Harp Concerto in E minor (Reinecke)

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Title page of the score for the 1884 harp concerto

The Harp Concerto in E minor, op. 182 by Carl Reinecke from 1884 is a piece of music for solo harp and symphony orchestra. It can be assigned to the music of the Romantic period and one of the few harp concerts of that era that is still performed more often today, sometimes as part of competitions.

background

In the 19th century, the romantic era, the great composers of that time neglected the harp as a solo instrument, according to music research. There were always solo passages for the harp in symphonies, as with Hector Berlioz in his Symphonie fantastique from 1830, in the ballets by Peter Tchaikovsky and, most recently already assigned to Impressionism , in Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d ' un faune and Gabriel Faurés Sicilienne from the 1890s. Carl Reinecke composed the concert during his time in Leipzig as Kapellmeister, which lasted from 1860 to 1895. The occasion was the appointment of the Viennese harpist Edmund Schuëcker (1860–1911) to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra . The first edition of the work was published in 1884 by Verlag Bartholf Senff in Leipzig and is dedicated to Schuëcker. The concert should give him the opportunity to put his skills to the test. With this concerto for the harp, Reinecke created a work that brought out all the possibilities of the modern double-pedal harp . The piece was premiered in the old Leipzig Gewandhaus on October 16, 1884 under the direction of the composer with Edmund Schuëcker as the soloist. In January 1885, the Leipzig music magazine Signals for the Musical World published a positive review that emphasized the importance of the work for the harp, and noted that in this piece, thanks to Reinecke's mastery, the harp could play out all its possible effects and the soloist can be sure of the effect on the audience. The review also mentions the “heroic touch” of the first movement and continues: “In the principal part [solo instrument] as well as in the orchestral backing, it offers an abundance of charmingly piquant and fresh, but never into spicy decay; but the Adagio wants to appear to us as the actual pearl and crown of the sentences, with its depth of sensation, its melodious exposition and its warm-bloodedness of invention. "

Musical structure

The strong influence of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann , but also partly of Johannes Brahms , can be seen in many places in this work. The concerto consists of three movements, of which the first and most important movement, which bears the tempo designation Allegro-moderato , takes up almost half of the entire work. Reinecke uses the key of E minor here , which was often referred to as "tragic" during the Romantic era. The measure consists of three quarter notes , but does not appear to be dance-like, but rather creates a memorable dotted rhythm that runs through the entire work.

After a gloomy introduction that begins softly, pianissimo , with the horns and a slight roll of the drum , the strings and woodwinds are added and a basic rhythmic motif is formed. In bar 21, the harp appears as a soloist with broken E minor chords over four octaves , ascending in fortissimo pitch , and takes up the main rhythmic motif presented by the orchestra in the introduction . The theme of the movement, now harmoniously carried on by the harp, changes into a dramatic, ballad-like tone. After a diminished seventh chord , which the composer uses several times in this work, and which always signifies a melodic and harmonic caesura, the second theme appears in G major , the parallel key , with no longer a dramatic character. The secondary topic sounds more optimistic. An interlude is followed by a diminished seventh chord as the final point. The following section of the sentence of execution , initially dominated the orchestra, then the harp prevails again, the orchestra steps back, and appear in their typical crystal clear sound one, according to music writer J. Bradford Robinson, "transparent feenartige Music “Accompanied by two flutes . Then in the last part of the movement, the recapitulation , the tragic-dramatic main theme appears again, followed by a lyrical secondary theme in C major . Finally, the harp begins an extremely long solo cadenza that extends over a third of the entire movement and extensively paraphrases all the themes heard so far and the main rhythmic motif. The numerous virtuoso arpeggios and glissandos in this solo are striking . Towards the end of the movement the oboe joins in with a melancholy, wistful melody, and the whole orchestra finishes the first movement of the concert in Mendelssohnian style, increasing the tempo. This solo is a great technical challenge for the harpist.

The second slow movement of the concert, the Adagio , stands for the orchestra in the key of B major , the major dominant of the E minor on which the piece is based. The harp, on the other hand, is notated in a matching C flat major . The movement also has four-four time with the metronome designation = 92. The first theme is a gentle melody, which is held in a kind of duet of harp and horn in a hymn-like character. This melody is then taken over by the strings, while the harp accompanies it with contrapuntal tone sequences. In contrast to this is the trio , which changes to the key of E flat minor and creates a movement accompanying the harp in triplets of the strings. At the end there is a short recapitulation that leads to a gentle final chord. The horn is the only wind instrument in this movement. Quarter note with upwards stem.svg

The rondo-like third movement, Scherzo Finale , bears the tempo designation Allegro vivace (lively, lively) and is again set in three-four time. The harp begins an animated introduction with emerging tone sequences, accompanied by the plucked strings. In addition, there is a triangle which, with small strokes, puts a bright, short note on the harp's seventh chords. Then the main theme follows again in the already familiar rhythm of the opening movement, this time played by the cellos . The harp picks it up and in a chamber music-like duet of harp and flute, the E minor is now replaced by a dancing G major . In the third movement, the trumpet comes into its own with signal-like, military-style syncopated tone sequences. After repeating the first theme, a short four-part fugue played staccato is heard . The recapitulation that follows towards the end of the movement once again combines all the elements of the piece in a radiant E major. The coda , which finally ends, brings the harp concerto to a close with several arpeggios of the harp and a last descending glissando with a sixte ajoutée in the final bar (description of the movements after Bradford Robinson).

Instrumentation

The instrumentation for this concert is kept within the usual framework of romantic orchestras of the 19th century. In addition to the harp as a solo instrument, the score also includes these instruments:

The string section consists of

In such an orchestra, voices are cast several times as required.

Audio sample and publications

  • Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen: Carl Reinecke - Harpconcerto on YouTube , May 11, 2014, accessed on November 7, 2018 (soloist: Anneleen Lenaerts ).
  • Carl Reinecke: Concert for the harp with orchestra accompaniment, op.182 . Bartholf Senff, Leipzig 1884 ( archive.org archive.org - score; for harp with accompaniment of the orchestra; price at that time for the score 10 marks , with harp part 15 marks and the harp part alone 5 marks).
  • Carl Reinecke, Bradford Robinson: Concerto in E minor: for harp and orchestra, op. 182 (=  Repertoire Explorer . Band 703 ). MPH - Musikproduktion Höflich, Munich 2007, OCLC 915888091 (reprint of the facsimile edition: Carl Reinecke: Concert for the harp with accompaniment of the Bartholf Senff Orchestra , Leipzig 1884, dedicated to Edmund Schuecker).
  • Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra Opus 182 . Score (2 volumes). Edition Kemel, Niedernhausen (Idstein) 2017, DNB  1126041467 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ARD music competition 2016 with the French harpist Anaïs Gaudemard.
  2. ^ Bradford Robinson: Foreword to the Concerto in E minor: for harp and orchestra, op. 182. In: Repertoire Explorer. 703, 2007.
  3. ↑ Heavenly Sounds 5./6. 9. 2014 Cologne - WDR (PDF) wdr.de.
  4. ↑ Signals for the musical world magazine . Volume 43, No. 6, Verlag Bartholf Senff, Leipzig 1885, p. 81.
  5. ↑ Heavenly Sounds 5./6. 9. 2014 Cologne - WDR Eckhard Weber in a WDR leaflet about this concert (PDF) wdr.de.
  6. ^ Joachim Draheim: Harp Concerto Symphony No. 3 - Naxos Music Library (PDF, Booklet, p. 3),
  7. ^ Reinecke: Flute Concerto / Harp Concerto / Ballade. naxos.com, accessed November 7, 2018 .
  8. ^ Carl Reinecke: Concert for the harp with accompaniment of the orchestra. OP. 182. Score, Bartholf Senff, Leipzig 1884, pp. 2, 63 and 75 IMSLP Petrucci Music Library