This weekend comes Classical 4, which features an interesting program: Too Hot Toccata by Aaron Jay Kernis, Concerto in F by George Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony.
It’s interesting because each work on the program is a standard form with an individual “take” on the form in the eyes of its composer.
The Too Hot Toccata is a riff on the old Italian form (from the Italian word toccare “to touch”) which features busy passage-work in a rapid tempo. It is indeed fast, has lots of notes, and is a virtuoso showpiece for the orchestra – especially the horns and trumpets.
The Concerto in F is a more earnest attempt by Gershwin to produce a “serious” piece of concert music as opposed to something that might be more at home on the bandstand. I don’t know if it succeeds, but it is a wonderful piece which shows off the skills of the pianist and is a much more lengthy and substantial piece than the more famous Rhapsody in Blue. It’s a perfect combination of early jazz/blues styles in a classical format.
Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony shows how stubborn Rachmaninoff was in regards to being out of step with the music of his time. You’d be hard pressed to find anything significantly different in this piece than in his much for well-known Second Symphony, the piano concerti, Symphonic Dances, or tone poems. But by his very stubborness, his music stands out in the crowd. Take a look at what was also written during the years this work was composed (1935-1936):
- Berg Violin Concerto
- Schoenberg Violin Concerto
- Walton First Symphony
- Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks
- Prokofiev Second Violin Concerto
Definitely not conventional works in the arch-Romantic style that Rachmaninoff favors!