Playing the Melody of a Love Letter: At the Former Maeda Mansion Western-Style Salon Concert
How did musicians convey their "feelings of love"?
Not through words (such as letters), but as melodies.
The chamber music concert at the former Maeda Mansion was a time that allowed me to reflect on that "way of conveying feelings without daring to use words."
I attended the chamber music concert "Homage to the Immortal Beloved: From Beethoven to Schumann and Brahms," held at the former Maeda Mansion, located within Komaba Park, about a 10-minute walk from Komaba-todaimae Station on the Keio Inokashira Line.
With a limited seating capacity of about 60 people, the concert held in a room of the quiet Western-style mansion was different from a performance in a typical concert hall; the distance between the audience and the performers felt intimate, and it was an experience where every single note seemed to speak directly to me.
A major feature of this concert was that it was not just about listening to the performance; there was a "talk" prepared for the first half of the program. It was a structure unique to a "salon concert," where the stories behind the works being performed and the personal relationships between the composers were carefully explained before listening to the music.
The central composer for this program was Schumann.
He expressed his feelings for Clara, the lover he would later marry,
by "hiding" the melody of Beethoven's "An die ferne Geliebte" (To the Distant Beloved)
within his own work.
"An die ferne Geliebte," Op. 98, is a work composed by Beethoven
about "longing for a lover far away."
Its beautiful melody captivated later composers and was passed down through time.
During the "talk," the melodies by Beethoven that were actually quoted by Schumann and Brahms were demonstrated on the piano, but
in Schumann's "Fantasie," Op. 17, rather than quoting Beethoven's melody directly, Schumann broke it down into small pieces and dissolved it into his own music.
Furthermore, he wove in musical motifs linked to sweet memories with his lover Clara, which were, so to speak, a "code" that only Schumann and Clara could understand.
By the way, I will touch briefly on the relationship between Schumann and Clara.
Schumann, who aspired to be a musician, began formal music education under Clara's father, Wieck, in 1830.
As they studied music together, with Clara already active as a genius pianist at the time, the two gradually grew closer.
However, Clara's father, Wieck, strongly opposed their relationship and forbade them from seeing each other.
It was in such painful circumstances that Schumann's "Fantasie," Op. 17, was composed while he held onto his feelings for Clara.
What was explained during the talk was about a more personal expression of the heart that cannot be captured by the simple word "quotation."
Even though it is music that anyone can listen to,
in reality, the feelings contained within it were directed at only one person,
that is the nature of it.
Specifically, for example, the modulation to the sorrowful C minor.
This "C" is also the initial of Clara, and it is a code (secret) that only the two of them understood. In this way, Schumann sublimated his feelings for his beloved into his work.
Also, the same Beethoven melody was passed on to Brahms.
He, who was deeply involved with the Schumanns, incorporated this melody into his "Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8."
However, in later years, when he revised this work, that part disappeared.
One can only imagine why that happened.
After hearing such stories, listening to the actual performance added much more depth to how the sounds were heard.
The melodies being played were not just beautiful; they emerged as things imbued with the composer's feelings.
As if one could feel the respective thoughts of Schumann and Brahms.
For the composers,
rather than letters, the melody was
the "love letter" itself.
Something that could not be conveyed in words,
the composer entrusted to the sound,
and that sound,
transcending time, even after leaving the composer's hands,
as "music to overcome sorrow,"
reaches someone else's heart, forever,
I think that is what it is.
<Program>
Talk:
Schumann (Fantasie): "Secret Code" Engraved in the Score
- The Shadow of Beethoven and the Image of Clara
Brahms <Piano Trio No. 1>: "Forbidden Passion" Under the Shadow of a Mentor
- He inherited it, and then locked his heart into a "code"
Performance:
L. v. Beethoven: From the song cycle "An die ferne Geliebte," Op. 98
R. Schumann: Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17
J. Brahms: From Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 (1854 version)
↓ The Precious Planner writes in detail about Schumann's "Fantasie," Op. 17, so please be sure to read it.
Bonus: Visiting the concert venue, the "Former Maeda Mansion Western-Style House"
The former Maeda Mansion, located in Komaba Park, about a 10-minute walk from Komaba-todaimae Station on the Keio Inokashira Line. It was a place I had wanted to visit for a long time, so I arrived a little early and was able to tour the rooms.
Honestly, I don't think there are many salon concerts held in such a wonderful venue. Thanks to this, I was able to fully enjoy an elegant atmosphere that you just can't experience in a concert hall. I hear they are planning another concert in the autumn, so I am already looking forward to it. Since it's not too far from Shibuya Station, why not take a stroll and visit?
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