Bohuslav Martinů: Concerto da camera, for violin and string orchestra with piano and percussion H 285 (1942)
Bohuslav Martinů,
born on 8 December 1890 in Polička, East Bohemia, Austria-Hungary,
died on 28 August 1959 in Liestal, Switzerland).
Date of composition of the Concerto da Camera:
1941 in the USA after fleeing Europe.
First performance:
23 January 1942 in Basel
CD recommendation:
Bohuslav Matoušek (violin), Karel Košárek (piano).
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Christopher Hogwood
Shortly after his dramatic escape from Europe to the USA, Martinu delivered a violin concerto to the Basel patron Paul Sacher, who ordered it with the original French title: Concert pour
violon et orchestre à cordes, piano, timbales, piatti et triangle. The first performance took place in Basel on 23 January 1942. Because Martinu also wanted the concerto to be performed in the
USA, he renamed it Concerto da camera, so that this concerto would not be confused with Martinu's 2nd Violin Concerto, which had been composed in the meantime (first performed on 31 December 1943
by Mischa Elman). It was not until 18 February 1949 that the renamed Concerto da camera, somewhat simplified in the violin part, was first performed in New York for the USA by the violinist Lous
Kaufman. It can be said, then, that in addition to Martinu's two more famous violin concertos No 1 and No 2, there is a third, clandestine violin concerto, so to speak.
More important than the name, however, is the reference to Martinu's circumstances when he received this commission from Paul Sacher. After fleeing through France in 1940/41, he was in
Lisbon, waiting amidst the chaos of the Second World War for a chance to reach the USA. On 29 January 1941, he received a request from Sacher. Martinu apologised, saying that he could not begin
the difficult task of writing a violin concerto until he had arrived in the USA. Finally, in the summer of 1941, he worked on this violin concerto and, in a creative process, probably
simultaneously processed the difficulties experienced during the flight and the difficulties of gaining a foothold in the USA.
Martinu wrote in the programme of the premiere of the concerto:
"The Violin Concerto in F minor, in three movements, is accompanied only by string orchestra, piano and timpani. It is a kind of chamber sonata, "sonata da camera, with a virtuoso solo part
of dramatic effect and with melodies of Slavic character. The first movement, in variation form, introduces a theme that develops with increasing speed in the solo part and is accompanied by
powerful dynamic tuttis in the orchestra. The second part is an aria with a single melody in the entire movement. The third movement is thematically linked to the first movement, the rondo form
with a cadenza that, unlike the usual virtuoso cadenzas, brings a simple violin melody, accompanied by stereotyped chords in the piano. The work is not based on the rhythmic phrasing of
individual bars, but uses groups of several bars as the basis for its phrasing.
To be heard here:
1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
Listening Companion:
I. Moderato. Poco allegro
The first movement is formally a set of variations. In a dark beginning and in a rhythm typical of Martinu, the orchestra and the piano let a theme develop. Then the violin takes over the theme, which is characterised by syncopated impulses, and thus also the leadership of the action. It varies its theme in ever faster development, accompanied in the orchestra by powerful dynamic tuttis. The violin's opening motif as well as the rhythm run through the ups and downs of the action over a longer period of time, sometimes more dramatic, sometimes more conciliatory, but also with dark memories. The whole leads into a hesitant cadenza, accompanied by the piano and determined by the opening motif. Sounds and noises are tried out, a strange nervousness prevails, then the action continues in a somewhat brighter light until the final increase, which closes haltingly and ends in a surprisingly harmonic chord.
II. Adagio
"The second part is an aria with a single melody in the entire movement" (Martinu in the programme outline of the premiere). The string orchestra begins with the descending sad melody, the piano enters with a swaying, almost minimalist repetitive motif. Finally, the violin takes over the aria theme, the piano accompanies with glassy sounds and leads the music, which fluctuates between enchantment, lyricism and resignation, into ever stranger regions. After a dramatic uproar, the action calms down, the violin continues to play the aria recitatively, also losing itself chaotically, chords of the piano resonate in the depths, the movement loses itself in the loneliness of the violin.
III. Poco allegro
"The third movement is thematically linked to the first movement, the rondo form with a cadenza which, in contrast to the usual virtuoso cadenzas, brings a simple violin melody, accompanied by stereotyped chords in the piano". (Martinu) Right at the beginning again this shifted rhythm typical of Martinu, which produces its own rhythmic elements beyond individual bar numbers. The solo violin initially plays the part of the first violins, as in a concerto grosso, and only gradually breaks away from the tutti several times, with the rhythmically marked rondo theme in lyrical expression. The increasingly dance-like, joyous mood is finally interrupted by a wild outburst in the piano and leads to a lonely, unusually lyrical cadenza in the violin's poco andante, accompanied only by soft and high silvery chords of the piano. A moment of contemplative rest before the timpani and piano then drive to the final stretta.