Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 13

FOR THE RECORD

PHOTOGRAPHY:

THE FINE ART SOCIETY; LONDON; UK/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES

I

tmeans‘joke’ofcourse,andfornearlytwocenturiesthatwas

aboutaspreciseasitgotasatermforapieceofmusic.Tothe

composersoftheearlyBaroqueitwasawordtouseforlight-

heartedvocalpieceswithadancerhythm,asinMonteverdi’s

Scherzimusicalimadrigalsof1632.Throughoutthe17thcentury

andwellintothe18th,itmightcropupasthetitleofan

instrumentalpiece.Walther,SchenkandBonportiallproduced

setsof‘scherzi’atonetimeoranother,withoutsuggestingthat

thewordindicatedaformratherthanafeeling;Schenk’s,for

instance,weresuites.

ItwasintheClassicalperiodthatthescherzowasfoundin

itsnowacceptedpositioninthemulti-movementframework

thatservedforsymphoniesandquartetsalike.InhisOp 33

stringquartetsof1781,Haydnusedthetermforthetriple-

timemovementpreviouslyknownasa‘minuetandtrio’,

thoughkeepingthesamearrangementoftwobinary-form

sections,thefirstreprisedafterthesecond(‘thetrio’)togive

theoverallshapeA-B-A.

InfactHaydn’sscherzoswerenotgreatlydifferentincharacter

fromhispreviousminuets,andhedidn’tusethetermagain(his

musicisnotshortofjokeselsewhere),butsomethingmusthave

madeanimpression,becauserightfromthebeginningofhis

composingcareerBeethovenwasincludingscherzosinhispiano

sonatas,symphoniesandchamberworks.Andforhimtheywere

intendedtobejokey:quickerthanminuets,theyoftenmercilessly

teasedthelistener(andperhapsplayerstoo)withdeceptivecross-

accents,stop-startsandothersurprises,asforinstanceinthe

SpringViolinSonata,Op24,andtheString Quartet Op 135.

AfterBeethoven,thescherzowasafixture, occurring in sonatas

andchambermusicbySchubert,Schumann and Mendelssohn,

whoinhisOctetandseveralotherworks introduced a new

elementofwispyfeather-lightness(imitated by Berlioz in the

‘QueenMab’ScherzoofRoméoetJuliette). With later Romantics

thesymphonic/sonatascherzolivedonin spirit and/or function

rightthroughtothe20thcentury,even when losing its name or

changingslightlyincharacter(Tchaikovsky referencing the waltz,

forinstance).Mahler’sLändler-infused scherzos often added a

touchofthegrotesque(forexampleinthe Sixth Symphony),

subsequentlytakenupwithrelishbyShostakovich and Prokofiev.

Inthemeantimeatrendforfree-standing scherzos had begun,

initiatedperhapsbyChopin’sfourdazzlers for solo piano, and

followedbysuchdiverseorchestralexamples as Dvo∑ák’s Scherzo

capriccioso,theScherzofantastiquesofSuk and Stravinsky, and even

(asthesubtitletellsus)Dukas’sL’apprenti sorcier. Throughout all

itsformalchanges,then,itseemswe’ve somehow always known

whatascherzoisreally.

ListentoourScherzoplaylistonQobuz

GRAMOPHONE GUIDE TO ...

Lindsay Kemp surveys the evolution

of a form deined chiely by its character

cherzo

Berlioz’s ‘Queen Mab’ Scherzo (Roméo et Juliette) has a Mendelssohnian lightness

● Following performances of the Chopin piano concertos last

November, Benjamin Grosvenor has been reunited with the Royal

Scottish National Orchestra under Elim Chan to record the same works

for Decca. The early-August sessions took place at the RSNO Centre in

Glasgow and the results will be released in the spring of next year.

● Francesca Dego is collaborating with Sir Roger Norrington and

the RSNO on a Mozart violin concertos project for DG. Due to be

released across two volumes, the irst has just been recorded – again

at Glasgow’s RSNO Centre.

● The French pianist Elizabeth Sombart has just recorded the

Beethoven piano concertos with the RPO across eight days at Cadogan

Hall. The discs will be released by Signum on three separate volumes

next year, in March, June and October.

● Brass septet Septura have completed a recording of The Nutcracker

for Naxos at St Jude’s Church in Hampstead. Between May 31 and

June 2, the septet were joined by the actor and director Derek Jacobi

as the narrator for the project, due for release in November.

● Beatrice Rana is about to inish her new recording for Warner

Classics. Early next month, the pianist heads to Berlin to record

Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka, the culmination of

a Stravinsky/Ravel programme that she began recording in June.

The album is due to be released on October 25.

● For the irst time since the Beecham recording exactly 60 years ago,

Sir Eugene Goossen’s edition of Handel’s Messiah returns to the studio,

with the same orchestra. With conductor Jonathan Griith at the helm,

the RPO and a 120-strong chorus combining members of the National

Youth Choir of Great Britain and the Jonathan Griith Singers will

gather at Abbey Road this summer. The recording, on the RPO’s own

label, is scheduled for release in March or April next year.

● It’s been a busy time for Chandos: London Brass were at Henry

Wood Hall in June to record music by Edward Gregson, and Edward

Gardner was at City Hall, Birmingham, to continue his CBSO Schubert

symphony cycle; both will be released in the spring of 2020. Meanwhile,

Sir Andrew Davis was, in July, recording Sir Eugene Goossens’s

Symphony No 2 with the Melbourne SO, due for release in early 2020.

IN THE STUDIO