Notes for: July 26, 2005
Weber’s fame today rests largely on the overtures to three operas — Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon — and a piano piece, “Invitation to the Dance.” But in his day, he was an influential pianist, conductor, critic and opera director as well as a composer. Further, he played a key historical role in the development of German romantic opera — the great music dramas of Richard Wagner were direct descendants of Weber’s pioneering works.
Unlike Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who lived relatively settled lives, Weber was an itinerant musician of dubious morals and shifting geographic loyalties. Starting as a member of his father’s traveling theatrical company, he spent his life moving from place to place in Germany, taking positions and commissions wherever he could find them, antagonizing local politicos, and dodging creditors and angry husbands. He died in London at the age of 40 after a successful production of Oberon. Eighteen years later, Wagner, recognizing his debt to Weber, had his coffin disinterred and moved back to Dresden for reburial to music that Wagner himself composed for the occasion.
As a composer of mainly dramatic ability, Weber did not turn easily to the intimate art of chamber music. He wrote no string quartets, and with one exception, all of his chamber works involve his own instrument, the piano. Further, while he paid his respects to the classical forms of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, his chamber music more nearly anticipates the rise of 19th century “salon music” in which the goal is to provide an evening’s entertainment rather than to plumb any emotional depths.
The Opus 63 trio was Weber’s last attempt at chamber music. It was completed in the summer of 1819 while he was vacationing from his position as director of the Dresden opera at his summer home outside the city. It was a working vacation – he also used the time to complete parts of Der Freischütz and three romantic piano pieces for his own performance. The trio was Weber’s effort to balance the romanticism of the opera and the piano pieces with a more classical composition. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.
Thus, the first movement follows the outlines of classical sonata form. There are two themes – one an atmospheric melody introduced by the cello and piano with overlapping entrances, and the other a more cheerful strain presented by the piano. This material is promising, and its development is effective enough without reaching any heights.
The second movement is a scherzo. Introduced by thumping in the piano, the main section has all the gruffness of a Beethoven scherzo. The trio, on the other hand, is a showy waltz for the flute, and the effect is incongruous.
The third movement, “Shepherd’s Lament,” started life in 1811 as a song and was revived by Weber for this trio. Here the flute presents its melancholy strains, and the instruments then take turns continuing the tune, but without any serious development or emotional contrasts.
The concluding movement is another stab at sonata form. There are again two themes – a sweet-sad strain in the piano and another graceful flute melody. The first theme is broken down into contrasting elements for the development, which at times sounds like an operatic ensemble for three solo voices.
Notes for: July 26, 2016
Weber’s fame today rests largely on the overtures to three operas — Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon — and a piano piece, “Invitation to the Dance.” But in his day, he was an influential pianist, conductor, critic and opera director as well as a composer. Further, he played a key historical role in the development of German romantic opera — the great music dramas of Richard Wagner were direct descendants of Weber’s pioneering works.
Unlike Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who lived relatively settled lives, Weber was an itinerant musician who spent his life moving from place to place in Germany, taking positions and commissions wherever he could find them. He died in London at the age of 40 after a successful production of Oberon.
As a composer of mainly dramatic ability, Weber did not especially relate to chamber music. He wrote no string quartets and, with one exception, all his chamber works involve his own instrument, the piano. Further, while he respected the classical forms of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, his chamber music anticipates the rise of 19th century “salon music,” in which the main goal was to provide an evening’s entertainment. The Op. 63 trio, written in the summer of 1819, was Weber’s last attempt at chamber music. It was his effort to balance the romanticism of opera and piano music with a more classical composition.
Thus, the first movement follows the outlines of classical sonata form. There are two themes — one an atmospheric melody introduced by the cello and piano with overlapping entrances, and the other a more cheerful strain presented by the piano.
The third movement, “Shepherd’s Lament” started as a song and was revived by Weber for this trio. Here, the flute presents its melancholy strains, and the instruments then take turns continuing the tune, but without any serious development or emotional contrasts.
The concluding movement is another attempt at sonata form. There are again two themes — a sweet-sad strain in the piano and another graceful flute melody. The first theme is broken down into contrasting elements for the development, which at times sounds like an operatic ensemble for three solo voices.
Notes for: July 19, 2022
Widely admired as a composer, conductor, and virtuoso pianist, Carl Maria von Weber played a significant role in the launch of 19th-century musical Romanticism. Along with Schubert, he pointed the way to the ascendance of melody. And with his groundbreaking opera Der Freischütz he launched German Romantic opera. Set in a German forest and based on German legend, Der Freischütz pointed in a new nationalist direction that led in a straight line to Wagner. Chopin admired Weber’s piano compositions. Berlioz studied his inventive orchestration. Wagner lauded his approach to opera. After he died, he was interred to funeral music that Wagner arranged from one of Weber’s operas.
Weber composed prolifically. While opera was his first love – he wrote ten operas – he also wrote many orchestral works, including two symphonies, a number of compositions featuring the clarinet, many virtuoso pieces for piano (most famous among them “Invitation to the Dance”), and several chamber works, including this convivial, melodically rich Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano in G Minor.
The G Minor Trio is a whirl of virtuosity and striking contrasts. The sonata-form Allegro Moderato that opens the Trio, with its contrasting themes and dramatic outbursts, sets the tone for the whole work. The darker minor-key opening theme, with the cello and the flute playing long melodic lines over a rumbling piano accompaniment, soon gives way to a sunny second theme that dominates much of the movement. At the end of the exposition all three instruments join in staccato octaves, a dramatic device that propels the development section. Like the good dramatist that he is, Weber ends the movement with a surprise, when the opening theme returns and whispers to a close.
The Scherzo also is a movement of contrasts, with a stern, rhythmically offbeat martial theme alternating with a frothy waltz. Weber departs from standard scherzo form by not including a trio. For the third movement, “Shäfers Klage” (Shepherd’s Lament), Weber turned to a Goethe poem that several others composers, including Schubert, also set to music. Weber charmingly portrays the lovelorn shepherd in the field, playing his lonely tune. The Lament serves as a calm bridge to a high-spirited Finale, with Weber spinning off a profusion of melodies while giving all three instruments a chance to shine. As the music critic John Warrack wrote, “Even within a classical framework, Weber’s Romantic imagination is running high.”