Brahms Violin Concerto

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Clarinet, Timpani, Performing, Trombone, Cello, Trumpet, Bassoon, Classicalmusic, Performing Arts, Arts, Violin, Flute, Piano, Conductor, Music, Weilerstein

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Brahms’ violin concerto is one of the most difficult works for any violinist to tackle. It is as virtuosic as the hardest piece of Paganini as well as being as musically complex as a Brahms symphony. It takes most violinists years or even decades to feel comfortable with this piece, and many violinists consider it a kind of Mount Everest. Why? What makes this piece so complex, and yet so beautiful? What kind of choices do violinists make in their interpretations? For today, I'm not only going to tell you about this piece and how Brahms composed it, but I'm also going to compare 3 different recordings of the piece(Heifetz, Oistrakh, and Ferras) in order to show you the differences in interpretations between these 3 titanic violinists. We'll also talk about many of the topics we’ve covered before with Brahms; continuous development, gorgeous melodies, and that amazing Brahmsian quality of both respecting established forms while constantly subtly subverting them. Let's start the climb together and get to know this remarkable piece. Join us!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the Classical Music Podcast.
0:09.9	My name is Joshua Weylerstein, I'm a conductor, and I'm the Chief Conductor of the All
0:13.4	Borg Symphony and the Music Director of the Phoenix Orchestra of Boston.
0:17.3	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting
0:22.0	ready to dive into this amazing world of incredible music.
0:25.9	Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors, Semion, Jacqueline,
0:30.2	Aaron, John, Brittany, JLBR, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making Season
0:37.0	9 possible.
0:38.4	If you'd like to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash Sticky Notes
0:42.5	Podcast.
0:43.8	And if you are a fan of the show, please take a moment to give us a rating or review on
0:47.1	Apple Podcasts.
0:48.1	It is greatly appreciated.
0:52.4	This week I am with the Guild Hall School of Music Chamber Orchestra in London.
0:56.8	We are doing a program celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Milton Court Concert Hall.
1:01.2	It's a really, really fun, bubbly, bouncy program, which has been a little bit difficult
1:05.4	considering what's been going on in the world over the last couple of weeks.
1:08.3	But it's been a great distraction, and the orchestra is so wonderful made of such great
1:13.1	musicians, so I'm having a really wonderful time with them.
1:16.2	For this week, I've got a really fun episode on Brahms' Violin Concerto, one of the so-called
1:20.1	Big Five Violin Concertos, and it's one of the Big Five for a reason.
1:25.2	Hope you enjoyed this one.
	...

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