Alisson Kruusmaa
Five Arabeques
Arabesque No. 1: molto cantabile, con rubato
length: 3:30
0:00 Beginning
The violas begin all alone and as if out of nowhere, which is further emphasised by the use of mutes. Together with the lonely melody, a mood full of longing is created.
1:25 Entry violins 1
Violins and cellos gradually enter the melody almost unnoticed. A special mood is created above all by the rising and falling of individual notes.
2:15 double basses
When the double basses enter, the sound seems to open up and the instruments now play more and more independently of each other. The music then seems to disappear into a stretched, mysterious sound.
Arabesque No. 2: distantly, con rubato
length: 3:00
3:53 Beginning No. 2
The violins play arpeggios (broken chords) that sweep through the hall like a breath of wind. Violas and cellos play almost inaudible motif fragments underneath, which are then repeated more vigorously by the violins.
5:10 Violins enter
The ‘Five Arabesques’ were inspired by lines of poetry by Hermann Hesse: „Graceful, spiritual, with the gentleness of arabesques, / Our life is similar to the exsitence of fairies / that spin in soft cadence around nothingness / to which we sacrifice the here and now.“
Arabesque No. 3: sempre con rubato
length: 2:30
7:14 Beginning No. 3
In Arabesque No. 3, the low strings play ‘col legno’. This percussive sound is created by striking the instruments’ strings with the bow stick instead of the bow hairs, as is normally the case.
8:26 New entry violins 2
The violins seem to want to shimmer over the percussive sound. Little by little, they begin anew and rise up before finally giving in to the low strings.
Arabesque No. 4: molto cantiablie , espressivo
length: 2:10
10:02 Beginning No. 4
With its arpeggios (broken chords), the fourth arabesque is strongly reminiscent of the second. The cellos begin with impetuous upward runs. A mystical mood is created which continues to build up.
11:16 Viola run
Arabesques are originally oriental ornaments, i.e. decorations in works of art. In music, they describe pieces with a freer form and a finer sound, as can be heard here.
Arabesque No. 5: sempre con rubato
length: 4:10
12:31 Beginning No. 5
After the first four arabesques, all of which have a rhythmically agitated character, the last one now sounds completely different. It is characterised by calm, haunting chords.
14:25 subito ppp after Klimax
The composer of this work, Alisson Kruusmaa (*1992), is one of the most successful Estonian composers today. She was awarded the 2021 Music Prize of the Year by the Estonian Cultural Foundation.
15:37 Flageolet note violin 1
The work ends with ghostly sounds known as flageolet: They are produced by a light touch on the instrument's strings. The music seems to recede into nothingness again.
Text: Joschua Lettermann
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symfonie 5
1 Allegro con brio
length: 07:01
00:00 Main theme
Da-da-da-daa!! The most famous four notes in musical history launch the symphony. Is that fate knocking at the door? Or was Beethoven inspired by a birdsong, as another story goes?
00:42 Horns announce the second theme
The horns announce a new and lyrical theme. The Fifth Symphony itself is often the overture for new orchestras and is therefore performed at their very first concert.
01:25 Main theme
The ‘fateful theme’ was in fact used in the Second World War on the BBC as a melody to proclaim victory. Indeed, in Morse code ‘short-short-short-long’ stands for the letter V, for Victory.
02:06 Repetition of second theme
The description of the main theme as ‘fate knocking at the door’ was written by secretary Anton Schindler. He forged some of Beethoven’s memoires and also put these very words into Beethoven’s mouth.
03:00
With fate as its central theme this work is strongly linked to Beethoven’s own life. The dramatic decline in his hearing and his complicated love life being good examples.
04:17 Oboe solo
Out of nowhere a single oboe starts to play a sorrowful solo. Was Beethoven thinking about his passionate love for Josephine von Brunswick, which ended as he worked on this symphony?
05:30
Having been cast aside by Josephine, Beethoven experienced an explosion of creativity. Suddenly he found the energy to finish both the Fourth and the Fifth Symphony.
2 Andante con moto
length: 08:58
00:00
In this elegant second movement Beethoven allows two themes to intertwine. He begins with a gentle, lyrical theme from the violas and cellos, accompanied by the double basses.
01:04 Second theme, powerful
The oboes, horns and trumpets now play a second strong theme. The timpani add to the triumphant spirit.
01:49 Variation on the first theme
We hear a variation on the first theme. Beethoven not only intertwines two themes, he also uses variations on each theme. This so-called ‘double variation’ is very unusual.
02:50 Strong music
The heroic sounds return. The Fifth Symphony comes from Beethoven’s ‘heroic period’. Pieces from this period already illustrate the Romantic mood and are among his most popular compositions.
03:33 Quick variation on the first theme on the violins
A further variation on the first theme follows. The violins play a quick melody. Listen how the wind instruments soon add a contra melody!
04:23 Rising scales, then nearly silence
This work was not immediately popular, as it took some time for the listeners to recover from Beethoven’s pioneering Eroica (Third Symphony). However, like the rising scales in the orchestra, the ascent of popularity of ‘The Fifth’ had began.
05:56 Joyful melody
The Dutch conductor Frans Brüggen could find no fault in Beethoven: ‘He is a perfect composer, just like Bach: every note is a good one.’
07:17 Flamboyant variation
There seems to be no end to the series of variations on the themes presented by Beethoven. Suddenly we hear the sounds of a more flamboyant version. For a moment, the Andante bears more resemblance to dance music.
3 en 4 Allegro & Allegro
length: 14:59
00:00
A gently ascending theme in the strings opens the third movement. This is joined as soon as the contrasting horns enter with a motif in the rhythm of the opening theme (1st movement).
00:50
Beethoven presented this work in 1808, together with his Sixth Symphony. Back then, the hall was bitterly cold, and the orchestra had too little time to practise and therefore struggled with the tough parts in this movement.
01:44 Trio begins
The low strings enter with quick and powerful elements. The middle section, the ‘trio’, has begun. For a moment, the music is playful and light. The early sorrow has been banished.
02:55 Sweeter music, woodwind
It is now the turn of the woodwinds to present their variations. The descending melody of the flute concludes the ‘trio’ and takes us back into the ‘scherzo’. The heavier mood returns.
03:33 Pizzicato on the strings, fate motive for the woodwind
The soft woodwinds and pizzicato on the strings sound the modest ‘short-short-short-long’. If it is the fate, then it tiptoes quietly away.
04:20 Long chord for strings
While the strings hold a long chord the timpani allow the opening motive to disappear. Then an explosion: from the darkness we enter the light of the last section, without hesitation.
begin 4th movement
04:56 Start of finale, triumphant main theme
Begin 4th movement - Beethoven saved a grand total of three trombones, a piccolo and a double bassoon for this finale. At the time such instruments were a real novelty in a symphony.
05:56 Second theme, four-part motive
Beethoven did not end his symphony in the usual manner, with a similar key and mood as at the start of the piece. After all: ‘Joy comes after sadness, sun comes after the rain.’ The change in the weather is complete.
06:50 Triumphant main theme
In the Fifth Symphony all parts work towards this victory over fate. All the music of the earlier movements has led to this magnificent conclusion, with a mood that is plainly triumphant.
07:51 New theme
An intense ending is what Beethoven wanted: ‘It features three trombones and the piccolo, and only three timpani. However, this will make more noise than six timpani and also a much better one.’
08:51 Variations on second theme, four-part motive
The flutes play their merrily rising. The fragments presented to us this time by Beethoven are variations on the second theme.
10:15 Sudden calm
All of a sudden the mood from the third section creeps in. We are back in minor key. This allows Beethoven to express a further dramatic transition from the darkness into the light.
11:14 Descending melody
With the full and untamed extent to which the extreme emotions are expressed the composer, this Allegro is romantic music in the truest sense of the word.
12:44 Coda begins
The symphony’s ending is unusually long. It appears that Beethoven adopted this pattern from his admired composer Luigi Cherubini, who used it in his opera Eliza.
13:56
The light is now blinding. According to the composer E.T.A. Hoffmann, this work of Beethoven opened ‘the domain of the colossal and the unmeasurable. Bright rays of light shooting through the dark night.’
Text: Eline Levering