TRACKLIST

Sonata n.8 per pianoforte in re minore (dal manoscritto del 1898)

1. Adagio. Allegro 8’32’’

2. Scherzo (Allegro molto). Trio (Etwas langsamer) 3’28’’

3. Andante 6’29’’

4. Molto Adagio (in tempo di marcia). Allegretto 4’57’’

Sonata n.1 per violino e pianoforte in la minore

5. Allegro non troppo. Andante. Tempo I 21’45’’

Più allegro

Andante espressivo

Allegro con brio. Andante espressivo. Tempo I. Presto

Trio n.1 in fa maggiore per violino, violoncello e pianoforte op.4ù

6. Adagio. Minore (Allegretto) 6’22’’

Tema e Variazioni:

Tema (Allegretto) 

Var. 1

Var. 2

Var. 3

Var. 4 Minore

Var. 5 Maggiore. Prestissimo

Total Time 52'00''

Conceived, recorded and produced by Giulio Cesare Ricci

Recording assistant: Paola Maria Ricci

Recorded at Teatro Comunale di Ferrara

Recording date: 28^th - 29^th November 1998

Equipment:

valves microphones: Neumann U 47, M49 

advanced mike pre-amplifiers: Nagra

analog tape recorders: Studer C37 (1950), Nagra 4S

digital tape recorders 20 bit: Nakamichi 1000

microphone, digital cables: Signoricci

Furtwängler; the greatness of simplicity

Furtwängler was what we would call a child prodigy. His musical talent surfaced early, and his initial aspiration was to become a composer: Since the days of his youth he revealed those elements of curiosity, desire of knowledge, critical spirit

(also, toward himself, which would have made him one of the most emblematic musicians of the twentieth century.

His first compositions were devoted to the piano: approximately fifty small pieces, composed between 1893 and 1895 and collected by his mother in three manuscripts volumes (Komposition en von Wily Furtwängler, vol. I-II, and Verschieden en Komposition en für Klavier von Wilhelm Furtwängler mi Alter von 8-9 Jahren) expose a precocious ability in the treatment of the musical material. In the immediately following years (from 1896 to 1901) Furtwängler's compositions are accomplished works from both a formal and expressive points of view: the Sonatas (for piano, violin, cello), the Trios (with and without piano), the Quartets, true examples of stylistic refinement and communicative effectiveness. In the early decades of the new century, he creates the great orchestral productions: the Three Symphonies, the Symphonic Concerto, the Te Deum. These major works have had a relatively wide diffusion and a number of prestigious performances, such as those conducted by Alfred Walter and Wolfgang Sawallisch for the Symphonies, those by Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim for the Symphonic Concerto and that by Hans Chemin-Petit for the Te Deum. On the other hand, Furtwangler's early production remains mostly unpublished and only rarely have these works ben publicly performed significant, in this respect, was the concert held in London on the 12 January 1986 when, on the occasion of the centenary of Furtwängler's birth, Robert Rivard performed for the first time a group of compositions for piano solo amongst which the Sonata in C minor, the Theme with variations, the two Fugues, two Fantasies and the Three Klavierstucke. Furtwängler's compositional activity was the object of controversies and alternative reconsiderations since its very beginning. The German musician lived through one of the most "destabilizing" periods of the entire history of music: the progressive demolition of the Romantic language, ever more conditioning theoretical speculations, the deeply changed condition of the artist within society were all elements that demanded an inevitable and troublesome confrontation.

Furtwängler was divided between a tradition that was not yet "past" and a present that was not yet "future". His double activity allowed him, in a way, to partly overcome the conflict: as a composer he chose to adhere to the Romantic model, while as an orchestra conductor he was deeply sensitive to the experiences of the "new" music. In 1932 he was elected as first President of the International Society of Contemporary Music, he conducted in Berlin the first German performance of Stravinsky'Le Sacre du Printemps, he first presented Schoenberg's Variations for orchestra op. 31 and he defended Hindemith from the censorship of the nazi government.

His works were predictably accused of anachronism and the unsuccessful first public performances convinced him to partially give up his compositional activity (which he took up again only in the last years of his life) in favor of the conducting one.

He once said that he felt he was “against his time", distant from a language which was becoming ever more elitist and intellectualized a the expense of that direct and instinctive emotion that music, any type of music, should generate in the listener: "Music addresses mankind, the public, not a group of so-called connoisseurs or experts. In all modesty: as an artist, I cannot possibly give up what I believe to be really decisive, the universal value of expression. I feel that only where that

principle ends there starts that individualism, which, today, is actively working at the burial of our art".

Furtwängler was, in other words, convinced that an artwork, in order to be as such, should have an "absolute value" independent from the underlying theories or the techniques used. Ingenuity can express itself even within traditional schemes; in fact, ingenuity is actually the ability of using such schemes within a dimension which is unique and collective at the same time.

He called all this "living the art", and it is easily understandable how his conceptual elaborations could not agree to empty experimentations or eccentric personalization.

"The fact is that today - a questionable virtue of our time - we have music which is performed and music which is praised, music which resounds in the concert halls and in the opera houses and music which is debated in papers and magazines, music which is taken seriously in practice, and music which is taken seriously only in theory. And we, artists, are alas forced to take seriously this state of things".

But his convinced adherence to the Romantic ideal did not give in to either memories or regrets; it was a humble and respectful "bow" to a musical language that in the past two centuries had produced incomparable masterpieces.

"You need no courage to venture into the most absurd concatenations, which may well be addressed as daring: a great deal more courage is needed to note down even just a simple chord or a phrase constructed with simplicity. That unwritten rule to express with naturalness what one has to say, which has, over hundreds of years, E represented the basis of every truthful creative drive in music, seems that today has lost its value. If it may seem superfluous to repeat and rewrite things that have been already said and written (and yet this is what epigones are condemned to do), it is nevertheless, as useless and superfluous to promote the cult of the "never existed before", of the new as and end in itself, of what is and must be absolutely original. We understand that the originality of an artwork does not lie in a certain attribute or characteristic feature, in particular or singular effects, but in their being part of an ensemble, and only this shall ensure life through time. The most difficult problem is not, therefore, to devise the new, even if this need is always current, but to succeed in constructing an ensemble".

Furtwängler was dismayed at the progressive dissolution of the dialectic-structural connections of traditional music, which had been based on the thematic idea and the unifying function of tonality.

"Tonality has two ways to become reality in music. The first one is, strictly speaking, as a direct interrelation of single notes or harmonies. Tonality gives this interrelation character, value and propriety, it gives "local color" to the single passages. Considered, ni this sense, as "beautiful sound", it is the musician’s means and matter and cannot therefore escape the inevitable process of wearing out to which matter is subject. The fact that young musicians have rejected it, for the past two generation snow, is not unjustified. But tonality, as displayed in the «cadence», has also another function: it gives music the possibility to construct a "form", it is the structuring element which gives "form" to the musical piece by means of a

beginning, development and end. Here, in its function of supporting the form which has organically matured, tonality does not wear out, as experience confirms. It leads to the dramatic tension of the finale. The second movement is the

conventional Scherzo with Trio; the Allegro molto is in ternary rondo form; here the energetic power of the first part is contrasted with the sweet cantabile character of the second section. The Trio stands in a kind of isolation and is characterized by a charming and graceful lyricism. The following Andante begins with a succession of light staccato chords on which a simple, "classical" melody takes shape. The section becomes animated only a little and then goes back to a serene and "pastoral" contemplation. The Finale also has a slow beginning which takes over the initial character of the Sonata: the agogic indication "in tempo di marcia" suggests a mournful processional proceeding which, nevertheless, ends with a brisk and carefree Allegretto.

In fact, the whole composition is characterized by a recurrent dialectic between opposed elements: major and minor modes, serenity and drama, lyricism and tension, in an expressive continuity of great charm.

The Violin and Piano Sonata n. I in A minor was also composed in the years '98/99. From a formal point of view this work shows a greater freedom in comparison with the piano sonata. The movements are also four but with a more articulated and complex structure. In the long first movement (tripartite in Allegro non Troppo - Andante- Tempo 1) the themes incessantly alternate, chase each other and overlap. Indisputable and passionate protagonist of the piece is the violin, which Furtwängler uses here in its more "Romantic" connotation, leaving to the piano the role of a discrete and refined accompaniment. Under the indication of Più allegro a brief and brisk dance is hidden, followed, with the Andante espressivo, by an immediate return to a sentimental atmosphere. The last movement is, as the first one, divided into various sections: from the enthusiastic initial allegro to the meditative central moment, to end with a whirling and virtuoso finale. The Trio. N 1 in F major for violin, cello and piano op.  4was composed before the other two works presented here ('96/97). This piece represents Furtwängler's first approach to one of the most conventional chamber ensembles. Also typical is the form chosen, that of the "Variations on a theme". The result is a page of delicious freshness in which the three instruments, this time placed on an equal basis of importance, challenge each other in the different variations.

Furtwängler's friend Walter Riezler used to say about his compositions: "This music is undoubtedly at the highest grade against its time. Current music reflects an absolutely radical abandonment of the Sonata. But Furtwängler's deep faith is devoted ot the idea of the Sonata and nothing else". The composer-conductor would reply: "I try to write in a simple, grandiose and monumental way, but I find myself in contrast with most composers of our day. My wish is that my work, once finished, shall represent something accomplished and complete".

English translation: Angelica Suanno