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The Chamber Music News

A Blog About Chamber Music

Welcome to our Blog, The Chamber Music News!  Our bi-monthly blog presents interesting articles about the music we publish, in more detail than you will find on the individual page. We hope that you will enjoy it, let us know. And, if you would like to see an article about a particular subject (related to what we publish) send us an email at editionsilvertrust@gmail.com

 

April-June 2020

Friedrich Kiel's Piano Quintets

Friedrich Kiel (1821-1885) was born in Puderbach, Westphalia in 1821 and learned the rudiments of music from his school teacher father. But, for the most part, he must have been self-taught, for by the time he was 13, it was clear that he had a prodigious talent. He came to the attention of the music loving Prince Karl von Sayn-Wittgenstein who paid for Kiel to study violin with the concertmaster of his orchestra and compostion from Kaspar Kummer. A few years later, the violin virtuoso and composer Louis Spohr became interested in him and helped Kiel obtain a scholarship from the Prussian King Wilhelm Friedrich IV. This allowed Kiel to study in Berlin with the famous theorist and teacher of composition, Siegried Dehn. In Berlin, Kiel slowly gained a reputation as an excellent teacher of piano and composition. In 1866, he obtained a post at the famous Stern Conservatory serving as a professor. In 1870, Joseph Joachim, director of the prestigious Hochschule für Musik offered Kiel a professorship, a position which he held until near the end of his life when he was forced to retire after a traffic accident, the injuries of which eventually led to his death in 1885. He is remembered as one of the finest teachers of composition then teaching in Germany. Igancy Paderewski, Charles Stanford, Wilhelm Berger, Stanislaus Noskowski, Arnold Krug and Emil Sjogren were among the many who were his students. That Kiel did not receive the recognition he served was in part due to his  exceptional modesty. There was also the fact that Joachim, Brahms’ very close friend, failed Kiel. Joachim was well aware of the excellence of Kiel’s compositions—he had hired Kiel as a professor of composition at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and could easily have promoted Kiel’s music as he had Brahms. That he did not was probably from the fear of harming his friendship with the touchy Brahms, who would probably and unfairly have interpreted any effort on Kiel’s behalf as divided loyalities. For those who are willing to play or listen to Kiel’s music it is clear that it need fear no comparison. It is truly a great shame that his music did not enter the standard repertoire. A sizeable portion of Kiel’s output is chamber music, most of it for piano and strings. When he undertook to write for a particular ensemble, he often would produce two works, one after another, for the same combination. This was the case when he came to compose his Piano Quintets. Perhaps it was a question of having so many good ideas that one work was not big enough to accommodate them all.

 

The first quintet, Piano Quintet No.1 in A Major, Op.75, dates from 1875. The first of its five movements, Allegro moderato, opens with a broad theme given to the viola and cello.  It is creates a unhurried and expansive mood, despite the quiet rush of running notes in the piano, kept well in the background.  In the second theme one hears faint echoes of Mendelssohn. The development, which builds tension and speed, is truly masterful, The second movement, marked Allegro molto, gets underway sounding more like an intermezzo than an allegro molto. However, this actually is quite deceptive because when you examine the notes, it is clear that it is in one rather than 3/4, the printed time signature. In fugal fashion, the viola, the cello and then the second violin enter. However, the theme is never fully stated during the fugue, and only when the first violin and piano  enter do we hear it in its entirety. By then the music has morphed from a subtle ane elegant intermezzo into a powerful and driving march. The middle section consists of a slower and very lovely lyrical section. The rather short slow movement, Adagio con espressione, is weighty and dignified, The next movement, Tempo di menuetto, is not the finale. Both the second movement, Allegro di molto, and the fourth movement, Tempo di menuetto, are interludes or breathing pauses between the three remaining very dynamic movements. The treatment of this movement all but obscures its classical roots. The minuet begins with the piano alone stating the theme before the strings are allowed to enter. The theme has an indescribable quality. Neither buoyant nor happy, yet not sad or tragic, it moves along in an aura of uncertainty. There are two trios, rather than the usual one. The first is rhythmically muscular while the second is lyrical. The effect of the arpeggio piano accompaniment in the second trio is quite stunning. The main theme of the finale, Allegro, sounds vaguely Hungarian and somewhat imposing. But it suddenly changes into an ebulliant and joyous melody, full of Schubertian charm, framed by the masterly use of pizzicato. The brilliant coda is one of the most exciting in the literature, a true tour d’force, and a fitting conclusion for this outstanding work. A real masterwork.

 

Piano Quintet No.2 in c minor, Op.76 was also published in 1874. Kiel was a keen student and admirer of Beethoven and the c minor key he chose for this work cannot be dismissed as insignificant in light of how much meaning it had for Beethoven. The massive first movement, Allegro maestoso, begins on a diffident note with a slow introduction which gives way to an episode of stressful conflict but even this only leads to the return of the introduction. The working out of this conflict goes on at great length before there is a proper statement of the main theme. The second subject is more hopeful and at times gives the promise of overpowering the first theme as the movement lumbers along, but in the end the lugubrious theme takes over and leads to a stormy conclusion. The lyrical second movement, Arioso, larghetto con moto, is uncomplicated but very beautiful. Its long-lined main theme is reminiscent in mood and style of the lovely slow movement from Schubert’s cello quintet, D.956. The darker middle section is shrouded in a mist of uneasiness, The third movement, though marked Intermezzo, is clearly a scherzo and its tempo marking of Presto assai says it all. The elfin-like main theme finds its roots in Mendelssohn, and perhaps Kiel was thinking of him when he gave it the title. Rather than proceeding directly to the finale, Kiel inserts a slow and somewhat lengthy Introducione, the purpose of which is to build tension, before the spacious concluding Rondo. Its whirling opening theme leads to an even more exciting fugal section which is then followed up by a lovely second theme of Schubertian beauty. Kiel tricks us with several thrilling and effective faux endings before the real thing tops off this work

 

Both of these quintets are as fine as any in the entire literature. We highly recommend these works to professionals and amateurs. You can hear soundbites from all three string quartets by clicking on the links above. And all are available from Edition Silvertrust.