The Czech Contribution to the Development of the Symphony – 2007 Study Weekend Programme
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Outline of the Study Weekend
Miloslav Kabeláč
Dvořák Society member, Graham Melville-Mason, was the tutor at a study weekend held at Burton Manor in the North West England from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th September 2007. The title of the course was: The Czech Contribution to the Development of the Symphony.
The evolution of the classical symphony as we know it today developed in the late 18th century, centred on the work of composers in Mannheim and Vienna, culminating in the great examples of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Bohemian and Moravian composers made a significant contribution to this development, led by Jan Václav Antonín Stamic (also known as Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz) in Mannheim and Jan Křtitel Vaňhal (1739 – 1813) in Vienna.
Zdeněk Fibich
Continuing into the 19th century, the Bohemian contribution reached its peak in the nine symphonies of Antonín Dvořák (1841 – 1904), going on into the 20th century in the six examples of Bohuslav Martinů (1890 – 1959) and later Czech symphonists like Miloslav Kabeláč, Viktor Kalabis and Jan Hanuš.
The course traced this important Czech involvement with the symphony and explored many of the attractive works of composers, such as Zdeněk Fibich (1850 – 1900) now overshadowed by the few great names in music history.
Slovak composers were by no means ignored, with attention being paid to Eugen Suchoň (1908 – 1993), Ján Cikker (1911 – 1989), and Alexander Moyzes (1906 – 1984).
A student’s impressions of the course
A Dvořák Society member travelled from the United States to attend this weekend at Burton Manor and wrote detailed impressions of the course in our Newsletter No 82, January 2008. We reproduce the article in an edited form below. To protect privacy, we have not included the member’s name.
Arriving at Burton Manor and Friday evening lecture
“On the weekend of September 7–9, [we] assembled at Burton Manor College, a lovely manor house on the Wirral Peninsula, south of Liverpool. The college offers a wide variety of courses: … shortly after our arrival, I was at the bar waiting for a pre-dinner glass of wine, when an attractive lady next to me asked ‘Are you Japanese Embroidery?’ Our group had come for an intensive course on Czech contributions to the symphony, ably conducted by our former Chairman, Graham Melville-Mason. I had been hearing of these annual weekend conferences ever since I joined the Society during the Brno Janáček Festival, in January 2004 … .
“From Friday evening to midday Sunday, Graham [Melville-Mason] presented a series of eight lectures, with numerous accompanying musical examples, covering an overwhelming number of Czech and Slovak composers, from Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745) to Viktor Kalabis (l923-2006). We learned that the richness and variety of Czech music, popularly known through the works of romanticist and modernists such as Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček is a tradition that stretches back to the earliest baroque composers. Although Czech works have similarities in style to better-known pieces from Mozart, Beethoven, etc, all of them have a defining Czech identity, which is evident upon careful listening.
“On Friday evening, Graham [Melville-Mason] began by explaining the evolution of the symphonic form. The word ‘symphony’ comes from the Greek, and means ‘a sounding together’. The first symphonies were overtures to operas, which evolved to stand alone as separate works. The earliest examples of these ‘operatic symphonies’ were composed in three movements, usually ‘fast-slow-fast’ in format. (Though the French, ever different, produced two-movement versions, ‘slow-fast’, with the latter often in fugal form.) Our opening musical excerpt was Zelenka’s l723 Symphonia: Overture to a symphony, which was baroque in style, scored for strings and continuo, with the occasional horn to be heard. Zelenka was closely followed by František Václav Míča, who produced a more Italianate form; František Ignác Tůma, who vacillated between baroque and symphonic works; and František Richter, who wrote some of the earliest four-part string quartets.”
Saturday lectures
“Saturday’s series of lectures took us from the mid-l8th century to the late 19th century. There were so many composers to cover that it is difficult to summarise them all. An early important example was Jiří Antonín Benda, whose Ariadne auf Naxos (1724) is considered to be the first musical melodrama. He also wrote thirty or so symphonies, tending towards the classical form. Zach wrote 78 symphonies, the early ones in Baroque form and later ones in symphonic form. Richter produced forty symphonies, of which about half survive. František Dušek, who spent most of his career in Prague, became good friends with Mozart, who was a frequent guest at his home, Bertramka. Beginning in the 1760s, he wrote about forty symphonies. Brixi, the kapellmeister at the castle in Prague, wrote nearly 500 works, despite dying at a young age. Antonín Zimmermann became kapellmeister to the Archbishop of Hungary; his orchestra had many wind players, and this is reflected in his work.
“Because the strong musical education system in Bohemia produced so many musicians, those who could not find employment in their native land began to immigrate to other countries. They absorbed the influences of Vienna, Mannheim, and Paris, which enriched and advanced their music. Jan Václav Antonín Stamic (Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz) was central to the Mannheim School, established in l724 at the court of the Elector of Pfalzbayern. (Voltaire’s secretary called it the most brilliant court in Europe). Stamic was influential in establishing a new symphonic form, written in four movements, with the last movement often in 3/4 time. He trained his string players to such a high level that many of his colleagues considered his orchestra the finest in Europe. [His] son Karel (Carl) became the principal musician of the second generation at Mannheim. By comparing the father’s Symphony in B flat (1745) with the son’s Symphony in E flat ((1770), one can easily hear the extensive development of the symphonic form which was taking place during those three decades.
“The composers who worked abroad became a more successful group than those that remained at home. Musicians who ‘plied their trade’ as travelling performers were popular, but it was difficult to find permanent positions — the competition for such jobs was stiff. Bohemian composers only began to make their mark outside their own country in the mid-18th century. One significant example was Jan Vaňhal, who wrote over 70 symphonies. His family was in bondage to a nobleman, but despite this, he acquired a good education, went to Vienna at an early age, and made enough money to buy his freedom. After spending a year in Italy, he returned to Vienna to write.
“Another key composer was Jan Voříšek, a piano prodigy, who studied in Prague with Václav Tomášek. Like many other Bohemian composers, both before and after him, he also took training in a non-musical field, studying philosophy at Charles University. Voříšek’s early pieces were primarily Impromptus for the piano. In 1823, he produced the Symphony in D, his only symphonic work. It is classically constructed, but includes romantic and Bohemian elements. Other notable composers of this time included Ignatz Moscheles, a pianist, teacher of Grieg and Mendelssohn, who lived in England for many years. He wrote only one symphony, but many piano concertos, much admired by Schumann. Another, Kalivoda, was a violinist so skilled that a prince who heard him presented him with a Stradivarius. Of his many works, seven were symphonies, three of them very popular. And finally, there was Jan Kittl, whom Graham [Melville-Mason] declared to be the best Czech symphonist before Smetana. He wrote four symphonies, the second of which was conducted by Mendelssohn in Leipzig in l840.
“Finally, we turned to Bedřich Smetana (l824–84), a great pianist, conductor, and the composer who founded Czech music. He was a piano prodigy, who was performing by the age of six. In l854 he completed his only full symphony, called The Festive Symphony, it quoted an imperial theme from Haydn but never achieved popularity. He wrote eight operas, of which three were on historic themes and the rest were taken from Czech folk tales. Between l872–74, he wrote his great cycle of six symphonic poems, and two years later he composed the E minor string quartet, ‘From My Life’. By that time he was suffering from deafness, caused by syphilis. He continued to compose, despite illness, producing choral pieces and three more operas, The Kiss and The Secret, as well as Libuše, which was performed at the opening of the Prague National Theatre in l881.
“After Smetana and Dvořák, Zdeněk Fibich was the most important Czech composer of the mid-to-late l9th century, and arguably the most romantic of the three. His works included three symphonies, melodramas for concert and stage, symphonic poems, chamber music, piano pieces, and many songs. His Symphony No 2, of which we heard an excerpt, exemplifies the romantic and folk-inspired qualities of his music.
“According to Graham [Melville-Mason], while Smetana founded modern Czech music it was Dvořák who established its international reputation. Antonín Dvořák (l844-l904) was not a ‘typical’ Czech composer, as his reputation rests on his skills as a symphonist. Most of his predecessors were not primarily symphonic composers. In l904, during his last interview, Dvořák said that his main inclination was toward dramatic works, but he has never been perceived in this way. It is the symphonies, quartets, and quintets that are most often heard today. Dealing with each symphony in turn, Graham covered Dvořák’s development from inexperience to master of the form. Space precludes giving a detailed account of each.
Composers who overlapped Dvořák, or directly followed him, included Foerster, who had an enormous output. His best known symphony is No 5, known as Easter Eve. Ostrčil was a professor of Czech and German who studied music privately, and became president of the Society for Modern Music. He wrote only one symphony. Korngold, too, wrote a single symphony … . Iša Krejčí … studied with Jirák and Novák, and wrote four symphonies, which were both neo-classical and witty. Kabaláč wrote eight symphonies, each in a different mode for varying forces … .”
Sunday lectures
“Sunday’s lectures brought us to the most significant of Dvořák’s symphonic successors, Josef Suk and Bohuslav Martinů. Suk (l874-1935) was Dvořák’s favourite pupil, and also his son-in-law. He became a major symphonist, known especially for his Symphony No 2 “Asrael”. Suk married Otilie Dvořák in l898, on the anniversary of Dvořák’s own marriage. But in l904 and l905, he lost first his father-in-law and then his wife. This was a major turning point in his life. His music changed, turning darker. He never remarried. At the time of Otilie’s death at age 27, he was working on the fourth movement of the 2nd Symphony. He changed it completely. The first three movements had been written for his father-in-law, but the last two are in homage to his wife. Suk directed that, in performance, the first three should be played continuously; then there should be a long pause, followed by the next two. The Symphony, a great musical memorial, is named for the angel of death, who carries away the souls of the dead. Begun as a tribute to Dvořák, it was etched darker by his second loss, and this darkness continued to influence his music for several years. Whereas his early work had reflected a love of nature and family life, subsequently it became more tragic in tone. It was not until 1909 that he began to return to an awareness and appreciation of nature.
“Martinů (1890-1959) was the greatest Czech symphonist of the 20th century. He studied with Suk in Prague, and with Roussel in Paris. By 1925, with the introduction of his String Quartet No 2, he was beginning to gain recognition as a composer. During his stay in Paris, he wrote lots of chamber music and operas, but no symphonies. In l941, Martinů fled to America, where he wrote his first symphony, commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky. Subsequently, he wrote one symphony per year, for four years. He had a very personal style, a distillation of baroque and classical forms. He wrote in an original voice, with a unique sound world. He retained some elements of the 19th century, but adapted them to his new world, scientific and forward-looking. He used some fragments of Bohemian elements, a great variety of colours, and ordered them, but with his own form of order.
“Martinů’s First Symphony employs the piano as an orchestral instrument in the first movement. The second, a scherzo, has Bohemian elements. Its third movement, a noble and sensitive Largo, was greatly admired by Charles Munch and Václav Neumann. It is dark, serious, and powerful. His Double Concerto, written around the same time, was affected by the Germans marching into Czechoslovakia, but he never indicated whether this event influenced his Largo as well: but it gives that impression. The fourth movement is a complete contrast, a Rondo of a jovial nature. Like the scherzo, it has a Czech feel to it. Martinů wrote his Second Symphony in Darien, Connecticut. It is for a large orchestra, but was conceived in a chamber music style. Symphony No 3, written as a gift for Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has tragic overtones; he was very homesick during its composition.
“The Fourth Symphony [of Martinů] was a great contrast to No 3, being relatively lyrical and at peace, though still with propulsive parts and frenzied climaxes. Perhaps this was because the war was finally coming to a close. It is written in four movements, all linked. Martinů said later that the whole work grew from a single motive, though it was unconscious at the time. His Fifth Symphony, was written between January and May 1946 and premièred at Prague Spring in 1947. Martinů had expected to be there, but was unable to attend because of an accident. Shortly thereafter, the Communists took power, and he was never able to return.
“[Martinů] was influenced by jazz and surrealism in Paris, as well as a revival of baroque ideas in a modern form. During his American years, he brought all these elements together with his Czech identity; a synthesis that is best heard in his Symphony No 6 ‘Fantaises symphoniques’, which quotes Dvořák’s Requiem in its opening movement. It ends (beautifully!) with the return of the Lento prelude of the first movement. Shortly after its completion, Martinů returned to Europe, living in France and Switzerland until his death, some six years later.
“… [The course turned to] Slovak composers of significance. Suchoň, Cikker, and Moyzes (who wrote twelve symphonies) were the founders of the Modern Slovak School. Moyzes was the most important of the three. He studied with Ostrčil and Novák in Prague. Though he was greatly influenced by the French composers known as Les Six, and also by Stravinsky, his music remained firmly Slovak in nature.
“[Returning to the later Czech composers] Dobiáš, a schoolmaster, was a student of Novák who studied the work of Stravinsky and Bartók. He became president of the Prague String Festival in l970. His work was built on formal symphonic lines, and remained melodic. It had ‘Communist leanings’ — it was ‘for the people’. Hanuš came from an active musical family. He was the president of the Dvořák Group in Prague. He studied Dvořák, Fibich, and Janáček, and wrote successful stage works. He wrote seven symphonies between l942 and 1990, the second of which is very ‘Dvořákian’. His music was classically structured, but explored the possibilities of where harmonies could go. His later works were very complex. (He wrote a piano piece for Graham Melville-Mason’s 60th birthday. Graham commented that it is hard to understand where the music is going.) Hanuš died in 2004, a beloved figure in the music world.
“Jaroslav Křička was better known as a conductor than a composer, though he wrote two symphonies and many other works (including 13 operas). He was very intellectual; his Second Symphony was based on ideas that interested him in Latin Coptic manuscripts of the 2nd century. Teml was an economist who became interested in music, first popular and then classical. He studied composition in Karlovy Vary, and worked with Pilsen Radio, and then Czech Radio, which was performing his music by the late 1980s. At about that time, he wrote his Second Symphony, entitled ‘The War With the Newts’. He said that it was not meant to illustrate Karel Čapek’s story of that name, just its mood. He brought aleatoric writing and varied tonal colours to his music, and his style was European modernism.
“Our final composer was Viktor Kalabis, who had a very difficult early life. The Nazis forced him to work in an aircraft factory, which damaged his hearing. His future wife, Zuzana Růžicková, was interned in Terezín and Bergen Belsen. They met when he went to study piano with her after the war, and had a very happy marriage. She is still an active harpsichordist. Kalabis was quite self-critical during his early writing. Psychologically, he was a contrast with Hanuš, who was optimistic and defiant, insisting on going to church despite Communist disapproval. Kalabis was more successful in having his music played, but remained pessimistic and gloomy. He wrote seven symphonies between l957 and l997, and managed the music department of Prague Radio during much of that time. Kalabis died in September 2006. The Dvořák Society Newsletter No 78, January 2007 included a brief note from Graham [Melville-Mason] announcing his death, which states: “he will be best remembered for his Sinfonia pacis (Symphony No 2) and the Harpsichord Concerto written for his wife.
“Thus our intense musical odyssey came to an end. The weekend included great learning, but also a lovely setting, delicious food, and most important, good fellowship. There was opportunity to share ideas and impressions — and also to spend as much as you could afford (and more: I was thankful for the lack of an ATM machine in the vicinity) on a huge collection of CDs, DVDs, and books, at very attractive prices. Note cards and various Czech and Slovak items were also on sale, as were Christmas cards with beautiful photos taken in the Czech Republic by one of our members, Bryan Gladwin. Bill Marsden and Peter Herbert provided many of the musical temptations, and Lorna Dobson contributed much of the rest — thanks to them all. The greatest accolades, however, must go to Graham [Melville-Mason], whose limitless knowledge and astounding energy provided an immensely satisfying and educational weekend. For those who have not already experienced the Burton Manor Weekend (and also for those who have), I recommend that you set aside the 2008 dates immediately. Unfortunately, distance will probably prevent me from getting there again so soon, but I will be envious of all of you who attend!”
