. In the grand finale (Rondo), Schubert uses a theme he had previously composed for the slow movement of his Sonata in A minor, D 537. The singing melody is carried through various landscapes, supported by constantly changing accompaniment patterns. Time seems to expand endlessly in Schubert's magical modulations. Schubert ends the sonata as he began it, closing the circle with festive chords.

Robert Schumann:
Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) and Clara Wieck (1819–1896) exchanged passionate letters in the 1830s, dreaming of a marriage that Clara's father opposed. The young lovers were not content with mere words, but also exchanged themes and compositions. Clara sent Robert a series she had composed, Soirées Musicales, Op. 6, consisting of six character pieces. Robert wrote a warm review of the series in his magazine Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which shows that he genuinely appreciated the artistic substance of the work. The fifth number in the Soirées series is a small mazurka in G major, a skillfully constructed, charming dance with wistful tones.

Inspired by the main theme of this mazurka, Robert composed an entire piano series, the massive 18-part Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David), also Op. 6. He began composing it almost immediately after becoming engaged to Clara in 1837. He wrote to Clara that the dances contained “many wedding ideas” and later clarified that the whole story was about a “bachelor party.” Despite their name, the pieces in the series are more like character pieces, mood pieces that reflect different sides of Schumann’s personality. Each part was written either by the impassioned Florestan or the dreamy Eusebius – the leading characters of the League of David, who fought against mediocrity in music both in Schumann's music and in his texts. At the same time, Schumann probably wanted to reveal his innermost feelings to Clara honestly, as the dances of the League of David are the most authentic Schumann, compared to those works in which the characters appear behind masks.

The dances consist of two different books, which are played consecutively. The score is interspersed with poetic textual references and evocative performance instructions, such as “somewhat clumsily” in the third dance. The first book ends with the ninth dance of the wildly galloping Florestan, who, “his lips trembling painfully,” plays a closing cadence in C major. The second book, on the other hand, reaches its clear climax in the penultimate movement. As a kind of postscript, the last part of the series ends the evening with a nostalgic, slow waltz and bass “C” notes depicting the midnight hour, with the description “Completely unnecessarily, Eusebius added the following; but as he did so, his eyes radiated great happiness."

Franz Liszt / Arcadi Volodos:
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 S. 244/13

Franz Liszt (1811–1886), who toured European concert halls in the 19th century, was known everywhere as a legendary piano virtuoso for whom nothing was impossible. His wizard-like mastery of the piano, combined with his flamboyant stage presence, made Liszt a superstar of his time, whose concerts caused women to faint and whose personality aroused both admiration and hatred. Liszt was also a great visionary and an important figure in the renewal of musical culture. As a composer, he made innovative and far-sighted experiments towards a freer conception of harmony. The piano techniques in his compositions and arrangements are groundbreaking. Modern recital culture, in which the pianist plays an entire evening alone, without looking at the sheet music and sideways to the audience, allowing everyone to admire their fingerwork, is also largely based on Liszt's work as a concert pianist.

As a heroic pianist, Liszt naturally wrote many pieces that brought out the brilliance of the piano. The Hungarian Rhapsodies are virtuoso pieces that also represent Liszt's efforts to incorporate Hungarian folk music into his works in the spirit of the national romanticism of the time. He composed a total of 19 rhapsodies, although they are based more on Romani music than Hungarian folk music. In Hungary, Liszt heard several Romani orchestras and succeeded in capturing their characteristic timbres and emotional intensity in his music. The rhapsodies follow the traditional csárdás dance form of Romani music, which involves tempo changes between slow (lassan) and fast (friss) sections. The result is richly melodic and improvisational music.

The performance of Hungarian rhapsodies benefits if the pianist is able to immerse themselves in the world of improvisation. Although the notes are written very precisely, the impression of surprising turns and runs ‘invented’ by the pianist in the heat of the moment is an essential feature of the performance culture. We can only imagine how Liszt himself improvised even more runs and ornamentation into his pieces during performances. This phenomenon takes on a whole new dimension when the performing pianist makes their own arrangement of the work. Arcadi Volodos has attracted well-deserved attention as a virtuoso performer of virtuoso pieces, many of the most legendary of which are his own arrangements. Rhapsody No. 13 begins with a slow introduction, reminiscent of the lament of a Romani orchestra violinist with its rich ornamentation. The rich sound world of the accompanying harmonies brings to mind the colourful timbre of the cimbalom, a stringed instrument played with two mallets. Volodos' arrangement adds even more liveliness and agility to the already brilliant piano texture, with richly sounding basses, exotic spices in the harmonic turns, and a playful reference to film music.

Text by Sonja Fräki
Translations by the festival team