PolyVoce performs the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes
PolyVoce is a group of musical friends devoted to literature for vocal quartet and piano with a particular affinity for the works of the great German Romanticist, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). The original members, Alyson Harvey (mezzo-soprano), Jessica Mary Murphy (soprano), Tim Brown (piano) and Noriko Schneiderman (piano) first came together in 2017 to present a concert aptly named, “Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time (A Brahms Liebeslieder Evening)”. After the departure of their original Tenor and Baritone due to unforeseen circumstances, they were joined by tenor Jack Zamboni and baritone Robert Bullington. The newly-formed ensemble chose the name “PolyVoce” and have been delighting audiences throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey ever since.
For the third concert in Classical Cape May’s second season, PolyVoce has once again built a program around Johannes Brahms’s two engaging settings of poems by Georg Friedrich Daumer (with one important exception), the Liebeslieder (op. 52) and Neue Liebeslieder (op. 65) Waltzes. The “exception” is the final piece in the Op. 65, “Zum Schluss”, which features the poetry of none other than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Those who know the poetry of Daumer, might suspect that the ensemble based its name, “PolyVoce” on Daumer’s collection of poems, “Polydora”. If that was part of the brainstorming process, no one can remember. It does seem pretty clever, all the same!
The Op. 52 Liebeslieder Waltzes begin with the indication, “Im Ländler-Tempo”. The Ländler is a triple-meter dance, similar to the waltz but slower and more stately. It often features a strong accent on the first beat, giving it a distinctive feel that is less fast-paced and lighter than the waltz. Brahms took the basic structure of the Ländler (in 3/4 time) and expanded upon it, retaining the characteristic rhythm but giving it more complexity, elegance, and emotional depth. The Liebeslieder Waltzes also incorporate a lively rhythm and dynamic contrasts that elevate the simple Ländler.
The Ländler typically has straightforward harmonic progressions, often in simple major or minor keys. Brahms, however, takes this framework and uses rich chromaticism, modulations, and more sophisticated harmonies in the Liebeslieder Waltzes. This gives the pieces a more nuanced emotional range compared to the simpler folk-like Ländler.
Brahms retains the simple and song-like quality of the Ländler's melodies, often featuring short, memorable phrases that mimic folk music's singable lines. In the Liebeslieder Waltzes, Brahms adds more variation, ornamentation, and counterpoint to these melodic ideas, reflecting the composer’s highly developed technique and providing a more refined version of the original folk melody.
While the Ländler is primarily an instrumental dance, the Liebeslieder Waltzes feature voices alongside the piano. Brahms set poems by Georg Friedrich Daumer to music, which enhanced the expressiveness of the dances, turning them from purely instrumental forms into vocal-instrumental works. This vocal addition elevates the emotional resonance, transforming the dance from a social or folk setting into a more intimate, art-music context.
Between the the Liebeslieder and Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Noriko and Tim will offer a performance of Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche, composed as a piano duo in 1937 at the request of Marguerite Long and premiered at the Exposition internationale des arts et des techniques dans la vie moderne the same year.
Further developing his settings of Daumer in the op. 65 Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Brahms incorporates adaptations of folk songs from Turkey, Latvia, Poland and Sicily. Where the op. 52 Waltzes mostly incorporate the full ensemble, seven of its fifteen songs are for solo voice with one additional duet. Throughout the quartet songs, Brahms uses innovative techniques to portray a central idea. For example, in the first song, measures 16–21, he depicts the rocky shores by the repeated cry of "zertrümmert", which in English means "wrecked". Brahms also enhances the text "Well auf Well" ("wave after wave") with octave leaps in all four parts in measure 4 and 29. In No. 8, Brahms's use of the musical rest in the middle of the words mixed with the chorus singing dolce helps to create a gentle atmosphere.
The seven solo songs and one duet differ from the quartet songs in that the soloists illustrate different characters who behave in certain ways when it comes to love. The soprano is a female who continuously has no luck when it comes to men; the alto is depicted as a female who has suddenly abandoned her lover; the tenor is portrayed as a male who is selfish and irresponsible when it comes to sexual relationships with women; and the bass is one who is embroiled in an impossible affair.
The final song in this cycle, "Zum Schluß", written for the entire vocal quartet, moves away from the subject of lovers and puts the spotlight on the muses and thanks them for inspiring not only the author (Goethe), but also all of the artists in the world. With this change in subject comes the change in meter. When Brahms changes the standard 3/4 meter to 9/4, the nine beats are grouped into three groups of three; thus, it is a waltz within a waltz. In addition, "Zum Schluß" has a Baroque influence in two respects: the music is much more contrapuntal than the previous songs in this cycle, and the song is actually a passacaglia, with the theme (F–C–B♭–A–D–C) running throughout the outer sections. At the climax of this song in measure 16, the piano drops out and the choir sings a cappella and moves from the dominant key back to the tonic key of F major.
It is self-evident that Zum Schluß, whose text and music are in stark contrast to all of the other waltzes in both Op. 52 and Op. 65, is a personal statement by Brahms, who throughout the troubled relationships in his life (sich Jammer und Glück wechseln in liebender Brust) found solace in music (Linderung kommt einzig, ihr [Musen], von euch).
