Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805): 4 String Trios

00:00 Trio Op. 38 No.2 in D major (Op.47 No.5): Andantino moderato assai - Tempo di minuetto
07:47 Trio Op. 14 No.5 in E flat major: Andantino - Allegro con spirito - Allegretto sostenuto (Variazioni)
20:31 Trio Op. 14 No.4 in D major: Allegro giusto - Andantino - Allegro assai
30:44 Trio Op. 38 No.3 in F Major (Op.47 No.6): Andante moderato assai - Allegro non tanto
The New York String Trio: Gerald Tarack, violin / Harry Zaratzian, viola / Alexander Kouguell, cello
Arte: detalle de Escena de jardín (c1780), por Antonio Carnicero (1748-1814)
Luigi Boccherini, one of Italy’s greatest composers of instrumental music, was born in the north Italian town of Lucca. His remarkable talent for music developed early, and he soon mastered the cello, eventually becoming one of the greatest composers for that instrument. In 1760, when only seventeen years of age, he started a thematic catalogue of his compositions, his first entry being six string trios, Op. 1; these were followed the next year by a set of string quartets, Op. 2, written about the same time as Haydn’s first quartets. In the early years of his life, 1757-65, Boccherini travelled to such important centers as Rome, Vienna, and Milan. In 1766, he set out on a concert tour with the violinist Filippo Manfredi that lasted 1767-68. Persuaded to visit Madrid by the Spanish ambassador to France, Boccherini arrived there c. 1768 and made his home in Spain thereafter. Since the position of court composer was already filled by Gaetano Brunetti, an important symphonist of the later 18th century, Boccherini had to seek employment elsewhere. In 1770, he was finally appointed cellist and composer to the Infante Don Luis, brother of Carlos III.
With the genial Don Luis, a good salary, and a resident string quartet to which he could add his cello in the performance of his quintets, Boccherini enjoyed a period of fifteen tranquil and productive years which were, in many respects, the happiest of his life. Even with the death of the Infante, in 1785, and many personal misfortunes, Boccherini continued to compose and find patrons of high rank, such as Frederick William II of Prussia (1786-97) and Lucien Bonaparte (1801-02). Boccherini’s large output includes over 350 instrumental compositions, of which his some 113 quintets for 2 violins, viola, and 2 cellos are his most celebrated works. Boccherini’s high reputation during his lifetime is reflected in the remarks of the great eighteenth-century music historian Charles Burney, who wrote in his General History of Music with his usual perspicacity: “Boccherini... has perhaps supplied the performers on bowed-instruments and.lovers of Music with more excellent compositions than any master of the present age, except Haydn. His style is at once bold, masterly, and elegant. There are movements in his works, of every style, and in the true genius of the instruments for which he writes, that place him high in rank among the greatest masters who have ever written for the violin or violoncello.’ The expressive goals of the mature composer were set forth in a letter written in 1799, in which Boccherini declared that ‘Music is made to speak to the heart of man, and this is the effect that I aim at producing, if it lies within my power. Music deprived of sentiment and of passions is meaningless.” Boccherini’s style of composition and performance were sufficiently individual to cause him no little anxiety. Three times in his fascinating correspondence with the Parisian music publisher Ignaz Pleyel, 1796-99, he warned that his music must be well performed and heard several times before it could be appreciated, advice that holds as true for the present day as it did then.
Of the c. 50 string trios by Boccherini, only 12 are written for the combination of violin, viola, and cello; the rest still call for the older Baroque ensemble of two violins and cello. Boccherini described his six trios Op. 14, written in 1772, as works in the concertante style, meaning that they contain more soloistic writing and brilliant passage work than usual. The six trios labelled Op. 38 by the publishers, but listed as Op. 47 in Boccherini’s catalogue (where Nos. 2 and 3 are given as 5 and 6), were composed in 1793. Denoted as terzettini or “little trios,” they are smaller-scaled and each has two movements rather than three as in the Op. 14. The works selected for this recording are among the best of the two sets. The trios Op. 38 are especially influenced by the galant style, which favors motivic contrasts and a wide variety of rhythmic and ornamental patterns. All these works fully represent the composer’s personal idiom. Here we find Boccherini the superb melodist, the master of harmonic color, of rhythmic effect, of sonority and imaginative instrumental combinations, a composer of sovereign skill and intimate expression. The more we hear this music, the more it grows in beauty and meaning, and the more it asserts a special, mysterious power.

[@calefonxcalectric]

Trio Op. 38, No. 2 (Op. 47, No. 5) in D major
The first movement, in sonata form, is perhaps the most galant of any movement of these trios, containing as it does a remarkably varied flow of arabesques and expressive melodic cells. Boccherini has been praised for his invention of varied and original figuration, which is quite striking here and in the trio Op. 14, No. 4. We should also appreciate the lovely sonorities, as the pairing of the lower parts in thirds and tenths in the principal theme, the rhythmic acceleration that lends such force to the cadential theme, and the contrapuntal details, especially the three-part canon that links exposition to recapitulation in place of the development. Of the many interesting formal features, perhaps the most significant are the changes wrought in the first half of the recapitulation preceding the chromatic secondary theme. The composer injects new modulations, and expands the transition with new figuration, thus giving the section a developmental character. The flow of the concluding minuet and trio is graceful and supple though the movement is strictly organized in four- and eight-bar phrases. Spanish influence can be heard in the rhythm and melody of the melancholy trio in D minor. Notice the expressive intensification caused by the Sarabande-like rhythmic stress on beat 2. The violin dominates the entire movement except for the bravura viola passage near the end of the minuet.
Trio Op. 14, No. 5 in E-flat major
This trio uses the popular galant tempo sequence, fairly slow-fast-moderate, all the movements being in the same key. The first movement epitomizes Boccherini’s intimate lyricism, projected here in a totally homophonic texture. The sweetly meditative mood is realized within a short, two-part structure in which the principal theme alone has any individuality. The varied embellishment of that theme and the chromatic return to the home key after the modulatory section are some of the important details of the movement. The Allegro con spirito, truly spirited and gay, has the longest and fullest sonata form structure of the four trios, and themes most fully exploiting the device of balanced contrast. The reappearance of the slightly altered principal theme to mark the second key area, found here and in many of these movements, is a procedure usually associated with Haydn. In addition, the chief motives and rhythm of the principal theme pervade the movement in a remarkable way. The instrumental combinations are quite varied, as the lower parts participate in the presentation of much of the thematic material. In the principal theme, the accompaniment imitates the “cuckoo” motive in reverse, and in the secondary themes, first the violin pairs with the cello in sixths, then the viola pairs with the cello in thirds. The finale is a theme and four variations. The theme, in gavotte rhythm and the usual binary form, is more a skeleton of a theme than a real theme, and is quite long, 8 + 20 bars. Its basic structure depends on its harmonic organization, the most unusual feature being the 12-bar pedal points (on the dominant and the tonic) in the middle of the second part. This static, repetitive section gives Boccherini a chance to exchange instruments (theme and variation 1), or introduce other coloristic effects. One could hear these effects better if one could see the instruments. As in most Classical variations, each instrument has its chance to be the soloist. The first variation is an expressive, ornamental melody for the viola; the second variation, for the violin, features a rubato-like line of extended syncopations; the third variation exploits the kind of wide-ranging, virtuoso cello part for which Boccherini is so famous. A fourth variation, enlivened by slide figures suggesting opera buffa, brings the movement to a humorous close.
Trio Op. 14, No. 4 in D major
The thematic material of the first movement, which is in the expected sonata form, is grouped in an unusual way and maybe divided as follows: the warm, slow-moving principal theme; the rapid and diverse figurations; the imitative figural motive in the development. The arrangement of the principal theme is a perfect example of Boccherini’s feeling for sound, the theme placed on the lowest strings of each instrument where the sound is dark, the resonance rich. Boccherini carefully integrates this structure of contrasts by reusing the initial three-note motive of his principal theme in the transition, and the entire first phrase of the theme in the cadential unit. The development section, the most powerful in these trios, moves through five keys, and features the most independent part writing of the movement. Each important key is marked by imitative entries of the new motive, followed by a rhythmic acceleration into the next key. A brilliant viola solo in the tonic minor leads to a recall of the new motive in the tonic major and the return of the principal theme. This return has an inevitability that reminds us of Beethoven. The simplicity and delicacy of the Andantino have long been prized by Boccherini scholars. In the key of D minor, the movement employs an abridged sonata form. The fairly rapid tempo and the predominance of the violin give it a serenade-like character (the pizzicato was added by the performers). The ebullient finale exploits drone-like effects and melodic repetitions, possibly showing the influence of folk music. A dance-like character is suggested by the steady rhythmic pulse of the eighth-note accompaniment, in nearly perpetual motion throughout the movement. This accompaniment is given to the viola most of the time, but appears in the main secondary theme in a brilliant arrangement for high cello - a typical Boccherini color effect. Since the unity of rhythm and mood are primary, the sonata form has few contrasts in idea or thematic treatment; a 16-bar drone on the dominant even replaces the usual development section.
Trio Op. 38, No. 3 (Op. 47, No. 6) in F major
This trio is perhaps the most refined of all in its part writing, dialogue effects, and the use of chromatic harmony. The serene beauty and expressivity of the opening 53-bar movement are due in part to its broad, memorable theme and the skillful integration of the structure by the varied treatment of motives from that theme. Boccherini fashions the transition from the opening scale motive, and reuses the repeated-note motive in dotted rhythm in the secondary theme and the development. An unusual effect is the delayed entrance of the lower parts at the beginning of the movement, making beats 1 and 2 seem preludial. As in Op. 38, No. 2 (Op. 47, No. 5), the composer alters the recapitulation. The phrases of the main theme now intermingle, and the principal theme acquires a melancholy expression as its second half is reharmonized in minor. The movement is a perfect miniature, controlled to the minutest detail. Although the following Allegro non tanto has the typical A-B-A form of the minuet, it is not a minuet but a movement in duple meter, with dramatic contrasts of mood and idea. The main A section is itself in ternary form, and breathes good humor and charm. It starts with a catchy tune and follows it by a sophisticated continuation (notice how Boccherini postpones the final cadence in order to extend the phrase, a technique of the best composers). This unit is succeeded by a middle section in dialogue texture and a slightly varied return of the opening 20 bars. The very different, serious B section is in F minor and has an expressive style, rich in chromaticism and rhythmic contrasts. Its mysterious beginning, in which the violin is answered by the lower parts in octaves, is thoroughly original. A cadenza-like passage for the violin effects the return to the A section, which then literally repeats.
BATHIA CHURGIN
Early in 1964, the New York String Trio made its debut in a series of concerts at Town Hall. Three important soloists - Gerald Tarack, violinist, who had been a soloist with the New York Clarion Concerts and a participant in the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico; Harry Zaratzian, a faculty member at the Marlboro School of Music and formerly principal violist with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Alexander Kouguell, Assoc. Prof. of Music at Queens College, N. Y. and principal cellist of the Musica Aeterna Orchestra - had joined forces. In the words of the N. Y. TIMES, “their efforts showed such finesse in matters of dynamic control, rhythmic drive and unity of expressive purpose’ that they “made one marvel.” This recording is their first.
Dover Publications (HCR-5255) 1966

[@marioescudero7103]

Gracias