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Ernst Toch (1887-1964)
Ernst Toch's life bridged two centuries, two continents and two eras of musical history. He was born in Vienna on December 7, 1887, the son of a humble Jewish merchant. In the face of stern parental opposition to any musical vocation, the boy was entirely self-taught (largely through the secret copying of pocket scores of Mozart string quartets); and yet by the age of 17, he had already composed seven string quartets, as well as other chamber works, in which the influences of Mozart and Brahms were readily apparent. His talent was publicly affirmed in 1909 with the Mozart Prize, the award of a quadrennial competition that carried a year's fellowship at the Frankfurt Conservatory. Toch left Vienna to settle in Germany, where he eventually became established as professor of composition at the Mannheim Musikhochschule.
After a relative lull in composition during World War I, when he was on active duty, Toch resurfaced in the modernist upsurge of the twenties. The next 15 years would be one of the most prolific periods of Toch's life and likewise the period of his greatest renown. Thirty-four works were published by B. Schott's Söhne, and Toch's name was prominently featured on the programs of all of the new music festivals.
By 1932 when Toch toured the U.S. under the auspices of the Pro Musica Society, the shadows of Nazism were lengthening. In 1933 he resolved to flee Germany, eventually settling in Los Angeles, where he would make a living teaching and writing film scores. During the forties, Toch's creative energy ebbed with the pressures and responsibilities of his émigré life. A near-fatal heart attack in 1948 forced him to change his priorities. A major creative resurgence followed, which continued until his death in 1964. During this extraordinary period, Toch composed all seven of his symphonies (the Third of which was awarded the 1956 Pulitzer Prize), an opera, and numerous chamber works.
During his last years, Toch would sometimes refer to himself wistfully as "the world's most forgotten composer," and his melancholy joke betrayed a painful validity. But if Toch's music seemed in temporary eclipse, this was in part because of the integrity and independence of a lonely artist, leader or follower of no school, who insisted on striking the proper balance between innovation and tradition, and hence found himself dismissed simultaneously as too old-fashioned by the avant-garde and too modern by the traditionalists. But with the passage of time these artificial distinctions are beginning to fade, and Toch's oeuvre is being reassessed in terms he would have preferred, as a single link in the long chain of the musical tradition. And as such, Toch's music is prized for the mastery of its craftsmanship and the depth of its inspiration.
The Cello Concerto won the publisher Schott's competition for the best instrumental work of 1925. After the first performance of the Cello Concerto by Emmanuel Feuerman with Klemperer as conductor, the dean of German music critics, Alfred Einstein, wrote in a review "...this enchanting and felicitous work, in which the solo instrument is the primus inter pares (first among equals) and yet dominates...is new in expression and old in form. It renounces neither sentiment nor humor and shows the spirit of invention in every note." Heinrich Strobel, the eminent musicologist, called it "one of the most rewarding and effective works in the modern cello literature."
The chamber orchestra consists of the standard wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn) and the standard string quintet (two violins, viola, cello and double bass) with the addition of percussion which is discreetly but tellingly used. The instruments here speak mostly as individuals, in true chamber music style, and only occasionally are they combined in massed tutti effects.
There are four movements, very much on the order of the classical symphony, except that the traditional places of adagio and scherzo are here reversed. The scherzo is put into second place because of the necessary contrast to the more reflective nature of the first movement and its lyrical ending. Classical also is the origin of the first movement's form. The changes wrought on the sonata-allegro model are all for the purpose of greater concentration, abbreviation of repetitions, and changes in the order in which thematic elements are recapitulated.
The concerto begins with an orchestral exposition consisting of a remarkable number of superimposed motivic and ornamental shapes. This example, full as it is, cannot give a picture of all the polyphonic strands that make up its intricate texture. The little knocking motive at the beginning assumes considerable importance throughout the movement. The solo cello spins out these motives in its own exposition, and leads into the second group of themes which is dominated by this songful idea: One of the few tutti passages of the concerto builds up this melody quite passionately and then leads into the quiet closing section of the exposition. The central development section can be easily recognized because it is framed by two unaccompanied cello recitatives of considerable expressive urgency. After the second of these unaccompanied passages the solo cello leads directly back into the recapitulation. This, however, following a scheme which goes back to Mozart and beyond, presents the musical material in reverse order: the song theme of Example 2 comes first, and the principal theme complex is used to close the movement. Finally only the little knocking motive remains as accompaniment to the lyrical farewell of the solo cello.
A rapid scherzo forms the second movement and poses no problems for the listener. The saucy opening theme is soon paired with whispering and chattering triplet figurations, is tossed about from instrument to instrument, is played upside-down by the solo cello and is built up into a climax of general laughter. At this point the horn proposes a second idea, more relaxed in both rhythm (even quarters and eighths) and intervals (pentatonic): The movement as a whole is shaped in the traditional ternary scherzo form (without trio), so that after a development of this merry horn theme the first section returns, and a minute coda delivers the punch line most effectively.
Of the cello's many moods, it is the somberly reflective one which the third movement explores. Long unaccompanied passages, spanning the entire range of the instrument, frame the principal divisions. A nostalgic little oboe tune provides material for a contrasting section: Both sections return in the second half of the movement but with considerable extensions and variations, of course.
Following the classical model, it is a sprightly rondo which closes the concerto. This rondo begins with a motto of four notes and then takes off to display a great variety of ways in which the motto is extended and varied. The motoric drive of the continuous eighth-note motion never flags and carries the flow of the polyphonic combinations across fugal elaborations, climactic tutti passages, contrasting episodes (contrasting in thematic content but not in rhythmic pulse), across, finally, a brief cello cadenza over a timpani roll, and into the release of a last tutti which, after speeding up for the homestretch, falls happily panting into the arms of the same motto motive with which the movement began.
The Cello Sonata of 1929 was composed for the era's pre-eminent cellist, Emanuel Feuermann, who would give more than 60 performances of the composer's earlier Concerto. Demanding and virtuosic, the sonata reflects the "back to Bach" approach of much Weimar period music. The propulsive first movement expands, elaborates, and counterpoints a single motive much in the manner of a Bach invention. The Allegro finale, more festive and spontaneous in spirit, displays similar energy and thematic interplay between the instruments. Toch mysteriously designated the work's longest movement, the Intermezzo, "Die Spinne" (The Spider). A miniature tone poem somewhat evocative of perpetual web spinning, the mystery of the movement's title is best unraveled by each individual listener.
In 1963, for Gregor Piatigorsky's 60th birthday, Ernst Toch wrote Three Impromptus for Solo Cello. One of the pre-eminent string players of the 20th century, Piatigorsky was born in
Ukraine in 1903. On April 20,1963, Piatigorsky wrote Toch: "Beloved friend and master: What a joy! What a birthday gift you gave me dear Ernst! I love your improvisation. I am deeply moved, and I am grateful. You made my 60th birthday a happy day indeed. With admiration and friendship." The final Impromptu is notably marked, Adagio, con espressione 'der letzte Kampf' (the last struggle). Ernst Toch would die 18 months later on October 1, 1964 of stomach cancer at the age of 76.
Mr. Honigberg's rendition of the three cello Impromptus is a premiere recording.
Notes by Lawrence Weschler, Ingolf Dahl (Cello Concerto) and Bret Werb (Cello Sonata)
STEVEN HONIGBERG, heralded as a "sterling cellist" by the Washington Post, has emerged as one of the outstanding cellists of his generation. Mr. Honigberg gave his New York debut recital in Weill Hall and has since performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States in recital, in chamber music and as a soloist with orchestra. A member of the National Symphony Orchestra, he has been featured numerous times as soloist with that ensemble. He won rave reviews for the 1988 world premiere of David Ott's "Concerto for Two Cellos" performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Maestro Rostropovich, with repeat performances on the NSO's 1989 & 1994 United States tours. Mr. Honigberg is noted for his explorations of important new works, such as Lukas Foss' Anne Frank (1999), Benjamin Lees Night Spectres (1999), Robert Stern's Hazkarah (1998), Robert Starer's Song of Solitude (1995) & David Diamonds Concert Piece (1993), written for and premiered by Steven Honigberg. Mr. Honigberg graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with a Master's degree in Music, where he studied with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins. Other mentors include Pierre Fournier and Karl Fruh. Voted "Best New Chamber Music Series" of 1994 by the Washington Post, Steven Honigberg has been The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's chamber music series director since its inception. Mr. Honigberg has an extensive CD recording list, the latest a recording of the chamber music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. He has also recorded Ludwig van Beethoven's complete works for cello & piano, an album of 20th century American cello works, Robert Starer's Nishmat Adam with the composer as narrator and recordings of music performed at the Holocaust Memorial Museum; Darkness & Light and Darkness & Light, Volume 2. Recent performances include a concert at the 1998 Ravinia Festival, at Weill Hall in New York and a performance of Robert Schumann's Cello Concerto in August of 2000 with the Sun Valley Festival Orchestra, where he has performed as principal cellist since 1990. Steven Honigberg performs on the 'Stuart' Stradivarius cello made in 1732.
KATHRYN BRAKE, born in Washington, D.C., attended The Juilliard School of Music and received her Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Her teachers include Julian Martin, Nadia Reisenberg and Leon Fleisher. Ms. Brake has performed solo recitals throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Italy, France, Switzerland and Spain. A winner of the National Young Chopin Competition, the Beethoven Competition, the Kociusko Foundation Awards and the Elizabeth Davis Award, she has performed as soloist with several orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. A much sought after chamber music player, Kathryn Brake has recently performed at the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. Ms. Brake's collaboration with Mr. Honigberg on a compact disc of American cello music earned them the highest 5 star rating from Classical Pulse. Ms. Brake can also be heard on recordings of music performed at the Holocaust Memorial Museum; chamber music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
SYLVIA ALIMENA, music director and conductor of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Brass of Peace and Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, arrived in Washington in the fall of 1985 to assume a position in the horn section of the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Alimena's conducting career began in January of 1990 when she was asked by its founder to take over the helm of Brass of Peace. In 1992, she and a group of NSO colleagues founded the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra with whom she has conducted for several world premiere performances by Composer-in-Residence Mark Adamo and Truman Harris. As a National Musical Arts guest conductor, Ms Alimena has conducted two critically acclaimed Washington premieres including John Adam's Chamber Symphony No.1 and Tango by Juan Orengo-Salas. Ms. Alimena has appeared as guest conductor at the Holocaust Museum Chamber Series, the University of Maryland Orchestra and the Falls Church Chamber Orchestra. She has been described by the Washington Post as a conductor of "sublety and great vitality with a sharp mind and unique warmth." She has been a student of Franz Welser-Most, Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra, Gunther Schuller at the Sandpoint Festival in Idaho, and was one of the four participants in the Fellowship Conducting Program in the Aspen Music Festival 50th anniversary season where she had instruction with James Levine, Sian Edwards, David Zinman and Murry Sidlin.
Cello Sonata and Cello Concerto published by B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz. Impromptus published by Mills Music, Inc., New York
Recording Engineers: Antonino D'Urzo and Duane Brant (Concerto)
Editing and mastering: Charlie Pilzer - Airshow, Springfield, VA
Cover Art: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Kopf Mit Blumen, Recto 1921-22
Graphic Design: Tracy Pilzer
Cello Concerto recorded June 6, 1999 - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum;
Cello Sonata and Impromptus May 13, 2000 - St. Luke's Church, McLean, Virginia.
Special thanks to the Ernst Toth Archive at UCLA
www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/musiclmlsc/toch/index.htm
(c) 2000 ALBANY RECORDS
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